# Any mini Lamancha breeders out there?



## bigz48877 (Oct 18, 2016)

I have 2 mini Lamancha does and I was wondering if anyone on this site owns or breeds them?

Are they harder to sell than other mini dairy crosses like mini Nubian and mini alpine?

We bred our mini lamancha does to our pure bred registered Nigerian dwarf buck and put some for sale ads on Facebook and Craigslist for the kids(twin bucklings and doelings)and haven't had many people interested in buying them. 

Do people think the short ears are a defect or something?


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

I just got contacted by someone who wants to buy my F1 buckling. And his sister is so cute I can't imagine we'd have trouble selling her. Although my daughter may be keeping her.

I don't do Facebook, so I just listed them on Craigslist and a local sales site. It helps if you post really cute photos.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

@DawnStar


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## bigz48877 (Oct 18, 2016)

groovyoldlady said:


> I just got contacted by someone who wants to buy my F1 buckling. And his sister is so cute I can't imagine we'd have trouble selling her. Although my daughter may be keeping her.
> 
> I don't do Facebook, so I just listed them on Craigslist and a local sales site. It helps if you post really cute photos.


Ok. I'm going to take some more pictures of our mini lamancha kids try to spice up the ads and keep trying


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## cinderrella123 (Sep 11, 2016)

In my area where we live No one was Interested In the Mini Lamancha's it didn't matter that they were registered and breeding age. I breed now Full size Lamancha's funny about the full size they sell out fast and better then any mini goat that i had.


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## bigz48877 (Oct 18, 2016)

cinderrella123 said:


> In my area where we live No one was Interested In the Mini Lamancha's it didn't matter that they were registered and breeding age. I breed now Full size Lamancha's funny about the full size they sell out fast and better then any mini goat that i had.


Maybe people like full size diary goats more because they are taller, produce more milk and are easier to milk?


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Why maintain three miniature goats for the same milk as one standard? 
Plus the standard is able to go to sanctioned shows and gain value over time with milk stars and designations. 


You can also get a bucket under them without cutting a hole in your stantion (read sarcastically imagining cheeky grin)


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

A lady just left here with our mini LaMancha buck. She paid what i asked. He went home with 3 Oberhaslis she bought elsewhere. I think this was the fastest buckling sale we've ever made!


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## bigz48877 (Oct 18, 2016)

goathiker said:


> Why maintain three miniature goats for the same milk as one standard?
> Plus the standard is able to go to sanctioned shows and gain value over time with milk stars and designations.
> 
> You can also get a bucket under them without cutting a hole in your stantion (read sarcastically imagining cheeky grin)


I thought about getting a standard size goat but it's illegal to sell the milk and a Nigerian dwarf can provide the milk I need and eats less feed.


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

Most people around here love the short ears, but don't recognize the breed Mini-Lamanchas so (I think) that is on reason why they're harder to place. Around my area there are loads of Pygmy, ND, and crosses between the two, but not many standard dairy breeds. My registered Nubians (or other registered standard sized breeds) sell almost immediately while the unregistered & minis take a little while longer. That is one reason why I'm switching the registered goats. 

One thing I did with my bucklings/wethers this year was, once they were weaning age and still hadn't been sold, was say $75 (or $125, depending on which one) each and a $25-$50 discount if you get them by -insert date- (or buy 2 or more). They all sold pretty quickly after that.


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

In my area (OK), anything with Nigerian or Pygmy looks gets passed over unless it's really cheap and in good weight (and goes straight to the kill buyer usually). Full size dairy (mostly Nubians and Lamanchas, though I've seen some Oberhasli's and Alpines more recently) and Boer's go very well with or without papers. Kikos and Myotonics have a smaller market than the Boers.
I recently bought about an 80 lb pygmy buck for $40, that rounds out to $0.50 a lb, which is good for butchering, and that's where he'll end up because even asking $1 a lb, he's still here.

I started out with some smaller goats and ended up selling all of them off. It wasn't worth the trouble of milking the smaller does, when even if I don't sell it, I have a huge family and it barely supplemented our dairy intake. It would have taken at least 2 small goats to produce as much milk as one of my full size ones, and by then I'm not saving money on feed. I did not make any money on selling the smaller ones - most went to auction due to not selling for extended periods and needing to make space to increase my Boer herd.

Economically speaking, unless you need a small quantity of milk, mini's just are not the way to go. They are great little creatures, I'm sure they are great for small homesteads where maybe 2-3 people live at most or a single person, but for like us, a family farm, they can't keep up with the demand.


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## cinderrella123 (Sep 11, 2016)

bigz48877 said:


> I thought about getting a standard size goat but it's illegal to sell the milk and a Nigerian dwarf can provide the milk I need and eats less feed.


Actually My 3 lamancha's don't eat all that much they don't rarely ever get grain unless they need it or are pregnant. I feed maybe 2 flakes twice a day to my 3 doe's maybe more I feed twice a day but they also get free run of 5 acres of fresh lush grass.

I rarely ever feed grain unless they need it or pregnant. so I love full size goats.


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## bigz48877 (Oct 18, 2016)

cinderrella123 said:


> Actually My 3 lamancha's don't eat all that much they don't rarely ever get grain unless they need it or are pregnant. I feed maybe 2 flakes twice a day to my 3 doe's maybe more I feed twice a day but they also get free run of 5 acres of fresh lush grass.
> 
> I rarely ever feed grain unless they need it or pregnant. so I love full size goats.


That's good for you. I'm happy for you
But as a beginner I wanted minis


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

Most of my Minis produce the same amount of milk that the standards do. I had several oops mini's many years ago, well before there were Miniature standard breeds. You wouldn't have known they were 1/2 Nigerian except for the blue eyes and wild coloring, they looked and milked like smaller standards.

I had Mini Nubians, Oberhasli and Lamancha. I had no problems selling them up here.


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## nehimama (May 23, 2018)

I love my Miniature LaManchas. I have one that consistently milks a half-gallon daily, once-a-day milking, and another two who come close to that. I have a very small herd, and work constantly to improve the milking genetics - by selective breeding and culling.

I think a lot may depend on your location. You might consider putting photos of the dam's udder with your ads. You might also include pedigree information.


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## bigz48877 (Oct 18, 2016)

nehimama said:


> I love my Miniature LaManchas. I have one that consistently milks a half-gallon daily, once-a-day milking, and another two who come close to that. I have a very small herd, and work constantly to improve the milking genetics - by selective breeding and culling.
> 
> I think a lot may depend on your location. You might consider putting photos of the dam's udder with your ads. You might also include pedigree information.
> View attachment 132114
> ...


Thanks for the info. We are getting about a half gallon of milk out of our mini lamancha doe Fawn too.

This is our first time milking goats. 
I heard lamanchas produce alot of butterfat in their milk and it's good for cheese, butter and creme.

What's been your experience with that?


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## nehimama (May 23, 2018)

If my goats were on milk test, I'd know for sure the percentage of butterfat they produce, but I can tell you this: I've been thrilled with the cream line on the jars of milk.


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