# What breed(s) do you own?



## Faithful Crown Nubians (Dec 5, 2007)

Well, I thought with all the new members joining this would be a good thread to do again. I know it's been posted before, heck I may have posted it before...lol :laughcry

Anywho, what breed(s) do you own and why did you choose those/that breed(s)??

I chose Pygmys first because of their small size and their barrel with legs look. I still have 2 Pygmys however, I sold off the rest of the herd after my buck died. There's just no money in them around here so I have Nica, my first goat I ever had and her son. They will be here until they die. Then I saw a newborn Nubian kid and just had to have one...well we all know how that one turns into two, then three, ect ect. So I got a small herd of Nubians. Then after going to shows, I started liking the Lamancha breed....the more I was around them the more I liked them and I just had to get one of then also...well we know how that goes. I located a Lamancha herd and will be adding two more Lamancha doelings in 2011. dance:


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## LMonty (Oct 25, 2007)

Nubians only. Got rid of my Americans and the Saanens this summer. only non nubian i have left is one of the 2 wethers that does lawnmower duty in the back pasture. I love their noisy, colorful rowdy selves. My favorite flavor goat.


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## BrokenHalterFarm (Feb 16, 2010)

Well im not a breeder or a milker like most here , I take in those that I can that need homes.

CJ-Nubian
Lefty - nubian/boer/pygmy
Copy - oversized pygmy
Fat goat - overside pygmy
Jersey - fainter/pygmy
Sassy - pygmy^ her son. The two below are her this years twins , accidental breeding.
Gigi - pygmy/boer/nubian
Jackson -pygmy/boer/nubian
Amelia - grade nubian
Buddy - Alpine
Holly - pygmy
Olive - pygmy
Burnie MattOFF - oversized pygmy.


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## goatkid (Oct 26, 2007)

I own mostly Nubians. I chose that breed for two main reasons. First, they are easier to milk for me. When I first started in goats, I was also new to milking. They have larger teats and milk out quicker than some other breeds. Second, I love the way they look. I also like La Manchas and have one doe and her kids. I'll keep her doeling. I also have one Snubian who was bred Alpine and a mini Nubian who is not so mini. I've had other breeds in the past including Boer, Alpine, one Saanen and a few Nigies.


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## catdance62 (Mar 2, 2009)

5 Nubians (registered), 1 LaMancha (not registered) 1 (what we call) French Alpine (but who knows?)
The Nubians for their milking ability, personality, and saleability.
The Lamancha and the (?)French Alpine are leftovers from when we first started keeping goats and had a mis-mash of breeds. They are more pets than anything.


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## LamanchaLover (Jan 11, 2010)

2 Lamanchas, and my mom owns the rest of our herd.
I like them because of the small ears and great milking
ability. I also like the Nubians for the same reasons.


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## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

I currently own:

1 Oberhasli doe (8 years old)
1 Nubian doe (4 years old)
1 Alpine doe (11 years old)
2 50% Nubian doelings
1 Nubian buck
and
1 Nubian Buckling I just put a deposit on. Sire is a Saada buck.

After several years of just getting by and not registering my goats (financial issues, no job) I am finally going back to registered, quality stock. Ok, I'll be breeding up to good stock. This buckling is the result of a year long search in my general area. CAE negative, CAE preventative farm, best I could afford. Next year I will add a quality doeling and another buck. I want quality like i used to have when I had Alpines. I want to show. It will be slow, but I will do it! The adult buck I have now will be going, he may be full Nubian but he is not registered and he is not what I want in my does.

My first love is Alpines, but Nubains are more popular around here (of the full sized dairy breeds anyway.) so chosing Nubians means more stock to chose from and a better sales market.

Now to start the CAE testing and preventative program again!


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## LynninTX (Oct 25, 2007)

We started with LaManchas because of their reputation as a quieter, hardier, longer milking, general *homestead* goat. We have not been disappointed. Totally in love with the breed. 

We then added in Mini La Manchas. They bring all the best of the LM in a slightly smaller package. We are excited to be involved in seeing where this breed can go. 

My first kids here were actually half nubian/ half LM because the person we got ours from had the LM to provide milk for nubian kids so bred them to a nubian buck. We like the cross breed vigor we see in that so we started pondering getting an off breed buck to do a few crosses with, but it was suggested we consider an alpine instead of a nubian... so we have an alpine buck and look forward to trying that cross here in the future. 

