I'm watching this 5 years after it was made and I gotta say good job to Austin. You look better now. More fit and healthy and confident. You don't look bad in this video. You just look better now in 2021. That's impressive. And Kay is just always gorgeous.
I am looking for more information on Kinder goats. These guys just did an easy, medium, hard scale and put goats on the hard end (poll driven btw). I am curious how Kinder goats compare on difficulty.
If you are looking solely for production _quantity per animal_, then yes, these breeds may be for you. If you're looking for animals better capable of surviving under natural pasture land without supplemental feed, and with unique nutritive properties not found in overly selective-bred animals, then more ancient, small animal breeds will likely suit you well. It's important to remember that smaller animals, while smaller at slaughter, require less supplemental feed, more vigorous breeds less management and have lower mortality rates under natural circumstances, and can be stocked in greater numbers. Not all meat is created equal in nutritive and flavorful properties, nor milk-- even at the breed level. Of course, if you're looking into this for money, then it is understandable that customers habitually go for quantity over quality, so that may not be an option. But small animals are perfectly useful if you decide to eat them yourselves- if you're willing to eat the organ meats, which tend to be better developed in more vigorous animal breeds, and far more nutritious than just the muscle meat. They're also much easier to butcher yourself when they're small. If I were to recommend dairy goats for vigor and low maintenance, it would be the Kiko goat. It's bred for meat, but is capable of producing enough milk to feed its rapidly growing (and frequently occurring) twins, thrives well by vigorously eating poor quality forage, and is an otherwise very survivable animal with good survival instincts. If you want a smaller animal that won't eat everything in its path to bits, I would cross it with a Nigerian Dwarf goat- they're beautiful (good for pelts), and they produce exceptionally rich milk on low feed. I think your choice of sheep was great- some other good ones I found include Icelandic sheep, or Damara sheep.
Interesting points! We raised Nigerian Dwarfs. In my opinion they were not worth the effort for the amount of milk we got from them for our needs, but It's not a bad option if you find good genetics and don't want gallons and gallons of milk (we were trying to supplement pig feed).
Homesteady If that is how you felt, I trust your judgment on what works for you. For me, the solution would be to have more land so I can stock more goats in higher quantities, because higher quantities = easier genetic management, but if you feel better with the Nubians, then that is the best option for you. One mention I think you should make is that the "Golden cross" described in your video involves crossbreeding 2 already endangered breeds of sheep, which can contribute to their eventual extinction. Both have great unique traits (The big horns of the Wiltshire Horn and the extremely high parasite and humidity resistance of the St. Croix), and hybrids as far as I know are seldom ever used in subsequent breeding, which poses a genetic problem in the sustainability of these breed populations.
@@DAPTXDC4869 hi there! You are amazing I like that you recommend smaller animals goat or ancient breeds both are idea we don't see enough I have 2 acre homestead just close the contrct 2 weeks ago I'm going with goats maybe the pigme ones? We want meat mainly but also everytimg else you mentioned like easy butchering and ll the points you mention about the ease of a small breed
Love Nubians. We raise Oberhaslis for Milk. I cant bring myself to eat my goats. We raise lambs with no issue, but the goats have too much personality. We didnt go with Nubians because they are a little more vocal. Greta video. Well made. I enjoy them alot!!
Wait question, you said taste the milk, do different breeds of goats have different flavors of milk? The milk I've bought from the health food store were really.... Smelly and tasted like how a goat smells. Maybe it's just something to get used to? My husband and I want to have a small group of goats (about 6 in total) we're planning in about 5 years to start our homestead.
@@rchester1943 If the doe is kept around the buck during lactation the milk will have a goaty flavor and smell. I always keep my girls separated from my buck when they are in milk. What you're feeding your girls will also affect the taste of the milk.
