# Thinking of "down sizing" to Mini Nubians



## lottsagoats (Dec 10, 2012)

I have been kicking around the idea of going from standard Nubians to Minis. I sort of understand the %'s and all but.....

Would it be best if I started with a ND buck to my Nubian does or try to find a Mini Nubian buck. Not sure how that would work out, I haven't seen any registered ones in my area yet.

I have plus and minuses for both ways. 

The plus's for a ND would be:

* more variety in ND herds up here, some with some great bloodlines. My Nubian does are well bred and of better than average conformation. I have 3 that would make a very nice foundation for a Mini Nubian herd. 

* I LOVE the ND blue eyes and wild colors. (but I'm sure I could find a colorful, blue eyed Mini Nubian buck, too)

* I also have Lamanchas and an Oberhasli, so i could potentially breed Minis for those breeds with the same buck (ok, maybe not Obies if the buck is wild colored, but a nice blue eyed Chamoise ND buck? WooHoo!)

The minus:

* more time to get to the proper Nubian Standards.

Feedback? Suggestions? Which Mini breed registry is better?


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## AmyBoogie (May 20, 2013)

I've been toying with the idea of breeding Mini's too and I think I like MDGA better but that's just personal thought. I wasn't sure where to start or if I even really wanted to put that kind of time into rotating out goats to get to 5th gen.

I think I saw a 4th or 5th gen mini buck in New England....I think it was NH. I'll see if I can find the listing again.


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## enchantedgoats (Jun 2, 2013)

as a nigerian breeder i guess you know what i think. we have a blue eyed polled red chamoise doe that we are breeding to a wild colored buck and if you are patient to wait for the result i think we could fill your needs. both have great bloodlines for milk and show. she had a really pretty black roan buck this year as time went on he turned more and more roan. his name is jack frost. lol. oh she also had a red chamoise doe that we kept she is so dairy and long her name is Ginger rodgers. anyway we are in nh so not that far as the crow flies at least! maybe we could work out a trade as my grandson wants another standard nubian the one he has is 6 years old and well loved but she's no spring chicken anymore
as for your other question about the mini registries, i think its six of one and half dozen of the other.


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## LilQtBear (Jun 25, 2012)

*I breed miniature Nubians and LOVE THEM*

I got a 3rd gen mini nubian a couple years ago and here in my area there is quit the drive to get miniature nubians so I decided this year to purchase a couple pure bred nubian does - one I will be breeding a Nigerian buck to and the other I will be breeding a 1st generation miniature buck to for specific reason. You can do it either way - go with the 50/50 cross (where you might get a more nigerian looking goat or luck out with some 3/4 drop ears and a straight nose) but no biggy as they are first gens. Any time you breed a mini back to a pure bred the offspring are always 1st generations - %'s can be messed with a little to achieve what you want but by 3rd gen can not go over 70% of either breed in the blood line


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## LilQtBear (Jun 25, 2012)

Also i like the MDGA - they are a "newer" registry but they are super friendly and I have pretty much got to know most of them - they are the the west coast though. They are the main ones who I have seen have shows and they also have a virtual show which I love. I have one doe registered with IDGR - eh.. not much there - no shows and not very many options.. then there is TMDGR -r I have thought about dual registering through these guys but no real need as they dont have any shows in my area really but I do think they are getting a virtual show.. 
now each registry has different standards for there breeds. MDGA is pretty strict on the parentage being able to trace back to a ADGA, AGS or NDGA parent. I heard there was an issue with pygmys and such being found in some of the earlier mini's. They are also strict about breed character in order to register as an "american" or pure bred once to that point


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## LilQtBear (Jun 25, 2012)

LilQtBear said:


> I got a 3rd gen mini nubian a couple years ago and here in my area there is quit the drive to get miniature nubians so I decided this year to purchase a couple pure bred nubian does - one I will be breeding a Nigerian buck to and the other I will be breeding a 1st generation miniature buck to for specific reason. You can do it either way - go with the 50/50 cross (where you might get a more nigerian looking goat or luck out with some 3/4 drop ears and a straight nose) but no biggy as they are first gens. Any time you breed a mini back to a pure bred the offspring are always 1st generations - %'s can be messed with a little to achieve what you want but by 3rd gen can not go over 70% of either breed in the blood line


Well they can go over the 70% by 3rd gen but will not be able to be registered as "american"
Breed what you think will be then be a good start to a miniature nubian, starting with 50/50 is totally fine and most times saught after - it just takes a little longer to achieve breed character - but you can take a 50/50 cross 5th gen and breed back to a 50/50 cross 1st gen for 50/50 2nd gen kids with probably better breed character - 50/50 is easier to cross without worrying about getting too high on either side. my goal right now is to have my mini's around the 60/40 with the nubian being a bit higher for that breed character. 
check out websites of mini breeders in close proximity to you see what is the desire in your area. 
Here there is a lot of people that are just breeding back to pure bred nubians over and over to get the breed character - but creating over height animals... I think i will just be patient and work on getting a good quality/conformation as well as high milk production with well attached udders.. then i will work on gens, %'s and breed character (although that is always on my mind when breeding still but not my main focus for my lower generation stock)


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## lottsagoats (Dec 10, 2012)

enchanted, that sounds great! I am breeding my purebred doe to my leased out American Nubian buck this year (she had gorgeous twins by him last year). I got my last 2 Nubian bucks in NH (Effingham).


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