We also have 1 mutt... who jumped in my son's arms. Scrabble is from an alpine/nubian dam bred to a MM buck... she just freshened here this year and is a joy and a love bug and is milking over 8#/day as a FF mutt. Keeping 1 of her doelings from this year.

My herds are fairly evenly divided 14 LM does, 13 MM does, 2 LM bucks, 3 MM bucks, and the alpine.


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## momofmany (Aug 18, 2009)

I'm new here and have 4 Nigerian Does and 7 babies. and one Saanen doe who is due anytime. I'm in love with goats and never knew it :lol I became interested in Nigerians while looking for mini nubians. I'm glad I found them.


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## HeidiEllsworth (May 28, 2009)

We have 5 toggenburgs. We got our goats from Steve Shore who lives in this area. He works hard at improving his herd and tests them every year for CAE. So we got some great goats. 

Our friend has nubians and they are very lovable and they sound so different from our goats - almost like maaaaaaa! (They also bleat more than my goats!) My goats sound more goaty: e-e-e-e-e We bred one of our toggs to their nubian buck so we're hoping to have nogs! (hmmm maybe I'll call one of the babies "Egg Nog" :rofl)


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## DostThouHaveMilk (Oct 25, 2007)

Mostly mutts.  :biggrin
I have two Purebred Nubian bucks currently, 1 Fullblood Boer buck, a 75% Boer, a 76% Boer, another higher percentage Boer, and an Alpine/Boer buck (the last will leave at some point).
We have three American Nubian does currently. It looks like the Purebred Nubian doe I am leasing is actually settled to my Senior Polled Purebred Nbian herdsire, so I am hoping for a doe...or two. I will be adding my first Purebred Nubian doe this coming year.
We have two Fullblood Boer does (dam and daughter). 
Beyond that? well....this, that and the other. I have one Alpine left (lost two last year) and a Saanen. Our first buck was a LaMancha/Alpine used over a pygmy, two Nubians, a Saanen, and a PygmyX. Next time around was a Nubian buck , then some Boer crosses, a few more Nubians, etc. So mutts...being bred up. I expect a few more homebred American Nubian doelings to hit the ground this year. The doelings being bred up with ADGA are straight dairy breed obviously.
We ended up going with Nubian because of the ears and the availability of Nubians. My favorite milking line is an elf eared line of Nubians with that original LM/A buck for the ears.
We went to meat to increase the sale value of the wethers. It doesn't hurt that crossing the Nubian/dairy does to the Boers makes for nice meat kids.


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## Renegade59 (Mar 7, 2010)

My wife and I are new to dairy goats as of a few months ago. We decided to add goats to our homestead as I am getting sick & tired of what the stores are trying to pass off as food. I fell in love with the Alpines and we now have 3 registered American Alpines two of which are supposed to kid soon and the third we are currently milking. The poor doe is graciously putting up with me learning to milk on her, the first time took forever! Along the way I was also talked into two registered LaMancha does which are also due very soon. I never would have bought them, the whole ear thing bothered me, but now that they are here they have won me over. Can't wait till we see how well they milk. Also adding one Nubian doeling and one Saanen doeling here in about a month. We love the wealth of information and wisdom to be found on this site, it is a life saver for a newbie.


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## shawhee (Jun 28, 2008)

Lamancha's here, with a couple recorded grades.


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## Terri-Lynn (Nov 7, 2007)

At the moment I only have Alpines and I really like them. I used to have Nubians at another farm, but I have closer neighbours on one side here, so chose a quieter breed. I have one oddball girl but they are definitely a lot quieter than the Nubians I had. I liked the Nubians heavier milk though and I still love the way they look.


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## Legend Hills (May 29, 2008)

I have Alpines and now Lamanchas as well. I love them both.

Kim


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## Bernice (Apr 2, 2009)

Alpines and a at the moment one grade Alpine/Oberhasli mix. I'm adding more Alpines and an Oberhasli doe soon.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

Kinders (nubianXpygmy) and Nubians. Thinking of going with mini-nubians in the future. Got the Kinders from a friend because I could only get reservations on unborn nubian does and wanted to get going faster with goats than that! Ended up really liking the kinders (awesome milk). Will probably go with mini-nubs instead of kinders in the future, though, because I want to have registered stock and finding a good, clean, registered pygmy buck to start a registered line of kinders with is a lot harder than finding a good nigie buck, and all the pluses of kinders (smaller size, richer milk) are there with mini-nubs with the added bonus of the potential for better teats and udders and more milk. Plus I'm not really interested in a dual-purpose goat as much as I am in a good milker.


