[Isla]

I did a search of the forum, but couldn't find an answer to this...

I have seen some young dairy does for sale (BA X Saanen).  If I bought them, bred them and didn't want to keep ALL their offspring, would I struggle to find homes for the future generations because they're a crossbreed?

I'm in Aberdeenshire.

[Anke]

Male or female offspring? Are these BGS registered (so you can see their pedigree/milking potential etc)?

Females - unless you use a proven billy (with milking figures for his dam and grand-dam) and you also milk-record the nanny I think you may struggle to sell any kids profitably.

Males - entire - definitely no market for them, unless meat (preferably castrated), and very nice it is too.

Also depends a bit on what males you have nearby to use for stud...

[Isla]

Thanks, Anke.

Definitely wouldn't keep male offspring.

I'm in preliminary email exchanges with seller so will ask if they're registered.  I guess if that's not on the advert then they're not registered?

There are a few goat owners in my neck of the woods.  Would it be prudent to check stud availability before buying goats at all?  I might get my own buck one day.

[fsmnutter]

If you were to cover them with a Boer, you can register female offspring as 50% pure Boer with the BBGS, (and if increasing Boer in the breeding, you can "grade up") and males can get a 50% Boer meat certificate.
Definitely a market for 50% Boer nannies (bit milkier than pure Boer, bit hardier than pure dairy) or 50% + kids for meat.
We run Saanens and 50% Boer to our own Boer Billy and cannot keep up with demand.
Hope that is of some help

[Talana]

As Anke says depends if registered parents ,with the british breeds some outcross to different british breed to improve a trait and I think 3 female generations they are back to say BA. If you milk record / show the mothers that will add prestige to your goat family. If unregistered you can register them on the identification register but it takes more generations to grade up to a breed. If they are quality goats they will do well regardless of registration.
Also worth checking health status are they from a cae negative herd.
 
I would say females you would be able to sell, even if unregestered, particularly if qualtiy stock you have to see what they look like, but  unregistered males are worthless - meat / pets(castrate)/cull. Even registered males are difficult to sell even with excellent breeding /show results.
Off the top of my head current registered  stud males in Aberdeenshire are: British Saanen, British Alpine, British toggenburg, Pure toggenburg, Boer and pygmy. Depends what route you want to do.
There are some breeders in Aberdeenshire who use boer and kids go for meat. (As far as I know only granton on spey and dingwall slaughter goats so it's a fare trek and then to butcher and home to your freezer.The breeders that sell their goat meat do not take other folks kids as they I suppose quite rightly, market their own stock only )

[Penninehillbilly]

You may be surprised how many goats there may be locally, you tend not to see or hear about them until you get into goats, there was a goat club there, not sure if it still runs.

[Talana]

Yes goat clubs still going,  Grampian goat club and scottish goatkeepers federation, usually get requests for stock and members advertise what for sale as well as annual stud list in the area. There was a request for 5 goatlings yesterday and someone wanting to book female kids in the spring.

[verdifish]

As Anke says depends if registered parents ,with the british breeds some outcross to different british breed to improve a trait and I think 3 female generations they are back to say BA. If you milk record / show the mothers that will add prestige to your goat family. If unregistered you can register them on the identification register but it takes more generations to grade up to a breed. If they are quality goats they will do well regardless of registration.
Also worth checking health status are they from a cae negative herd.
 
I would say females you would be able to sell, even if unregestered, particularly if qualtiy stock you have to see what they look like, but  unregistered males are worthless - meat / pets(castrate)/cull. Even registered males are difficult to sell even with excellent breeding /show results.
Off the top of my head current registered  stud males in Aberdeenshire are: British Saanen, British Alpine, British toggenburg, Pure toggenburg, Boer and pygmy. Depends what route you want to do.
There are some breeders in Aberdeenshire who use boer and kids go for meat. (As far as I know only granton on spey and dingwall slaughter goats so it's a fare trek and then to butcher and home to your freezer.The breeders that sell their goat meat do not take other folks kids as they I suppose quite rightly, market their own stock only )

How can you say males are worthless but then mention meat?  Could you please point me in the direction of all this free male goat meat please as then I can give up this expensive breeding we are carrying out. 

[Talana]

Please tell me who is willing to take dairy male kids in aberdeenshire as I have tried to get meat breeders to take them ever since local butcher stopped and local slaugherhouse stopped taking goats and they won't as not boer cross i know others in the same boat. It is possible to keep males for your own freezer but  having to travel to a slaughter house that's a fair distance. I am jealous of other people in other areas who can market their own meat and have processing facilities near by and get decent prices.It's also possible to rear them and sell them for £20 to a dealer who then transports them south.(no way you can rear them for that and not the kindest thing) I am still in the process of still trying people I got one person to try 2  last year as an experiment gave me £5 each fingers crossed it's successful. 4 kidding in march hope not to many males. In my experience the dairy males not good enough for breeding are  worth much less than the cost of rearing but those who can go down the boer route and market their own meat do well, not everyone can do that.

[pharnorth]

Anyone know why the smaller units won't take them?

[Isla]

Thank you for responses.

So is the consensus to breed dairy (crossbreed or not) with Boer?  Male offspring would give decent meat and female offspring would give decent milk? 

BUT the nearest place to have them slaughtered is Grantown-on-Spey?

If I take these BA X Saanen and breed with BA, a few generations later I'll have 100% BA?  But that would take a number of years and produce many kids that I may struggle to sell?  Though I'll want to keep some I'm sure!  Oh wait, if I keep some kids I'll end up with more and more that I can't sell?!

The two crossbreeds are for sale along with their mother who is all BA.  Maybe I should buy her and not the kids?  Though I'd need to find others for sale as I don't have any goats currently.  Waiting for seller to get back to me with age, if the goats are registered and CAE tested.  Oh and photos.

[Anke]

Unless you have got a definite person taking any kids, I would stay clear of Boer billies. For several reasons, 1) they usually come horned and if you females are disbudded that would make keeping them together difficult. 2) Boers have been shown to have CLA and or teat faults, which they will pass on to offspring, making the females worthless as milkers. That doesn't matter if all you do is rear goats for meat and the dams feed their kids, but if you also want milk for the house then a pure dairy breed (without teat faults obviously) is better.

We raise  our dairy males for meat for our own private consumption - the meat is too nice to sell it! - so costs do not really come into it. We do our own butchery and will start to think about homekill in the near future (it is a 150mile round trip to the nearest abattoir for us)

[Isla]

Yes goat clubs still going,  Grampian goat club and scottish goatkeepers federation, usually get requests for stock and members advertise what for sale as well as annual stud list in the area. There was a request for 5 goatlings yesterday and someone wanting to book female kids in the spring.

Is it better to join the Grampian Goat Club or Scottish Goatkeepers' Federation?  I've found SGF website, but can't find GGC online.

[verdifish]

Anke a few misconceptions.  1 we have a horned boer Billy and dehorned saanen nannies and absolutely no problems with horns. 
2, we have a saanen x boer who milked very well for the house.

Can you show me the study showing increased cla in boers please.  Also it's going to be.18 months between buying a Billy to slaughter which is plenty of time to find customers and if not buy a chest freezer as the.meat is great.

[Talana]

Isla heres link to Grampian goat cluub website https://sites.google.com/site/grampiangoatclub/home
It's difficult getting different opinions but people have different experiences, you gotta think why do i want goats and for what purpose, what kind would I like looking at every day and check out health of any goat whatever breed.
 I f you are aiming for a milking breed Isla you don't have to kid them every year just keep milking and yes you can breed them back to BA there are a lot of crossbred goats around and are just as valuable.