# Do you have any dairy breeds in your commercial meat goats?



## mcompton1973 (Jun 11, 2012)

I have a small heard of commercial goats in central OK.
I have been thinking of bringing in some dairy does to increase milk and mothering. I am wondering if it will dramatically reduce growth of kids. Also if they are very good on parasites etc. I cant find much reliable info other than kiko and Nubian doesnt seem to be that unusual.


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## Ranger1 (Sep 1, 2014)

My Alpine babies grow just as fast as my neighbors prized Kiko goats, on average.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Those crosses make for wonderful stuff!


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I do! Well I'm slowly changing over to registered but still have had dairy and will keep having them. Out of all the dairy the one that I'm not overly fond of and that's because of their terrible fast growing feet is Nubian. Lamanchas are wonderful mothers, good feet, do just as well as the rest with parasites and the milk OMG the milk! I cross with a boer and that is by far my most favorite cross.
I have 2 alpines, second time kidding. My most favorite part of them is their feet. They have wonderful feet. I didn't have to trim their feet till they kidded at 2. Mothering really not bad but I wouldn't say they are the best of the best but mothering is important to me and I haven't culled them. Both are very easy to graft kids on and I think that's because they are not the best of the best lol. Fast growing kids and even being considered culls in the dairy department I think they do well on milk. Not as good as my full lamancha who would raise twins and I still got a gallon a day but still I'm getting just shy of a gallon with once a day milking which helps a ton with my bottle kids. 
I had one saanen once and she was a WONDERFUL mother, very Hardy and ok on feet. She was a pet so after I lost her never went with another one so I don't think I can give you a great input on them. But all around lamancha is my favorite. Alpines are growing on me and I probably will never get another Nubian. Also my first generation Nubian X boers are very small framed and always, where as the lamanchas they kinda can go either way. Second generation bred back to a boer on the Nubian I am more pleased with


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## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

We have crossed nubian buck over our boer does this season to increase milk capacity on the doe kids. We have 2 Nubian x boer does and we breed them to the same boer buck as our boer does in other years and they often have triplets that grow at faster rates than the pure boers. (Hope this makes sense!!)


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

My Nubian boers always have trips too! I don't let them keep all 3 any more but even when I did you are right they did a wonderful job which has nothing to do with why I won't keep triplets on does any more it's that the kids sometimes bite onto the teats to keep the third from taking it and causes issues


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