# Breeding Meat to Dairy?



## OhCee (Feb 26, 2010)

Do any of you crossbreed meat and dairy goats? Or know of anyone who does?

If you do, what breeds? How does it turn out?

I'm just curious, thanks!!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I have bred nubian to boer and the kids grew faster... they were gorgeous animals...good in milk and also in meat... this mix ...goes very well together.. :wink: :greengrin:


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## OhCee (Feb 26, 2010)

toth boer goats said:


> I have bred nubian to boer and the kids grew faster... they were gorgeous animals...good in milk and also in meat... this mix ...goes very well together.. :wink: :greengrin:


Oh good  That's what I was thinking, Boer Buck to Nubian does... Wethers would be meat, does would stay to be bred if they were good gainers...

Thanks!


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Yep we cross em too! I have only one purebred Nubian she is really big but her 2yr old 50%Boer Nubie daughter is much bigger broader & longer.
The best of both in one package! :thumb:


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## OhCee (Feb 26, 2010)

Do you keep her daughters for milking as well as breeding for meat offspring?


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## kelebek (Oct 5, 2007)

I do - I do!!!! I do Mini Fainters - LOL! Myotonics to Nigerian buck.

Previously I had some Boer/Sanaan girls that I bred to my nigerian and I had one that I bred to my Nubian and an alpine bred to a Boer.

Heck - meat is meat is meat - LOVE goat meat.


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## KGW Farms (Nov 25, 2009)

I have crossed Boer bucks onto Alpine, Saanen, Pygmy, and a Pygmy-Saanen cross. They are ALL excellent crosses. Lots of milk and meat. The 1/2 Boer; 1/4 Saanen and 1/4 Pygmy was the best tasting...lots of marbling!


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

nubian x boer...  I have one, katie and shes well built and has tons of milk


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## OhCee (Feb 26, 2010)

KGW Farms said:


> I have crossed Boer bucks onto Alpine, Saanen, Pygmy, and a Pygmy-Saanen cross. They are ALL excellent crosses. Lots of milk and meat. The 1/2 Boer; 1/4 Saanen and 1/4 Pygmy was the best tasting...lots of marbling!


If it's safe to breed a Boer buck to a pygmy, is it also safe to breed to Nigi's? The man we bought our first 2 does from said after their second freshening it's safe to breed them to the larger bucks, but I wanted to make sure...


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## KGW Farms (Nov 25, 2009)

I am sorry....The Pygmy/Boer cross was Pygmy buck and Boer doe. The Saanen/Pygmy cross was bred to a Boer buck. I am sorry for the misunderstanding.

I wouldn't bred a ND doe to a Boer buck but the other way around would be okay


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## OhCee (Feb 26, 2010)

Ahhhh no worries 

Yeah, I thought that sounded hinkey when he told me that! Thanks  

You know what this means?? I gotta get a Nubian girl or two  Hahah the bf will be sooooo happy...


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## bleatinghearts (Feb 26, 2010)

When I get home from work tonight (on lunch break) I'll show you a photo of Holly, our Kiko-Saanen-Togg doe. She is due in one month and she's getting really big. We bred her to our Kiko buck. Cant wait to see what babies will be like. She is white with a dark line down her back. I've heard that the saanen color is dominant. Anyone else had that experience?


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## FarmGirl18 (Oct 5, 2007)

Boer buck to Nubian doe makes excellent kids!! They grow so quick because of the dairy mom having more milk, definitely a great cross. I definitely wouldn't breed a Boer buck to a Nigi or Pygmy, their kids can be pretty stocky and I'd be concerned about birthing problems.


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## OhCee (Feb 26, 2010)

Could I keep a Boer buck with my Nigi buck? Or would the Boer kick his butt into next Friday?


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

when they head butt each other ...the boer of course ..may injure the Nigi buck....if he is aggressive....with the playing...

But ...if you want to put them together and see how it goes.....then you can pull one out... if it gets out of hand..... some bucks get along.... but ...when they are in rut....they may get a little out of hand with the challenges.... :wink:


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## OhCee (Feb 26, 2010)

My Nigi buck is almost 8 weeks old. Would it be better to raise them together?


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

It depends...how old is your boer buck.? If ...he is grown...he may be to rough on the little guy....at feeding time.... Goats....like to compete against each other ..especially at feeding time... With the size difference be careful....


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## SDK (Jun 26, 2008)

OhCee said:


> toth boer goats said:
> 
> 
> > I have bred nubian to boer and the kids grew faster... they were gorgeous animals...good in milk and also in meat... this mix ...goes very well together.. :wink: :greengrin:
> ...


