The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: langdon on February 23, 2010, 01:33:20 pm
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when it comes to breeding is it important to keep the
nanny and billy in the same breed?
langdon :goat:
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If you are a serious breeder, and show/sell your kids etc. then yes. Breeders will be looking at all sorts of things, including milk yields. As someone who has horses, which are pure bred, it is very important for me to breed my mares with the best stallion I can find, and hopefully get a really good foal. This applies to goats in the same way.
Having said that, I keep my goats just purely as pets, and do not show. Most of them are rescue goats anyway, so what billy I use is not an issue. i have crossed sanaan with British Alpine nannies and got some lovely black and white kids. One lot came out all white, the next lot were alpine coloured. All went on to make nice goats.
Also, it depends what billies are available in your area, and whether you are prepared to travel your nanny to find the breed you want.
I am awaiting kids now from a British Alpine billy (black and white) and a Sanaan nanny (all white) so we will see what the kids colour is from those two.
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thats ok then, we are thinking of getting in a billy of our own,
still doing our homework, like where will he go all that kind of stuff.
is it best to have a disbudded billy.
langdon :goat:
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If you are going to get a male goat of your own remember he is half the herd! So buy from the best source you can find, make sure his mother has a good well attached udder, is a good milker of good quality milk.....possibly go and see some good local breeders and do your homework! If its meat you want a good 100% boer male would be best. When it comes to male goats they can be very big and very dangerous at times and therefore disbudded really is a must.....I know someone who lost an eye to a horned goat :o It will also make hime more desirable to a prospective purchaser should you wish to sell him.
Take a look at some good male goat pics on the BGS website to get an idea of what is a good one. In the early 90s I had several stud males and used to show including making one up to a breed champion and also had the sons of 2 champions and bred a breed champion male so know what is important to look for!
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nice one