Minis vs regular size goats

the line I heard, once upon a time, was 2/3 the milk on 1/2 the feed.

 

Well I can't tell you much as I run the full size in with the Mini LaMancha but 1 lb of grain per milking is the norm for the Mini except for two of them and they produce more so get abt 1 1/4 lb.

 

If this helps any with your question.......my ND's eat about 1/3 of what my brothers nubian doe's eat.....but I also get about 1/3 the milk .

 

So if the minatures give about 1/3 as much and eats about 1/3 as much as a large breed goat, then you are having to milk 3 goats to equal one. You are having to trim 12 feet instead of 4. You are having to vacinate 3 goats instead of one and so on.

 

Nope. Our Mini Nubians give the same amount of milk as our standards, yet eat less, of course depending on how 'big' the mini is. We run our few Nubians with our Mini Nubians too, so I couldn't give you an exact amount as to how much hay they actually eat. But, ours give the same amount as our standards. Minis are the way to go for me!

Suriyah

 

I'm thinking as you Tim... Each is divided by 4.
Although.. makes me think about getting smaller ones when one of these big ole Nubies run you into the wall or up agianst a fence when your worming and such.
I'm getting to old for this.. :goat
Might have to look into the mini's
Can they be registered?

 

:biggrin Oh Tim; You make it sound like so much more work with these little goats. There are some advantages with these little gals, especially if they are just family milkers. I only need 1/3 the room to keep them is one. If I can't get one to go to where I want him, I just pick him up and put him there. Just 2 of these gals can keep a average family in more milk than they will use. ( Some gals on this forum, won't fall in that average cat. I don't think :crazy). Oh yea, I was about to leave out the best part.......everybody that comes here always says stuff like "oh! they're so cute", "how adorable", and I'd liked to buy a couple from you when they have baby's. Of course, the last line is the best. :goat

 

I really like them because of my age and my ability to handle them some of my mini's milk 1 gal a day and will beat out some of my FB Nubians. I dont' have help when it comes to handling the goats or doctoring so that makes it nice. Especially when you consider my Nubian buck is way bigger than I am. and so are most of the FB does.

 

As far the milking capacity of minis - epecially interested in mini Alpines, does the generation/% matter much, all other aspects being equal? In other words, does the 3rd generation mini produce the milk quantity (on avg.) as the F1? Hope this isn't too stupid a question!

 

I will say that i am a bit queasy over considering the tighter space to manuever in if i have to help with kidding...

 

That has never been a problem with my MM Kate they are easy kidders.
Yes I have found as you go up in gen the goat gets smaller and smaller so the capacity for holding milk also gets smaller. My first and 2nd gen milk good and one of the 4rd but beyond that the quanities go down. as with thier size.

 

Our Mini Nubians have been very easy kidders, Kate.

Yes, minis can be registered. There are several registries for them. Here are a few:
Miniature Dairy Goat Association (MDGA) - http://www.miniaturedairygoats.com
The Miniature Goat Registry (TMGR) - http://www.tmgronline.org/
International Dairy Goat Registry (IDGR) - http://www.goat-idgr.com/

There's a club for Mini Nubians too - National MiniNubian Breeders Club - http://www.mininubians.com/

Hope this helps,
Suriyah

 

It's my understanding that you can't reg. the offspring as "Mini - whatever breed" until the 3rd gen., is that correct? I have 2 Alpines that I plan to breed to a tallish Nigerian Dwarf next fall and I'm trying to figure/talk out all this stuff out first. This year tho I'm milking them thru to see what level of yields they can maintain.

 

No that is not true they are registered as experimental 1st thru 3rd then if 4th gen conforms to all the standards required they and thier parents are transfered or registered as Americans. Go read the above registries and it tells you exactly. Also if you don't reg the 1st 2nd and 3rd as experimentals you wouldn't be able to reg the 4th or the 3rd as Americans.
Personally if I were just starting out I would reg with TMGR

 

So they eat a third less, milk a third less and sell for a third?? I just don't see how an animal who is smaller is eaiser to deal with than a goat who is taller. We aren't talking a wild nubain vs a tame mini, all things being equal an animal with a higher center of gravity is eaiser to deal with. I would take a 200 pound milker on any day compared to a 90 pound junior doe! And the small teat issue is an issue. Vicki

 

Vicki now Albuquerque and her offspring do not have sm teats and neither do some of my other Mini's Al milks 8lb a day her daughter 6lb but Al is much easier for me to handle than is Davinity there is no way in hades I could get Davinity on the stand if she decided she didn't want to go by my self. By the way you have Al's daughter :crazy

 

Vicki..." and sell for a third??"

Are you kiddin !!! Lots of folks are selling these things for more than a big goat. I'm just affraid they'll go the way of the pigmy one of these days and sell for $50. I've got to where I don't even look at the east coast ND's anymore.....most are asking $300 to $450 for just weaned kids......that's a little to pricey for me to even look at.

 

Thanks Sondra for setting me straight!

Liese

 

Whim.Vicki is talking abt the mix mini's ND + Full sized. and she is correct 1/3 the price if that. Not a purebred ND. The Mini's tho I love them are not the way to go if you want to sell goats and make any money. But are idea for a small homestead and family milkers.