IMO i've done nubians AND lamanchas.. lamancha crosses (though earless) cross like 20 times better.. my LM/Boer crosses were MASSIVE KIDS!.. even my PB lamancha kids are huge! last year i had two kids born at 6.5 and 7 pounds and by two weeks they were pushing 20 each! it was amazing


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## OhCee (Feb 26, 2010)

Oh Pam! I don't have a Boer yet  Just trying to plan and see if it would be wiser to get one about the same size as Stachie so they would grow up together... Or maybe get the baby Boer when Stachie is bigger so that he establishes dominance early? Hm...


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

OK...OhCee..... yeah... that might work ....you will have to see.. how they would get along.... and then decide... if they should be penned together...or not.... Good luck .... :wink: :greengrin:


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

> IMO i've done nubians AND lamanchas.. lamancha crosses (though earless) cross like 20 times better.. my LM/Boer crosses were MASSIVE KIDS!.. even my PB lamancha kids are huge! last year i had two kids born at 6.5 and 7 pounds and by two weeks they were pushing 20 each! it was amazing


 My Fullblood boers... compared to the growth rate of the nubian crosses...amazingly the crosses.. grew faster....and were taller.... I love the boers and the nubians...both are beautiful and that is what I had.. to breed with a long time ago.....and some of my kids were 9 lbs at birth.... but everyone has there own experiences....and outcomes.... I got out of the percentages and went to the direction of the show boers.... It has been ...quite a few years ago.... but... I remember they were impressive to me.....with there long floppy spotted ears...LOL  :wink:


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## bleatinghearts (Feb 26, 2010)

This is Holly last summer. She's Kiko-Saanen-Togg. I can't get over how lean she looks compared to now. Husbands out of town with the only camera right now so I can't get a shot of her now. She's huge and still has a great winter coat, although its starting to shed out. The other shot is of our buck that she's bred to. The Kiko is a great goat for Fairbanks due to our long cold winters. I'm mostly worried that Tommy throws kids with bad attitudes.
[attachment=1:2io2wfpa]Holly Summer09 1yr.JPG[/attachment:2io2wfpa]
[attachment=0:2io2wfpa]Tommy.JPG[/attachment:2io2wfpa]
I would really like to see some meat-dairy cross photos if anyone wouldn't mind sharing.


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## KGW Farms (Nov 25, 2009)

Sorry Bethany and others.......I would never suggest breading a Boer buck to a ND or Pygmy.....but the other way around is great!


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

here's my 50% boer 50% Nubian doe, Katie

little under-conditioned, but she's such a sweet doe


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

very pretty Doe Katrina.... :wink: :greengrin:


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## FarmGirl18 (Oct 5, 2007)

KGW Farms said:


> Sorry Bethany and others.......I would never suggest breading a Boer buck to a ND or Pygmy.....but the other way around is great!


No worries! Just wanted to clarify that. 

As to keeping the Boer and Nigi bucks together...if they are both young and growing up together it would probably be okay, but I'd definitely keep a close eye on them if you put full grown ones together, I worry about putting a younger Boer buck in with an older one, as they can be kinda hard on each other.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Katrina she IS niiice!


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

thanks pam and nancy. 
she's a really easy keeper, and is due around april 20th...cant wait! the kid/s will be 75% boer.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Your welcome Katrina...I can't wait to see her kids as well...they are going to be real cuties..... I know that for sure.... :wink: :greengrin: :thumb:


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## myfainters (Oct 30, 2009)

I'd make sure the Boer buckling is disbudded if you are housing him with your nigie buck. You will have to request it at birth since most Boer breeders don't disbud.... you DON'T want to house a horned huge boer with a disbudded nigie buck.....eeek thats a BAD accident waiting to happen and a sight I can guarantee you don't want to witness.


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## bleatinghearts (Feb 26, 2010)

She looks like a real sweetie!


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## OhCee (Feb 26, 2010)

myfainters said:


> I'd make sure the Boer buckling is disbudded if you are housing him with your nigie buck. You will have to request it at birth since most Boer breeders don't disbud.... you DON'T want to house a horned huge boer with a disbudded nigie buck.....eeek thats a BAD accident waiting to happen and a sight I can guarantee you don't want to witness.


That makes sense! And I think I'll get the boer buck after Stachie is full grown... That way he can establish patterns of behavior early... like elephants that you tie to posts as babies.
====================================

You ladies' mixes are super gorgeous... I want one


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

**waves arm in air** 

I DO! I DO!