+Homesteady It's the darnedest thing. I had to put my wonderful LaMancha, Moses, down 2 days ago because he got very sick, very suddenly, & started having horrible seizures. Quick backstory: I got him last July from a lady who was going to put him down because he was attacked by something (she said a dog) & he had horrible wounds on his hind legs, & had horrible body condition (very thin). She couldn't afford to take him to the vet, & didn't know how to doctor him herself. I figured it would be worth a try to save him. His leg wounds healed quickly after I started treating him, & he got along really well on the ranch. He packed on some weight & got healthy. He liked hanging around with the cattle & horses, went hiking with me & the dogs every day. He was pretty delightful to have around. He had a different personality than my Boers. More docile & less pushy. I'm going to miss that guy. I wouldn't mind having more of them. How are they as milkers? I am looking to expand my little herd to include a dairy goat or two. Sorry for rambling. It's been a hard week, after having to put him down. =(
Looking good!! Names? Hairy and Merry :-). Was one of those young nubians the one you lost? Eager to hear about the sheep. The guy who owned our property befor us did sheep. We have done everything but them, simply because they seem difficult to me. Best wishes with your new flock! Melodee
I am looking into getting goats and possible sheep for my homestead. I want a dual purpose breed I do not drink milk (unless it is chocolate occasional) So I want a goat with a high fat content milk Since I would make cheese and soap out of the milk. The other thing is I would like to also use them for meat for mostly the males I do not want to keep and maybe the female if I have to many to manage of them.
Can you mix 🐐 breads. Like a couple angoras a couple cashmere a few dwarfs and a few saanda? Like I want alllll the Goats 🐐 but see most farmers only have one breed only.
I am really thinking about getting some goats for some milk and some meat. I do not have any experience with them and would like to get some good info from you.
Goat cheese, goat yogurt, goat ice cream and goat butter in addition to your daily milk needs. Each goat has her own taste to her milk. Food can change the taste of the milk. Lol be goats. 💚🐐
In England, eating lamb without Mint Sauce is unthinkable, so 2 ideas for you, call one of the sheep Minty (as in the herb Mint), and try growing/making mint sauce, once you try it, you will never eat lamb without it again. All the best.
sweetirisfarm my go to is nubians for does and boer or kiko buck, makes the kids able to be butchered with a lot of meat on their bone (hybrid vigor) when I breed off to keep kids I bring in a Nubian buck from a friend and keep the does back even if I only get one it's still cheaper than keeping the Nubian and boer bucks at the same time since we breed off for meat more often than dairy does it just makes more sense to keep the buck as the meat producer as opposed to the dairy one.
@@Mittzie what do you do with the nubian x boer does? Is there s market for them? Or do you butcher as well? Were getting nubian does for milk, but would like to use the bucks for meat
Mugsey1984 butcher when we are looking for dairy babies we breed off to a Nubian buck of the neighbors lol. If you can only keep one buck though go for a Nubian, if you can keep 2 keep one of each.
7yrs later.. how's those Nubians working? I wasn't planning to have Nubians, but I acquired four nannies in the fall. I heard a Saanen/Nubian cross is a great meat/milk goat. But if you think your Nubians are better than said cross, I'm all ears... and I'm looking for a buck
Usually people run raw milk through a strainer to catch any stray hairs or bugs that might fall into the milk. But other than that, you're good to drink it warm or cool. Goat milk doesn't like to separate like cow milk so the cream is mixed in much more evenly.
+H.D. Castleberry haha, first of we are in CT, so everything is way more money! That said, it would be cheaper at Walmart, but they don't sell raw milk... And if they did, not sure I'd do it 😜
Homesteady still productive with it? did they tell you the winter feed? we do feed pellets but it's super rare for us. it's only done so they know what pellet feed is
Yes, we couldn't. Some people have awesome ways of doing it. Our recent podcast we interview someone making a killing. But at the end of the day my remark was "I'll believe it when I see it" haha. Wasn't a great fit for our homestead.
He said the lambs were used for the lawns not the goats. Additionally they supplement if there isn't enough grass. That's just common sense. He never said they strictly eat grass. SMH
