# Breeding a Boar to a Dairy question



## nuzmom (Sep 17, 2010)

I wish to breed both of my Registered American Alphine does this fall. Through my friend, who sold me the does, I have free access to a Boar Buck (in a couple of weeks). She had bred to a Registered American Alphine last year thinking it would help in selling her doelings, but she had no buyers. They are registered, healthy, and well kept, price was $150 each.

This will be my first experience with breeding. What's your opinions on breeding Boar and Dairy? Will the babies be marketable at all? If my children fall in love with a doeling (assuming one is born), what's the outlook for milking her?

If I don't use this buck, what are my options? I don't know of any other Alpine goats in our area and I don't have a trailer to transport a buck. AI intimidates me and I'm concerned if it doesn't work.


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## goatkid (Oct 26, 2007)

I've had both Boers and dairy goats and so have a few of my friends. We have all, at one time, bred some of our dairy does to Boer bucks. When it comes to selling goat to the meat market, you'll do better moneywise selling Boer cross animals because they usually weigh more and dress out at a higher percentage than dairy wethers. You would have to look at your local market to see if Boer cross doelings for breeding stock would sell better than Alpines. As for milk production, The Boer influence will increase your butterfat, but may reduce the amount produced and the length of lactation. I milked a Boer - La Mancha cross doe for a number of years and she gave at least a half gallon a day for about 6 months. She also gave me meaty kids. I never had any problem selling them, but didn't get the $150 per kid your friend was asking for her Alpines. I got $75 a head for breeding stock and $1.00 a pound on the hoof for meat kids.
If you are wanting to breed your does to an Alpine buck, you could check the ADGA directory for breeders in your area or check with a local vet or 4-H to see what might be available. It's sometimes surprizing to find more goats in your area than you realized.


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## Dana (Dec 7, 2009)

Hi Marianne, 
One thing to think about with a child falling in love with a goat kid from this breeding is that you may not be able to show her at fair in a dairy class. I had a Nubian/ Boer mix and she was the sweetest doeling. I had her bred to my purebred Nubian buck but later found out that she couldn't be shown. 

I have hear good things about Boers milking about as good as dairy goats, just shorter lactations. 

You could ask a 4-H leader about other dairy goat people in the area; maybe they would have a buck they could bring to you for using. Some people in my area charge $50 for a week.

Good luck!


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## Ozark Lady (Mar 21, 2010)

I bred to a boer buck last year, and we had some really nice kids. My grandkids wanted them, so I gave them to them and simply provided the milk to raise them. My son raises boer goats, and he likes the fact that these crossed doelings will be multipurpose, more milk than boer does, and yet meatier. The young buck was wethered, and I bought a new La Mancha buck, for future herd sire. These males are about 2 weeks apart in age. The wether is the older, and he is much more massive than the LaMancha buck. He also likes the idea that being half boer, they won't make so much milk as dairy goats do. In theory, at least.

He wants a little bit of household milk, not a flood. So two boer crosses should about meet his needs.

When I went to buy the buck, the lady there is a good friend, and she said, oh your crossed goats have more market value than registered kids. That is the way it is around here. They are even more wanted than pure boer, and I don't understand why that is.


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## Dana (Dec 7, 2009)

Mary Ann, I have heard that too with Boer mixes. One person told me Boer meat doesn't taste as good as the dairy mixes. (I haven't tried goat yet so I don't know)


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

The reason Boer breeders give here for including Nubians in their lines is to improve udder structure. They consider the decrease in mass a bad thing - kids sell at market by the pound but some lines of Boer have such terrible udders it is worth bringing in some dairy genetics to help with that. We have requests all the time for does to put out with Boer bucks.


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## tendermeadowsnigerians (Sep 8, 2010)

Our fair have a class for meat breeding stock and the class is split into fullblood and % breeding stock, they do not show them in the dairy classes anymore.

I have had alpine/boer does and nubian/boer does that we milked and they didnt give as much milk as purebred dairy does but they also started to dry up before my dairy girls but i got a good 6 months of milking before they started to dry up. 

Here in my area theres a good market for boer cross goats. I used to sell unregistered doelings for $175-250 at 12 weeks old and they were dam raised, then we would milk the dams after the kids were sold. The ones with the "paint" markings, not the traditional boer color sold better for higher prices.


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## Poverty Knob Goats (Apr 13, 2010)

I have 2 Nubian X Boer crosses in my milk string now. They have been in milk since Jan. giving over 8 lbs per day.
I like the crosses but I sell most of my whethers for slaughter. The does with good attitudes stay in the breeding program.

