# Need Start-up Input



## CircleStar Ranch (Feb 2, 2012)

[I wasn't sure which area to post this..Mods move if necessary]

We are planning to enter the wonderful world of goats! There are just two of us adults, so our milk/dairy/meat needs are low compared to a lot of people. We currently make our own cheeses from commercial cows' milk with limited success. We are looking at going as minimal as possible: 2 milkers and a buck. We would also add a wether as a companion to the buck until the kids arrive, at which point he goes off to Freezer-Camp. So in my research I have come up with three options:

Option A: Get 2 Kinder does and one Kinder buck. I think they would provide the milk/meat quantities we could easily use. They can be bred year round so we can space them at 6 months. I think this is my best option, but the issue here is there are no breeders remotely close to me.

Option B. Get 2 Nubian does and one Pygmy buck. Keep 2 of the doelings and a buckling and build our own Kinder herd. Then sell/cull the Nubians & Pygmy.

Option C: Get 2 Nubian does and one Boer buck and cull the kids. Not sure if a Nubian doe would have difficulties kidding Boer-cross babies.

With Nubian does we could limit the milk production by only milking once per day. Finding buyers for excess meat kids shouldn't be an issue as there are large Hispanic and Middle-Eastern populations here.
So a couple of things at once here. I would like input on my options. Secondly, what kind of dressed weight can I expect if I cull at 6 months for either Kinders or Nubian-Boer crosses?

-Dutch


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## Tenacross (May 26, 2011)

If at all possible, if I was in your shoes, I would try and buy two nice bred dairy does and not buy a buck until you need one. Put the money you had penciled to buy and feed a buck to buy quality does. If the does turn out the way you hope they will, keep them. They are not always easy to find.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Get ready for a rambling answer.
Kinders arent official Kinders until the 5th generation. Boer over Nubian is an excellent cross.
Meat is meat.
OPtion C but then Im not biased at all with Boers & a few Boer/Nubian crosses.
:roll: If you want the best of both it would be meat over dairy cross.


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

I breed kinders and I am pretty involved with the KGBA. Most kinder breeders do not worry about the 5th generation thing. The difference pretty much is a word on the registration document and the color of the paper. We are very interested in seeing new kinders getting established. The big thing about kinders is that if you want to be able to register them, the pygmy buck and the nubian doe must be registered. I'm in Central NM, about 30 miles south of Albuquerque. Looks like about 400 miles from you. 

If you can get some nubian does there and not have to have a buck of your own to get them bred that would surely be a lot easier. You could start with nubians and if you still want kinders later you could think about a pygmy then. It would be a lot easier to start out and learn about having goats without a buck.

If you are going to have to keep a buck anyway, kinders are just wonderful. And smaller, so a little easier to handle.


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## CircleStar Ranch (Feb 2, 2012)

Nancy... Can a Nubian doe kid a Nubian-Boer cross without difficulty?


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Yes they can because that is usually how they are crossed. Now a FF or small doe may have some problems but not normally. A seasoned doe will push them out with out a problem.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Circlestar, Last year I put a fairly large Boer on a 50% do who wasnt real big. She had no problem kidding.
We have put Boer on large purebred Nub with no problems either.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

First off welcome.... :thumb: :wave: 

I like option C
Nubians and boers are a great combination....and beautiful to look at ....they grow faster than a straight boer...they also have the best of both worlds...milk and meat.... A boer buck is a good option for the Does...Another thing to consider is..if the buck is 100% FB boer... the babies from those Does ..can be registered at 50% and their babies...babies ...can be registered at 75% and so on ..until they reach Purebred status...they will never be Fullblood boer though.... :wink: :thumb:


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

We have a few mix bred does. We have a kiko/mix <possibly w/boer>, 2 nubian/Boer mixes, and the younger one is registered 50% boer.
Our does were bred as commercial animals, not for quality such as showing. However, we adore them and they put out some nice/pretty babies that grow well.
Our oldest nubian/boer has always had kids 8lbs+ and they have been nice. My son showed her daughter in 4-H last year as a percentage doe <registered 50% with IBGA>, and for being basically a 'mutt' bred doe, she did quite well and he has lots of ribbons from 5 different shows 
She is bred and due in 2 weeks and if she were to have a doeling it would be 75%, and possibly shown in 4-H.

You might see how much interest is in 4-H wethers in your area, and if there is a lot of competition.
If you get some decent, meaty goats, you can sell wethers to the kids for about what you'd bring at sales or selling to someone just for butchering.

I like our nubian/boer does. They aren't particularly wide, but are large does. Bred to a boer buck, our does have had kids who are much nicer than their moms.

I like the kiko crossed with boer. I think 2 generations in is probably what I'd really like. Our kiko doe has the best feet of them all, has never been sick, she does need wormed regularly, she is 'the boss lady', she has kidded twins 2x with ease, and her last set of twins were very fast growers, in fact they were the youngest of 3 sets of twins and towered over the others.

If I were looking just for commercial animals to sell for meat, I'd honestly look into the kiko/boer, unless you can get some really big, meaty boer does. Most of our kids were about 55lbs at weaning age <about 3mos>, and the kiko/boer was 65 lbs! We fed them a little grain 2x a day in a creep feeder, and grass hay, they had browse, but that's all they got.
I'm sure with some stockier goats, you could have better/faster growth, our girls were bought to be pets, and to breed so we could sell the kids to help pay the does keep...and okay well we were going to eat some too but I can't eat my babies LOL!!! Plus I don't like goat meat...Hubby and kids do, but I don't.


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