The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: ScotsGirl on January 05, 2015, 06:52:43 pm
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i have been trying unsuccessfully to sell 3 Boer X kids from 2014 and someone has asked if I would swap 2 for a 4 yr old BA. I have been contemplating getting another goat I could milk but have no idea if this is a good breed to get and whether it is a good swap. I doubt she has been hand milked and she is horned. Although horns don't bother me personally, I am concerned about bullying as I sold my AN X as she had a habit of butting the others.
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In my opinion horns or not she will fight for pecking order with whoever you decide to keep her with. B.A breeders love their goats but like all breeds they have some generalised idiosyncrasies. Speak to a local breeder , look up their breed society on line and go from there. If you know nothing about the goat, go and see her and make up your own mind as to weather she is for you, chances are she is a cross bred unless she has papers, ask to see her milked and see how she behaves. Don't swap one problem for another !! Good luck :innocent:
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It would also depend at this time of year if she was in kid, and if not why not and would you ever be able to get her back into kid? Unless she is registered I would be very careful about any claims made about her... sorry to be negative. BA's are (sometimes) quite high-maintenance goats, as in highly-strung...
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Thanks, that's helpful. She is not in kid but that is partly because the lady doesn't have a billy and bought her in kid to a Saanen. Slightly unsure as to why she is trying to sell her but wants replacements. Will probably decline as my gut tells me to and wait for something else.
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There is a BA herd near us and one of the family says that BAs are for people who like a challenge.
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Though I have had a BA in the past and found her very easy.
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I used to keep BA's and they were great milkers. They were easier to keep than anglo nubians but not as easy as british saanans.
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One of my Saanens had a kid by a BA and talk about Houdini - the slightest hint of a gap and he was trying to get through it.
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We don't have any BA's currently, but have had the odd one in the past. They are perhaps livelier than other breeds, and also more stand offish- ie less affectionate to humans.
I do like them as a breed, but I do think it is odd why they want to swap you for her, which would put me off.
Beth
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We have 2 BAs, they are very affectionate and not escape artists at all! They were our first goats and we've had them nearly 3 years. Simone, our nanny produces between just over a litre of milk (in winter) and up to nearly 1.75 in summer! They can be a bit prissy about a new person milking them (we have housesitters when we go away) but in general they have great personalities and we (including our 5 year old) adore them :)
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I have milked one and she produced a lot of milk. I never measured it so can't say how much but I would say more than three litres a day. She also squatted slightly while I was doing it which made the job easier.
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We have 2 BAs, they are very affectionate and not escape artists at all! They were our first goats and we've had them nearly 3 years. Simone, our nanny produces between just over a litre of milk (in winter) and up to nearly 1.75 in summer! They can be a bit prissy about a new person milking them (we have housesitters when we go away) but in general they have great personalities and we (including our 5 year old) adore them :)
You mean she produces 1.75 kgs per day in summer? That's maybe not very much.... A good BA (or any Swiss breed) would be expected to give at least 4.5kgs per day at peak lactation... and some show lines do a LOT more (and are correspondingly higher maintenance of course).
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Haha, slightly misleading as we only milk once a day ;). I forgot to mention that! We went down to milking once because we were drowning in it. We also limit the diary nuts. We only wanted enough for our meagre needs :)
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I've just been offered a trade - a 2yo BTxSaanen for the hire of my billy. Downside is I will have to introduce her to being milked but plus is I should have milk by winter.
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Sounds like a good trade to me.
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I thought so... Although it doesn't do much for my stock reduction plans! :innocent: