# Looking for some info...



## tippycanoe (Jul 11, 2016)

I'm not trying to start anything, I promise! I'm really just trying to gather information so I can make the right decision for me.

I currently have Kinders, and although I love their size and personalities, they really don't produce as much milk as I'd like, quality is fantastic, volume is not. Turns out I'm pretty good at and really like making cheese  I've done everything I can nutrition-wise for the girls I have now. Improving my current herd, even completely upgrading my herd is turning out to be near impossible - just can't get my hands on the animals. A doeling here or there that I'd have to wait, breed and see how she turns out just isn't practical at all and would take literally 10 years. So I had the bright idea of just switching over to Nubians. It's the butterfat combined with the volume that I'm after.

After going over this with a friend, she was all "you don't want Nubians - they yell and scream, have trouble kidding, reject their kids and get sick at the drop of a hat". Now, I'm assuming that is a bit hyperbolic, but is there any truth to that? The other thing I really like about Kinders is they are pretty hardy little buggers and take great care of themselves. If I miss a kidding, no problem, mom has already taken care of everything.

I'm not afraid of a little trouble, I've been breeding horses for ages and dealt with all manner of un-pleasantness - injuries, illness, retained placentas, orphans..., but now that it's just me on the farm I don't want to/can't deal with an entire herd of "high risk" animals.

Again, NOT trying to start anything - just want to know what I'm potentially getting into.

Thanks in advance!


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

The only thing I’ve heard out of that list is the yelling. But then not all yell.


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

I absolutely LOVE Nubians. I had/have Myotonics, Alpines, a Saanen, Mini-Lamanchas, a Mini-Nubian, and a full sized Lamancha - and although I love those breeds too, if I could only go with one, it'd be the Nubians. 

I have found them to be an easy-going, sweet tempered breed, and only one out of the 9 I have owned was a yeller. I have another one that has a loud/obnoxious maaaaw, but she doesn't use it very often. 

I have never heard (nor experienced) that part about Nubians being prone to kidding problems. I have heard that Pygmies are, however. 

My Nubians have been great mothers, and they are no more prone to get sick than my other dairy breeds are! I'd say go for it.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

It sounds like for you, Nubians is an excellent choice.
Yes some of them yell but it's usually when they are in heat, need to be milked or they think they are starving.
They are excellent mothers! The few that I've had have been very hardy, no kidding problems at all.


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

Wow. She must not have had Nubians, or have had poor management. In about 10 years, I've only called a vet out once for a kidding issue (quads - tangled), and have never called a vet for illness. Of course my time is coming - after all I have goats. Beware of someone who makes a blanket statement for any breed. A disservice to the breed and to those who raise them.


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

Nubians can be loud, but I have Alpines who are louder and more a pain. For me, Nubians did not work out in my herd. I have about 130 animals in various pens and barns depending on age, lactation and sex. (Bucks are housed separately from main herd).

My eared goats bit the Nubians ears and the Lamanchas really bit them! But, the Nubians were nice milkers, had no problems kidding, were good moms and bred back well. The ear biting and resultant yelling were kind of a problem.

I think the ear biting was a learned behavior from one or 2 bullies! They have grown older and have settled down.

All breeds have good and bad in them. You need to decide what will work for you.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I have 2 Nubians. They were very loud when they first came. It took a few months but they are now quiet.


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## tippycanoe (Jul 11, 2016)

Okay, this is what I though - she had a bad experience and it's tainted her opinion. That's why I asked here! Now on to research herds... Oh, don't suppose anyone here has an opinion on what is easiest to sell - open, pregnant or lactating does?


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## Kath G. (Jul 13, 2017)

As much as you love your Kinders (a breed we had a deposit on at one point in time) they're half Nubian, so... you probably know as much as anyone else if you'd like Nubians! My Minis are not fixed at parent breed percentage of 50% like the Kinders, most of them are around 60, 65% Nubian... and I just love them, but much easier to fill the bucket with them vs. Kinders.

Although, someone I know who has Kinders, Minis, and standard Nubians (they dairy professionally) says the Kinders have the best quality milk. Least quantity, but best tasting .


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## goat girls (Dec 13, 2017)

Hmm, my Nubian Doe kids easier than all my other Does.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

As for mothering ability, if I sell weaned kids & put them all into a creep feeder then let them out, Mama is right there checking butts as they come back in. "Well, where are mine?"
On the other hand my Boers have been known to not blink an eye when kids are removed.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

tippycanoe said:


> Okay, this is what I though - she had a bad experience and it's tainted her opinion. That's why I asked here! Now on to research herds... Oh, don't suppose anyone here has an opinion on what is easiest to sell - open, pregnant or lactating does?


Probably depends a lot on your area.


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

In my 35+ years of goats, I have had all dairy breeds except Toggs (I did have a Togg x though) as well as Boers and Pygmies. Nubians I have had for all but 1 year of those numerous years.