J.L.


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## nuzmom (Sep 17, 2010)

The Alpines are mom and daughter. The younger will will be just over 8 months old when/if the buck shows up. She's definitely healthy and a nice "plump". I'm not sure the size of this buck - should I be concerned if he's a "big guy"?


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## Dana (Dec 7, 2009)

Just make sure your doe that's 8 months is around 90 pounds before she's bred. That is the general advice given here.


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## wheytogosaanens (Oct 26, 2007)

Dana said:


> Mary Ann, I have heard that too with Boer mixes. One person told me Boer meat doesn't taste as good as the dairy mixes. (I haven't tried goat yet so I don't know)


We find that both 100% Boer and Boer crosses taste about equally good. (Ours are generally 88% and up though). IMO Boer meat is much better than straight dairy goat - straight dairy goat is more like venison, while Boer is more like Elk - mild, rich, not gamey.

We actually have more than a few folks asking for 50% Boer X Saanens from us. Higher butterfat in the milk, slightly less production - but one gal in Montana was getting 12lbs/day from her cross, and she milked strongly until 9 months of milking. They breed her Boer and get nice chunky fast growing kids that taste delicious. She will raise the kids for them (not worried about a show udder) and still give them house milk when the kids are 2 weeks old. She makes cheese, yogurt, soap, etc and they feel that this is an awesome homesteading type animal.

I will state the obvious - this doe is out of our very milky Saanens and strongly milking Boers (we have milked a Boer or two and easily got a gallon a day from them - but we breed for milk as well as conformation). Average dairy goats - just nice solid healthy goats will probably not be this milky, but still can be that "ideal" homestead animal.

And it is true -many Boer goats out there barely have enough milk to feed one, let alone two kids (and oh my! the udders on some Boers are just downright scary!) so breeding in some dairy goat makes a lot of sense for folks. But not all Boers are this way.... depends on the breeding and the management - just like everything else we talk about on here.


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## Ozark Lady (Mar 21, 2010)

I haven't tasted boer meat, but regular goat sure.
One time, my sons helped a neighbor butcher out a buck, that in anger the neighbor had shot. And the neighbor didn't even know how to butcher it. So we got a hind quarter for my sons efforts. I put it in a bucket of salt water, and out on the back porch, it was winter, it wouldn't freeze there, but would stay cold. In honesty, I forgot about it. And it was there for 3 days, I finally remembered and got it and washed the salt all off. It was good, which I didn't expect since the goat was the guys herd buck... no goaty taste at all.
I would say, it was a cross between deer and beef in taste. But, it did have those 3 days to age, the salt water to leech it, and the cool temps.

Another friend took a buck to the butcher shop for processing. She gave me some packages of meat. Yuck! It was on cooking, and it smelled, like a buck goat was in my kitchen. Cooking did not improve the flavor at all. The dogs enjoyed that meat. Even professionals didn't get a good product, they either let it hang too long, or the animal was sick in the first place, it tasted bad.

So, that being said, if the meat is handled right it is good, if not, it is bad.
But the same with deer meat, if you don't respect the meat and keep it clean, it will have a "gamey" taste to it. It needs to hang, it needs to be clean, but don't overdo the hanging, and don't package the meat while it still has animal heat in it, or the meat will taste "off". We hang just till the animal is good and cool. Then if older animal soak in salt water for a bit, to get the rest of the gamey taste out. Young kids,pygmies, I have butchered and had for dinner the same day. They made good jerky.

It makes sense to me that boer will have alot more meat per animal than a dairy breed. I have never tasted an elk, so that isn't a comparison that I can make.


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## Bella Star (Oct 27, 2007)

Watch the does when they kid as Boers are wider chest and the doe can have a rough time delivering as they can get stuck and need some help ,the Boer kids can weigh about 9 pounds more or less.


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## Bernice (Apr 2, 2009)

Hi Marianne & Welcome to DGI! 

One of the main reasons boers are bred to dairy is to get more growthier kids, most boers just don't have the milking capacity that a dairy goat does. Growthier kids means more money in some places. Prices vary for boers and boer X's depending on where you live. Yrs ago we used to raise boers and did breed our dairy goats to boers. The prices were a little better. 

You're in SW PA: if you are interested in finding an Alpine buck PM me and I would be happy to give you the names of some breeders close by or within a reasonable distance. Hope this helps.