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## Theresa (Oct 26, 2007)

Nubians mostly and mini lamanchas.

I love the nubians. Their beautiful ears are what drew me to them. They are just lovely animals. The mini manchas well my DD loves them so we have a couple. They really are hardy animals and if you are looking for a bred that takes less food but still milks well, the MM are the way to go.
Theresa


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## ragingbull (Feb 8, 2010)

All Boers and a few Boobians..


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## wheytogosaanens (Oct 26, 2007)

Registered Saanens. We got Saanens because of their reputation for their incredible milk production - and we weren't disappointed! Gotta love that will to milk. Incredibly generous animals.

Later, we realized that all of the breeds have different temperaments - and thankfully Saanens, with their regal bearing and calm yet affectionate demeanor were exactly the right fit for us! We love the angelic white kids with their perky little ears.  Saanens are very quiet as well.

We also raise Registered Boer breeding stock. I guess that gets us the "fix" for the long ears, LOL. Boers are pretty laid back as well.


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## Caprine Beings (Sep 19, 2008)

Nubians and Alpines here. We get the best of both worlds. Long ears and short  Both have definate temperment differences, sound differences, milk production differences and growth differences. Takes us to both extremes Tam


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## Qvrfullmidwife (Oct 25, 2007)

Started with LM due to reading of their temperaments long before we ever owned goats.

Added Nubians because oldest daughter who was doing so much work preferred them and I wasn't going to deny her.

Have had minimanchas and LOVED them, just had to eliminate and streamline *somewhere* and going all full-sized was what we chose to do.

Added alpines when we started the dairy and I could get some lovely girls from Tracy.

Have also added a recorded grade and a lone togg and sundry LM crosses for the dairy.


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## Twillingate Farm (Oct 26, 2007)

Well, 25 or so years ago we raised Nubians because my wife and I both feel they are the most attractive of the breeds, They are also the most vocal so when we moved we converted to Boers since we didn't wish to shock our new neighbors too much. 
I was originally going to raise meat goats when we moved but didn't feel the same relationship with a goat that you spend quality time with twice a day so now I have only my best Boer doe and the rest are Toggenburgs. There seems to be two downsides to this however... when they kid, it's almost impossible to tell who belongs to who since they all look alike! Obviously necessitates collars or markers. The second issue is that Boer and Nubian hooves seem to hold up better to the wet situations here in New England than do Toggs. I'm constantly trimming and shaping the girls yet the Boer and our Nubians only needed it every few months.

Oh well...


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## Daniel Babcock (May 28, 2008)

LaMancha's and Miniature LaMancha's here. 

With our MM's we are breeding for the LaMancha look and temperament, just in a smaller size, with better vigor that produce similar milk amounts. I have a 75% MM who on her first DHIR test (as a 2nd freshner) milked 11.2 pounds! Than is what we are breeding for. And other than short elf ears she is not all udder. She is a very correct doe.


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## lexnspice (Nov 12, 2009)

:biggrin ONLY NUBIANS, I FELL IN LOVE FIRST SIGHT, GREAT PERSONALTIY AND THEY ARE SO LOVING, I ALSO BREED, LOTS OF BABIES!!!!


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## Little Moon (Dec 29, 2007)

I have PB Nubians (18) and one experimental, she is sold we are just waiting for her to kid - didn't want to stress her out too much.

I love my Nubians. They are playful, hardy and gorgeous. I also love Saanens, but don't own any.

Anne


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## billinohio (Jun 24, 2009)

Alpines.......all French at this point in time. I like the variety of colors, their personalities, and they produce a good quantity of delicious milk.


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## Tim Pruitt (Oct 26, 2007)

Nubians of course! Is there another breed?


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## Lynn_Theesfeld (Feb 21, 2010)

We are just starting out and originally wanted goats for meat and soaping HA HA HA It has since turned into well... We have a Pr. Of registered Saanens (that I love) and are working on expanding Nubians ( currently 1 buck, but were working on it  ) and all the others though loved dearly are destined for the freezer, but I do love watching them play and grow up and can't wait to get a move on with our herd!!


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## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

LMonty said:


> Nubians only. Got rid of my Americans and the Saanens this summer. only non nubian i have left is one of the 2 wethers that does lawnmower duty in the back pasture. I love their noisy, colorful rowdy selves. My favorite flavor goat.


Hey Laura! Welcome back!