I have never had kidding problems with the Nubians. I do a some that are loud, usually when in heat, but I have just as many Lamanchas, Alpines, Saanans, Boers and Nigerians that were as mouthy when in heat or just wanting to be fed.

The Nubians are no less hardy than my other breeds. Mostly, hardiness comes with proper herd management. Proper diet, minerals, health care, wormings etc makes for hardy animals. Very seldom do my Nubians have kidding problems or reject their kids. Mine have very good milk production with lots of nice milkfat. I also raise the extra bucklings for meat, as they tend to grow bigger from the butterfat in the milk.


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## Goatzrule (Feb 7, 2013)

Maybe visit some farms and take a look at their nubians and other breeds before making a decision.


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## IHEARTGOATS (Jun 14, 2016)

Nubian are the goats that I don't own that I love the most


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I had nubians years ago.
Loved them, had a lot of milk and were sweet. 
Loved their long trademark spotted ears. They made a really good cross with a FB boer. Had best of both worlds, meat and milk. 

To me, they didn't seem any different in noise level ect, than the boers. 
I have had a couple of boers who scream so loud, every time they see me, so I think it happens with any breed. It all depends on the doe I guess.


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## TexasGoatMan (Jul 4, 2015)

We have 10 goats. One Nubian buck and One Boer buck. 5 Nubian does/doelings and one Saanan, One half LaMancha and half Nubian doe and her 3/4 Nubian doeling. Of all the goats the half and half is the loudest. Talks to me every time she sees me walk out the back door. The full Nubians never make a sound unless really up set which is seldom. As far as being healthy, I don't see any difference between one breed and the next. Just take care of them with all the above mentioned minerals and feed and you should have good results. Kidding has never been a problem for our goats. Good milk and lots of it.


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## Kaigypsygoats (Jan 10, 2018)

I am getting a couple of Nubians, a La Mancha (2019) and maybe another for practice. I am slightly apprehensive about adding Nubians as I've heard about their screaming abilities. My area is semi-rural but the we are near a noisy intersection so I'm not too worried. We have no neighbors right now. I watch a couple of YT channels where the people have Nubians and the only time one was noisy was it was in heat/wanted out of the pen.


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## Lstein (Oct 2, 2014)

I can confirm on the yelling. 

I've only had two of them, one yelled constantly and the other one occasionally. My other goats yell too but for whatever reason I always found it more noticeable/annoying when the two nubians did.

Other than that I had/have never experienced any of the other problems you have listed.


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## LizWiz (Sep 12, 2017)

Hi - my Nubian x Boer is very friendly and sweet.
She can be louder than my other goats but not by much.
And she eats anything ! - LOVE that  my other goats are far to picky !!


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I’ve had a few Nubians over the years. The one I have now I didn’t think she even had a voice till she kidded lol the first one was more like a dog so when she would first see me she would yell, I would tell her to come on and she ran up to me and we did chores together. When I was done she yelled for the others and went back. The second one screamed at feeding but 90% of my Goats do that! She just seemed to have a higher pitched voice.
All have been super wonderful mothers! I run boer bucks and spit those out just as well as the boer does.
The vet killed the first one, the second wouldn’t let me milk her so I sold her, she’s still alive at 6, and I’ve had this one for 4 years.....with the one the vet killed she had a a cyst and the vet knocked her out to remove it instead of just draining it and that’s what killed her.
Now with only 3 I can’t say I’m even a start to knowing all about Nubians, but I do know with some breeders with boers they swear they are culls, and basically the same thing your friend said about the Nubians. I think there are some lines/ genetics that are better then others, and some breeders who focus on things less important things then health or mothering ability.
I would do your homework on breeders your looking at purchasing from. See if they are reputable breeders, have a good name going. Also if they keep good records. I think you might run into a issue with the mothering thing because a lot of breeders pull kids and bottle feed. It doesn’t mean those does are bad mothers it just means that the breeders have no proof that their stock has fantastic mothering traits.......or terrible mothering. 
Honestly though I love personalities of Nubians. The first thing that comes to mind with Nubians is just sweet and loving.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Here is my Nubian who just gave birth. She had both these big half boer kids out, Fed and cleaned in less then 2 hours......I checked her 2 hours before this and her water didn't even break we were just at the talking stage. Her hormones are even a little crazy right now and I'm missing some hair lol which she knocked of as soon as I swatted her away


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

I think that area _does_ matter. I have successfully raised Nubians, but, they were always cold and unhappy in our wet weather on the Oregon coast. Those long ears just lose too much heat when humidity is 80 to 100%. On a bigger farm with a barn that allows more room they might have been happier.
I don't even look at them anymore as I won't bring them to our wet swampy environment to be miserable. I do have Alpine/Nubian crosses that do quite well, they are not as hardy as my LaMancha goats though.
Those buggers stand knee deep in flood waters grazing in pouring down rain lol.


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## tippycanoe (Jul 11, 2016)

So I took the plunge - put deposits down on 3 Nubian kids for this coming March/April...now to rehome the Kinder does. Boys are easy, freezer camp


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