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## nuzmom (Sep 17, 2010)

I am concerned about the size of a boar/Alpine cross kid and birthing issues. This will be the doeling's first freshening and the doe had some issues last year and needed assistance. Fortunately, I have found an Alpine buck locally that I'm leaning towards using. I'm not sure about health records and such and am now trying to figure all of that out. Well, I'm also not sure I'll be able to tell when the girls come into heat - I've been watching and am still pretty clueless. I'm hoping a buck rag will help. Lots to learn.
Anyway, this Alpine buck is now "plan A", but I still like having options and opinions. Thank you to all who passed along their advice. I greatly appreciate it!!!!


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## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

I used to have both, Boers and my dairy girls. For a couple of years I bred all my dairy does to the Boer buck and had some very nice kids. I milked all the does, full dairy, 50% and full Boer. The 50% does milked almost has well and their lactation was as long as the dairy girls.....10 months. The full Boers only milked about 8 months or so, though a couple did last the entire 10 months.

The half breed kids sold faster than the full Boer kids, and I had no problems selling the 50% does. People like the 50/50 cross as a dual purpose goat.


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

Maybe Bernice can talk more about this but I remember when we had Alpines there were cautions about Alpine birthing difficulties just within the breed. Large kids in some lines and good nutrition and early breedings were resulting in some unhappy kiddings.


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## nuzmom (Sep 17, 2010)

Sorry - I have used "boar" instead of "boer" over and over and over again. So sorry! :blush2


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## wheytogosaanens (Oct 26, 2007)

Generally dairy does bred to a Boer buck have easier kiddings. That is because their heads are smaller - especially on the bucks. Nothing worse than a big dairy buck kid (single even worse!) for getting stuck on a FF.

I think that if the doe is narrow through the pelvis you are going to have problems no matter what - those Boer heads slide out real slick. And yes - heavier kids, more bone. Make sure you are feeding your doe correctly - plenty of alfalfa hay during those last two months of gestation.


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## Bernice (Apr 2, 2009)

Alpines & birthing difficulties: Well......it depends upon many factors, some seen and others unseen like a train wreck triplet delivery. The breed that from my experiences and my best friend's experiences that have birthing/kidding problems is the Oberhasli. She now has started breeding to a nigerian buck for her FF (first fresheners) and has not had the amount of problems as with a dairy buck. And it's important to learn as much as you can about your breed's bloodlines and traits: good & bad. There is one Alpine bloodline I would only breed to my largest does and not FF's. That particular bloodline is known for stocky and big.....big like a bull! And.....I learned this the hard way yrs ago when I switched to Alpines.


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## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

I've only ever had alpines, and although I've had to reposition some kids, and one kid had a pretty big head this year, in the years we've been kidding out does, we've not lost a single kid or dam in 15 kiddings, and we've had two sets of triplets, and one set of quads. So, although my experience is limited, it's been good in the Alpine department, and I've not found them to be difficult kidders so far.


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## Bella Star (Oct 27, 2007)

I have been breeding and raising Boers for 10 years as our main goats , I have a few % to Full Bloods and I have had some problems with dairy to Boers breeding ,Breeders including myself breed for hefty large meaty framed goats and some does have trouble getting out the shoulders of those big 9+lb. kids as they get stuck and have to be worked and then pulled out, I almost lost my Big LaMancha doe and she would have died if she had kidded alone and she has kidded many kids but some of the kids are just too wide. We now watch those chest width when picking a breeding buck and each doe is watched during delivery,just in case.
Milking Boer doe: A few of the Boer does will put a dairy doe to shame when she delivers kids with a hugh udder but within 2 months they hardly have any milk and by 3 mo. most Boer doe's are weaning their kids. Boer's can kid more than 1x a year so mama doe starts preparing for the new kid she is carrying and this may be reason that a meat doe dries up earlier than a dairy doe. I have only 1 %Boer doe that has Nubian in her and this doe has a will to milk and she wants to be a dairy doe,this comes from a very strong dairy milking bloodline , I do sometimes milk her when she first delivers as I don't want her udder damaged from to much milk or mastitis, she is a born pro on the milk stand but after a few days she is own her on with her kids and she only produces what they require.
To me it's a shame to have a registered beautiful doe and breed to Boer as it doesn't do justice to either breed unless you plan on meating out all the kids and if this is your plan then Boer is a good breed to make a dairy body more meatier but if you want milk then breed only to dairy breed as thats why we have the different breeds.


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