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## VickiLynne (Feb 8, 2008)

I love my Nubians. I used to have Saanens too, but let them go to just concentrate on my Nubians. I just love those ears. They are so loving and I can stand the noise because I just talk back to them. LOL

Vicki in NC


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

I have milked and owned all breeds except Obie, and bred Lamancha's and Nubians. I have all purebred Nubians, one line of experimentals and miniature LaManchas. Vicki


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## Drycreek goats (Sep 8, 2009)

I have mixed up mutts.used to have lamanchas wish I could get some again.Tammy


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## Dana (Dec 7, 2009)

I have started with Alpines and then a variety of breeds (a LM, a Tog, a pygmy, a mini Alpine) and then my daughter got into LMs an I really love those guys! Great milkers and sweet and loving! I have purebred Nubians and my feelings are mixed on that breed. So big and loud and the doe is obnoxious. Sometimes I think they are airheads too. I recently acquired a Nigerian Dwarf and love her. She's a little stubborn but mostly docile and sweet.


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## MeadowValleyFarm (Oct 21, 2008)

I raise Toggs 11 does and 2 bucks. Running the herds of Tim and Mary Schmidts (Eagle Creek Farm),Mr. and Mrs. Plummer (Neshaminy Acres and Neshmaniy Oaks), Anna Thompson Hajdik (Legendairy)


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## Feral Nature (Oct 26, 2007)

(1) LaManchas because they give tremendous quantities of milk and are not loud like Nubians.LM are very calm. Also give more milk than the hugely popular Nubians which are plentiful in my area, I cannot compare to other breeds as I have had Nubians and can compare to the Nubians I used to breed and show many years back. Also, I like odd things and LaManchas are odd. Their babies look like snakes or aliens. I like that. I like that people think that they are ugly and weird. Suits me.

(2) MiniManchas because they are a new breed derived from LaManchas and Nigerian Dwarves. I am excited to be on the ground floor of this exciting rare breed. They are easy keepers and hardy and much to be seen in their developement as a dairy breed. Love these!

(3) Boers and LaBoers. I have a beautiful bottle-fed disbudded Boer doe and her two grown up daughters who were sired by a registered LaMancha buck. I want to breed them to a meat buck (kiko? Boer? Spanish?) and see what kind of mammaries a reverse cross like this will have. That is, a LM over a Boer rather than a Boer over a LM.


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## mill-valley (Feb 22, 2008)

Alpines...for their personalities and will to milk. Saanens...also for their will to milk. 

I have very little tolerance for a doe who won't milk a respectable amount. I also love the color patterns the Alpines come in. And both Alpines and Saanens are sane and quiet .


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## Hollybrook (Jul 17, 2009)

We started out with 2 mutt goats from auction barn to clear Kudzu, poison ivy and brush, milk shot up to $5/gal We decided since we were caring for goats mite as well be dairy goats, so we bought 2 pregnant does off craiglist. we only wanted the alpine but the lady said we had to buy the La Mancha too 2/$100 OK not bad? They gave birth to twins up on milk stand Alpine gave a little more milk but stomped bucked and gave off flavored milk P but the La Mancha WOW! So sweet loving quiet and great tasting milk we sold all but one kid Valentine and was Reg NOA w/ADGA she took Reserve Grand Champion at Gwennett Co Fair and Jr. 3rd Ga & Al National Fair! We only have La Mancha's Pure bred, American and Grade's we did buy a ND buck and have bred for Mini Mancha's due this summer dear wife is only 5' and our son is about to turn 3 and needs a smaller package we cant hardly wait!


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## Klawbag (Feb 23, 2010)

I'm pretty new to dairy goats. I wanted a home-sized dairy so I started with a herd of 3 Nigerian does who all kidded with twins, turning into a 9 Nigerian herd which was overwhelming for me at the time (LOL All of you with 50+ head herds must be laughing) I sold the Nigerians last year, keeping only my favorite, a buck (LOL and I wanted a dairy) 

We now have two Lamanchas. Bred one to my Nigerian buck before placing him with a friend. The other already kidded with twin Lamancha does. I'm experimenting with the mini mancha idea. If I get a buckling from my cross breeding, I'd like to use him on my Lamancha doelings. My incentive is to raise butterfat for cheesemaking but more than anything, I ADORE the Lamancha personalities. They are just the sweetest, laid back creatures!!!! I'm convinced they come out of the womb with the intention of being your friend. I wish I could keep every one of the kids but space limitations raise some management concerns. I can't believed I've lived this long without having goats!


