Have you been looking to get started with owning dairy goats, but you\u2019re not entirely sure where to look? There are numerous breeds of dairy goats available, which can make deciding between them a little tricky. However, this doesn\u2019t have to be the end of the road for your goat-owning journey. As such, we\u2019ve outlined some of the best dairy goats for beginners to help you discover a little more about whether you\u2019re ready to welcome a dairy goat to your homestead or smallholding. A quick spoiler: call us biased in your will, but we think you should consider it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since every goat keeper has different aims and requirements for their goats, there\u2019s no single goat breed that\u2019s ideal for everyone. However, we\u2019ve come up with three of the best dairy goats for beginners as follows to help you decide which one suits your unique requirements best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t forget: every dairy goat breed needs slightly different care. Before you get your new dairy goats, we also recommend ensuring you have everything ready and in place for them, such as housing, milking equipment or stands, feeders, and the like. You\u2019ll also need to keep several dairy goats, as goats should never be kept alone for extended durations of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you think of a dairy goat, in most cases, you\u2019ll likely think of a big, clean-cut white nanny with a large udder and a bright, curious look about her. If this is the case for you, then you\u2019re probably thinking about Saanen goats (or Saanen-type goats). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this is for a good reason: indeed, Saanens are among the highest-producing dairy goats in the world. As such, a Saanen could be the way to go if you\u2019re looking for a dairy goat that can produce high volumes of milk for your household.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saanen nannies are often incredibly efficient in converting food into milk, producing around 2 to 3 gallons of milk daily. That equates to around 7 to 11 liters of milk \u2013 some dairy cattle only produce roughly twice that! As such, the exceptional efficiency of well-bred Saanens is clearly hard to beat, so you won\u2019t be thirsty with a few Saanen nannies on the homestead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, it\u2019s worth remembering that Saanens will often need a lot more additional supplemental feed to maintain this high level of production. Their milk is also lower in milk fats than some other breeds, which may make it less appealing if it\u2019s the milk quality you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nubians are often hard to beat if you\u2019re looking for exceptional milk fat and protein content from your new homestead goat. They\u2019re still efficient but can\u2019t often rival the huge quantities produced by Saanen nannies. Nevertheless, if you\u2019re looking for a nanny for the homestead, you may not need quite as milky a nanny anyway \u2013 in which case, investing in a Saanen nanny may be wasteful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, they more than make up for this, considering the amazing quality of their milk. In fact, many Nubian nannies will be able to produce exceptionally rich milk in suitable volumes for standard homestead use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Typically, a good Nubian nanny will be able to produce around 2\/3 of the milk of a Saanen nanny. Nubians could be ideal if you\u2019re happy with around one to two gallons of delicious milk per day (and a highly friendly backyard goat).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s also worth considering that Nubians are also considered a dual-purpose goat breed. As such, you should be able to get some meat from a Nubian kid for your freezer; however, they\u2019re most effective when crossed with a meat goat breed, producing an often large-framed, fast-growing kid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re looking for an easy-to-care-for dairy goat, Nigerian Dwarfs might be ideal. They are a very small goat breed compared to the other dairy breeds on this list, which makes them generally easier to look after. Plus, they\u2019re also easier to keep in many cases, thanks to their small size; this can make feeding and housing Nigerian Dwarves much easier for a new goat keeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nigerian Dwarves typically produce several liters of milk per day, or around half a gallon. Their milk is also comparably creamy as a Nubian\u2019s (sometimes even slightly more), making them an excellent option for personal use. However, it\u2019s worth remembering that Nigerian Dwarf kids will be less suited to meat production since their small frame means they can\u2019t often be crossed with a meat breed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t be fooled, though \u2013 as is the case for any goat, Nigerian Dwarves can still absolutely be troublemakers. However, they\u2019re loveable additions to the family smallholding if you\u2019re looking for an animal that can provide a couple of liters of milk per day for your household.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The above three options are all brilliant choices for the best dairy goats for beginners. However, they\u2019re far from the only goat breeds out there, and the choice really comes down to personal preference in most cases. For example, Golden Guernseys, Toggenburgs, La Manchas, Guernseys, Alpines, Oberhaslis, and the like can all be great choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t forget, though \u2013 you can technically still milk other breeds of goat if you\u2019re in a pinch. However, breeds that are not dedicated to milk production may produce a much more modest amount of milk, so this is well worth considering before making your final decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019ve been looking to get started with owning your very own small herd of dairy goats, it\u2019s always important to ensure you\u2019ve chosen a suitable breed that will \u201cdo the job,\u201d as it were. However, not all dairy goats are necessarily ideal choices for new goat breeders or goat keepers. As such, we hope today\u2019s guide will have given you some ideas on the best dairy goats for beginners; this might just allow you to start your new homesteading dream with goats once and for all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Have you been looking to get started with owning dairy goats, but you\u2019re not entirely sure where to look? There are numerous breeds of dairy goats available, which can make deciding between them a little tricky. However, this doesn\u2019t have to be the end of the road for your goat-owning journey. As such, we\u2019ve outlined…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":248,"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247\/revisions\/248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}