breeds but are in the city or just don’t have the space for big goats, minis are ideal. These goats are a cross between a Nigerian Dwarf buck and a doe of the breed you want to miniaturize.
UNDERSTANDING MINI GENERATIONS
The kids produced by the first cross of a Nigerian buck with a standard dairy goat is the first generation (F1). Breeding an F1 to another F1 gives you second generation (F2) kids. Breeding F2 to F2 gives you F3 kids and so on, for six generations.
A kid’s generation is always one generation higher than the lowest generation parent. So if you breed an F2 to an F1, the kids will be F2. Even if you breed an F4 to a F1, the kids will still be F2.
F1 and F2 goats are considered experimental. F3 through F5 goats are called “American” and an F6 is a purebred. Ask about the generation when buying a registered mini dairy goat. Purebreds are worth more than first generations.
The minis don’t have quite as many multiple kids as the Nigerians — which can even have septuplets — but they are more likely to have triplets and quadruplets than the standard breeds.
You can find Mini Nubians and Mini Manchas pretty easily. Finding Oberians, Mini Toggs, Mini Alpines, and Mini Saanens can be more challenging because there are fewer of them. (Chapter 16 tells you more about breeding miniature dairy goats.)
If you plan to milk and you live in a city that allows backyard goats, these little goats are a good choice. Jenny Grant of the Goat Justice League, which got the Seattle City Council to allow miniature goats within the city limits, recommends the Oberian and the Mini Mancha for urban situations because they’re the quietest.
Discovering Meat Goats
A lot of people around the world eat goat meat (about 75 percent, at last count), and it is catching on in the United States, as well. The meat is very lean and delicious. Meat goats are generally not used for milking, and some even have traits that make them undesirable to milk. Most of the breeds don’t make good fiber goats because they have short coats, but the Boer is sometimes and Spanish goat is always an exception.
Meat goats grow fast and are fantastic brush-eaters. Some breeds are nearly self-sufficient because they evolved in feral conditions. They require much less time for management because they have developed resistance to the parasites, foot rot, and respiratory problems that are so common in other goats.
If you’re interested in goats to sell in the fast-growing U.S. market, to get rid of kudzu or blackberries, or just for your own freezer, you have a growing number of breeds to choose from.
Boer goats
Boer goats are large, heavy animals that resemble Nubians because of their Roman noses and floppy ears. They’re white and reddish-brown (although some are all red) or black, as well as spotted and dappled, and many are horned. Their horns are short and curve back close to the head. Bucks can weigh from 260 to 380 pounds and does from 210 to 265 pounds. Figure 3-6 shows a Boer buck.
FIGURE 3-6: A South African Boer buck.
Boers are originally from South Africa, where they were bred for hardiness. They came into the United States from New Zealand and Australia through Canada and continue to grow in popularity. Based on the increased number of men I saw at our local goat conference, the Boers are catching on. (Past conferences have drawn mainly dairy goat owners, who traditionally are women.)
If you want a purebred, high-quality Boer, expect to pay a lot. Boers are one of the most expensive breeds in the United States. That doesn’t mean that all of them are expensive, though; you can still get some good foundation stock (the stock you start your breeding program with) if you look around.
At least two organizations register Boer goats, including the American Boer Goat Association (ABGA) and the United States Boer Goat Association (USBGA).
Boers are quite adaptable and hardy, and most are affectionate and mild-mannered. Their adaptability leads them to browse more than dairy goats because they can easily handle both heat and cold. Boers do have some fairly common genetic defects you need to watch for, including extra teats and abnormal testicles.
Myotonic goats
Myotonic goats, also known as fainting or stiff-legged goats, are so named because of their tendency to go rigid and fall down when they’re startled. This is a genetic defect in a recessive gene that probably started in just one goat and then was continued through breeding. The repeated muscle tightening means that the goats have more muscle and are therefore good meat goats.
Fainting goats are often much smaller than Boers, weighing in at between 50 and 75 pounds and becoming no more than 25 inches tall. Those raised for meat, such as the Tennessee Meat Goat, can be much bigger — weighing up to 175 pounds or more.
They come in an array of colors and patterns and have long ears that stick out sideways. They often have long horns that curve backward. They can be shy animals (wouldn’t you be if you kept falling down at the most inopportune times?) but have sweet personalities.
These goats can be registered by either the Myotonic Goat Registry (MGR) or the International Fainting Goat Association (IFGA). These goats are currently listed as “recovering” on the Livestock Conservancy’s list of rare livestock breeds.
Some people buy fainting goats for the novelty of scaring them and watching them drop. The goats have allegedly served another purpose — protecting sheep when a predator comes around. The goat drops and the predator eats the goat instead of the sheep. That’s literally a sacrificial goat!
Kiko goats
The Kiko goat is a newer breed that was created in New Zealand purely as a meat goat. Kikos are most often white with long, scimitar-like horns and medium ears that stick out sideways. They can gain substantial weight without supplemental feeding, which is a big plus for producers. If you have substantial range for these goats, they may be even more economical than Boers.