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## Deineria (Mar 14, 2010)

Nubians, Pygmies, Nigerians & Kinders


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## Feral Nature (Oct 26, 2007)

Klawbag said:


> I ADORE the Lamancha personalities. They are just the sweetest, laid back creatures!!!! I'm convinced they come out of the womb with the intention of being your friend.


I rest my case and always have LaManchas for sale


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## Fiberaddict (Jun 4, 2009)

Nubians and Cashmeres here. Love them both!


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## doublebowgoats (Mar 6, 2008)

Started with a mix of breeds, Spanish, nubian, nigerian dwarf. Got my first Lamancha and now I have only LM and Minimancha. I like the fact they are a "made in america" breed and I grew to love their faces!


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## auntdinana (Feb 28, 2010)

I've got a large family and wanted to provide our own milk but I only live on a half-acre in the city. I started out looking at Dexter cattle (about half the size of a standard cow) but they were very expensive to buy and to keep and I really didn't have space for two of them. 

I reluctantly decided to try goat milk even though I knew it would never taste as good. Boy was I wrong! After doing a ton of research online and visiting dairies, I decided on the LaManchas for their great milk taste and temperament. As I was looking for breeders in my area I discovered MiniManchas and really liked the idea of smaller animals with great producing efficiency. What I wasn't counting on was how much I would love them and especially the babies! I love watching them race around the yard playing with my children. Even my 2 yr old would pack them around while they were little enough for him to pick up. The adult does are very patient with him, too. 

I've only had my LaMancha freshen so far but am very excited to see what my mini's do when they freshen. I get lots of strange looks having goats in the middle of a city but I also get lots of opportunities to show people what real milk (and, hopefully, cheese!) tastes like and how much fun they are to keep. I'm thinking I may even take them camping with us this summer since they need to be milked anyway. 

Maybe I need to get one of those "crazy goat lady" t-shirts?


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## doublebowgoats (Mar 6, 2008)

"...Maybe I need to get one of those "crazy goat lady" t-shirts? ..."
Yeah, um, there are quite a few us who need one of those!


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## RanschauAcres (Jan 26, 2010)

We raise Nubians. We had one Togg wether when we started out, but have been 100% Nubians since then. My sisters and I love the Nubian breed and don't plan on changing breeds anytime soon. If I added another breed, I'd like to add Lamanchas.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

We have two alpines; one a registered american, the other a recorded grade. I love the different colors and I absolutely love their personalities. Great milkers. We decided to get into goats because we could not find a decent goat cheese in our supermarket. Plus, the expense. LOL. As long as I don't add up my goat bills and my time, it's like the cheese is free!


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## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

Alpines here. Love all their fun colors and personalities...although they really do hate each other a lot of the time, they ALWAYS love me.


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## Kris (Mar 28, 2010)

David (ragingbull) "boobians" made me LOL!!
Cindy (MF Alpines) "As long as I don't add up my goat bills and my time, it's like the cheese is free!" LOLOL! Let's not add the price of the goats or the hay or minerals either! In fact we're rolling in money. I like that.

I have one nubian buckling who has no papers so he would be NOA (native on appearance) right? I'm not really interested in showing or registering for that matter. I read a cool thread on this site where someone was asking about an expensive goat price on craigslist for unregistered stock etc. And someone said "Don't let his goals become your goals." Wow. Such a little thing but sitting down and defining goals and not letting other's goals become your goals even if what they're doing is right..it's right for them.

I have two unknown does which, the more I look at them become meat goats. LOL 
I am going to be looking at a LaMancha doe this week. She freshened March 11th. I like LaMancha The ears are weird and wonderfully freaky. I didn't realize they were quiet too. Bonus. 
I like nubians. I didn't realize they were loud but that will fit right in here. We're the "loud family" and would not do well in a subdivision.
But the reason I chose Nubians and possibly LaMancha's (is that pronounced "Lah-mahn'-chah"?) I am thinking about them because they seem so big and more beefy for a milk goat. So they give milk and are good sized for meat too.
Am I thinking right?


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## Oat Bucket Farm (Mar 2, 2009)

We had Nubians up until May of last year when we sold out due to thinking we were going to be moving to place that we couldn't have goats. Then the move never happened and here we are facing rebuilding our goat herd. We will again go with Nubians. I love them. I love their loud voices and their many opinions. I love their ears, their roman noses,their personalities and the taste of their milk. 

If I were to ever get a second breed it would be Lamancha. Then I would have both extremes. Loud mouthed and long eared, and really quiet with tiny ears.


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