# Dairy breeds: weight vs milk production?



## ecologystudent (May 30, 2009)

This might be ridiculously geeky of me, but I'm curious. I was wondering how different breed stacked up if you took a ratio of their pounds of milk production to their weight (admittedly, I only thought about this once someone basically said that Nigerians weren't a real dairy breed.). Since a bigger animal most likely eats more, perhaps an animal which produces less, but is smaller is just as worthwhile as a dairy animal.

And since I'm having trouble finding real numbers online, I figured I'd ask you lovely people who have goats. If you would help me by giving me the weight of your does, and if possible their average production or yearly production that would be wonderful. Thanks!


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Very good question....and I AM POSITIVELY SURE you will get arguments on being told that Nigies aren't a dairy breed. I think thats a fact that ADGA & AGS would argue as well.  


I have an adult nigi doe that gives me 2 quarts plus 1 cup each day at her peak with 2x a day milkings. She weighs in at 70# so the amount she gives is at 4 1/2 lbs.


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## ecologystudent (May 30, 2009)

liz said:


> Very good question....and I AM POSITIVELY SURE you will get arguments on being told that Nigies aren't a dairy breed. I think thats a fact that ADGA & AGS would argue as well.
> 
> I have an adult nigi doe that gives me 2 quarts plus 1 cup each day at her peak with 2x a day milkings. She weighs in at 70# so the amount she gives is at 4 1/2 lbs.


Thank you for the response! And I didn't agree with the person, as I have a gut feeling that Nigerians are a perfectly good dairy breed- I'd just like numbers to prove it.


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## SDK (Jun 26, 2008)

well i dont have a ton of numbers but here's what i've got:

Kabooki- yearling FF lamancha ~ 120 pounds in weight. she got 2 pounds grain, 2 pounds pellets and then 5 pounds hay. she milked a little over a half gallon per milking.

Twist- 2nd freshening 3 year old nigerian ~ 60 pounds in weight. she got 2 pounds grain, 1 pound pellets, and 3 pounds hay. she milked about 3/4 gallon a day.

bebop - yearling FF nigerian ~ 55 pounds in weight. she got 1 pound grain, 1 pound pellets, 3 pounds hay.
she milked about a quart and a half per day.


so i feel like the bigger does dont eat much more that the miniatures, and the production to age to size ratio is about the same as miniatures and in standards

there is kinda two types of nigerians, the older style which is between pygmy build and dairy goat production ( one of my first nigerian does milked about 2-3 cups a day as a 4th freshener.. that's like.. nothing). the newer nigerians are looking like perfect miniatures of dairy goats, slimmer, longer, and production like crazy since i've had 3 First fresheners that milk a quart or two a day!! so yes nigerians are a dairy breed!


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## heathersboers (Sep 5, 2008)

Not trying to get off topic , but how much milk is a pygmy suppose to give a day-I get about 1 1/2 cups out of the one I am milking- she weighs about 60 lbs....


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## SDK (Jun 26, 2008)

generally a pygmy givesenough milk to sustain her kids


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

My only 100% pygmy doe was giving me 1 3/4 quarts a day with 2x a day milkings at her peak. :greengrin:


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## nutmegfarm (Dec 23, 2009)

6 year old saanen-185 lbs. she milks about 7 pounds
2 year old saanen-190 lbs. she milks about 11 pounds!!!

Big girls+good grain+good hay+water= good producers in my barn!!!


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## Herebegoats (Dec 30, 2009)

Well that would be interesting but also remember what goes IN to your dairy goat is really going to affect how she milks. I have a doe that is usually around 165lbs and she will peak at 15lbs a day. Her dam is a 200lb doe and only usually peaks at 11lbs. But if they were not eating high quality perennial peanut hay (Florida's alfalfa), + high quality grain and were instead eating just grass hay + grain they would not milk as heavy though they would probably weigh near the same. So I really think you have to factor diet into this one.

Kelley


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## SDK (Jun 26, 2008)

Very Very true! its all about what you feed and maitenace too


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## Dreamchaser (Oct 30, 2008)

Hmm. This should be interesting. Though, I'm not really sure there is a true diffinitive answer. Every goat is different, and you can have a really nice dairy goat that doesn't give a lot of milk.


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## Lawanda (Jun 11, 2009)

I don't know much (if anything) about milking, but I would think [what goes in (pounds of food)] : [what goes out (pounds of milk)] would be the better ratio than [pounds of goat]:[pounds of milk produced] for a good dairy breed  That is just entirely my opinion! LOL

This is still interesting though


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## ecologystudent (May 30, 2009)

Lawanda said:


> I don't know much (if anything) about milking, but I would think [what goes in (pounds of food)] : [what goes out (pounds of milk)] would be the better ratio than [pounds of goat]:[pounds of milk produced] for a good dairy breed  That is just entirely my opinion! LOL
> 
> This is still interesting though


That is actually closer to the true question, which is are the full sized dairy goats actually more productive of milk for the amount of food consumed. I've just seen people dismiss dwarfs as a dairy breed just because they are smaller, with out taking a moment to realize, gee, smaller animal that is producing less is also probably eating less.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

can you contact the DHI people to get information? they have all the information at their disposal and they can provide you with figures.

I know the lady who does the DHI for the AGS is Gail Putcher and she is real good with record keeping - has to be with somethign that important. I can give you her email address.


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## Herebegoats (Dec 30, 2009)

If you go to http://adgagenetics.org and look up a particular doe, if she is on DHIR you can look up any goats production on the USDA data site link. This will give you individual lactations and even the test dates and weights of each milking so you can "see" the milking curves for yourself. VERY valuable information!

Kelley


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## Dreamchaser (Oct 30, 2008)

Yeah, there are some goats that you can feed and feed, they look like skin and bones. But all they do is produce more milk they more you feed them. Weird...


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