I have quite a market for people wanting inexpensive home milkers. They just want a pet and a bit of milk for their fridge, and they find the registered dairy goats at $400 are not within their reach. So I sell home milkers for $150 just before they freshen for the first time. These are usually unregistered saanens, and I join them to a boer buck. The kids are meatier than a pure saanen, so the new owners can eat them if they wish. Or if its a doe kid, they can breed her back to a saanen if they want more dairy type kids, or they can breed them back to a boer if they want more meat type kids. The first cross of saanen and boer is dairy enough that it can be milked if desired, but dont produce too much milk that they dont have any mastitis etc problems if they are just left with a meat herd to rear their own kids without being milked. 

It provides so much flexibility!


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## OhCee (Feb 26, 2010)

Okay! So I have done it again!

I am going to get a buck and a doe from NubiansRUs! The blonde boy and his brown sister (Gypsy's babies). They are 1/2 Nubian, 1/4Alpine, and 1/4 Boer. The girl I plan to breed to a Boer buck in a year or so, and the boy will be a friend for Stachie . I will pay stud fees for a Boer buck until I have enough does to where it makes more sense to own my own.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

congrats!


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## OhCee (Feb 26, 2010)

Thank ya  I fell in love with the blond buckling! He just looks like a blond surfer dude... so I call him "Dude"


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## lupinfarm (Aug 26, 2009)

We're buying 2 doeling Boer/Sanaan/Nubian soon (1/2 Boer, 1/4 Nubian, 1/4 Sanaan)  and would be breeding our girls, when they're of age, to either probably a Nubian buck.


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## OhCee (Feb 26, 2010)

After reading all the stuff on how short the lactation is on boer does, I wanted to get the just 1/4 boer, 3/4 dairy doe... and her brother is the cutest freakin' thing, so it sorta just happened  I'll be breeding her to a boer buck for meat kids, and I don't know what I'll use him for yet, but we're keeping him a buck just in case!


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## Itchysmom (Apr 3, 2010)

Excuse me for butting in here, but I was wondering about a sanaan/boer cross. I will be getting a sanaan doe and was wondering if I bred her to a boer if the meat would be better. Anyone have pictures of this cross????


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## Mellee7AcreRanch (Mar 29, 2010)

Friend of mine had just gotten some goats as pets, till she realized that one day "Willy," who is Pygmy was a girl and pregnant by her huge boer cross buck. Birthing did not look pretty and it was such a risk to poor willy. thankfully, everything went okay, but I now have a new buck because she does not want anymore opps.


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## jay13 (Apr 12, 2009)

My girl Vanilli just had her kid. She is Alpine and was bred to a full blood boer. The kid was HUGE. It might be because she was a single but at 9 pounds 13 ounces I was very glad I was there to help her as she needed a lot of assistance to birth that kid!

ETA: A friend of mine breeds full blood Alpine goats and through selective breeding and management habits says she is getting just as much if not the same amount of muscling on her whether kids as some boer goat farmers. So the quality of the meat is going to depend a lot on feed and care not just the breed. You can have a high quality goat, but with poor living conditions, feed, the meat quality will be poor.


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## jdgray716 (Aug 8, 2008)

I can not speak for other breeds but I do know my Myotonics. You can breed a Myotonic, or Fainter, buck to a dairy doe all day long and you will be fine. But I can not stress this enough, do not...and I mean do not breed a dairy buck ot a Myotonic doe, here is why.

Dairy goats are heavy milkers, thus, their kids consume huge amounts of milk in order to grow. Myotonics are NOT dairy influenced, nor are they heavy milkers. They have small "milk on demand" udders that provide smaller amounts of milk in comparison to dairy, or Kiko and Boer........both of which had some dairy influence in their creation. Myotonics have a higher milk fat but not a higher volume. To ask a doe to raise a half dairy kid is a recipe for disaster for both the doe and the kid(s). Keep in mind it's not a matter upsetting breeds or crossing them, you just have to do it right. If not right, it becomes a matter of doing what is best for that doe that might expect to birth and raise those kids for them. Too many folks never take into account what it is they are asking of their does in crossing them with other breeds, or they breed them too young and so on. Hope this helps.


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## OhCee (Feb 26, 2010)

Thanks for the info, JD! I actually figured as much  My female is 1/2 Nubian, 1/4 Boer, and 1/4 Alpine. So 3/4 Dairy from a very dairy mom for being 1/2 boer. I'll be breeding her to either a Myotonic or Boer buck (Leaning towards myo, though!)


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## jdgray716 (Aug 8, 2008)

Wonderful, they have some great kids out of Myo to dairy breeds. Bending Tree Ranch has some great examples. Do a search or her link can be found on my links page.


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