# Meat/dairy cross goats



## Zelda (May 2, 2009)

Help me decide - I want to ultimately have two does, and produce meat & milk for our family use. Currently I have all dairy stock - one doe and 3 doelings.

I can't decide if I should keep one dairy doe and buy one meat doe, or if I should just keep my two best does and breed them to a Boer for next season's kid crop.

Is it worth messing with dairy/meat crosses? Wish I could just do embryo transfer and let my dairy does produce 100% Boer babies. :greengrin:


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## sealawyer (May 31, 2009)

Zelda, When we got our first 5 nannies way back when, we made sure their shots were up to date and took them to visit a big Boer billy. We built up our herd by retaining the best doelings and having the girls "visit" a billy for the next five years until we could justify buying one. So I would suggest breeding to a boer and see what happens. We got a lot of good nannies that are heavy milkers and good mama's when we cross bred our AlpineXBoer cross nannies to a Boer billy.
Good Luck! :thumbup:


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Yep, keep your dairy gals for milk & breed them to a Boer for meat kids. That way you have the best of both.


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## jdgray716 (Aug 8, 2008)

nancy d said:


> Yep, keep your dairy gals for milk & breed them to a Boer for meat kids. That way you have the best of both.


Agreed, this would give you the bigger carcus and the meat needed. You should go Boer or Myotonic for best results on the meet, just my opinion. Boer crosses would grow faster for you, Myotonics tend to be a little better on the worm issue. But I have both and and love them the same, well I like the upkeep on my Myotonics better and I find them a little better in personality but really the last two I am raising is changeing that. Good luck on the choice. HEHE :wink:


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## Zelda (May 2, 2009)

Thanks everyone! Glad I get to keep one of my Saanen doelings.  

Should I think about AI'ing to a good buck or look for something local? I was thinking I'd go with Boer crosses.


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## sealawyer (May 31, 2009)

If she is healthy and ready to breed, then take her to the billy! AIing around where I live is an expensive proposition and most breeders will keep the doe for 30-45 days to make sure she is bred. That would be 3 cycles. If you can part with her that long! :tears: But the result will be a new kid! :leap:


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Ok im relatively new at all this but when we brought our does to be bred they stayed for 21 days. They all kidded the same week. 
Then leased a buck.
All kidded the same week.
Leased another buck last yr. All kidded the same few days. 
I think Im getting to a place where at least with my girls Im certain that they all take the first week. 
Just my experience.
What Im saying is the doe doenst necessarly have to be left with the buck for a long period of time.


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## SDK (Jun 26, 2008)

dont get me wrong.. i loooove boer goats.. i have them :greengrin: 

but.. you can eat just straight dairy goats... just as tasty, the greeks around here prefer the dairy goats to the meat goats, the meat is lighter colored


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## sealawyer (May 31, 2009)

Yes, they can cook a goat very well! :drool: So well that it makes me want to make a trip back to the bay area! Any goat can be cooked well enough to greatly enjoy, but some of my BoerXAlpy have some of the mildest meat and yield the best carcass meat percentage (%50-55) which is better than most full blood Boers. Heterosis anyone!?!?


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## Zelda (May 2, 2009)

After seeing some BIG goats in a pasture, I went and introduced myself to the owner yesterday. I had hoped one was a buck - I couldn't tell from a distance - turns out they are nubian/boer cross does. I can't believe how big those girls were! WOW!!


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