{"id":308,"date":"2022-10-15T14:34:50","date_gmt":"2022-10-15T14:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/?p=308"},"modified":"2022-10-15T14:34:52","modified_gmt":"2022-10-15T14:34:52","slug":"how-much-do-dairy-goats-weigh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/how-much-do-dairy-goats-weigh\/","title":{"rendered":"How Much do Dairy Goats Weigh? A Comparison of Different Breeds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When choosing the perfect new addition to your family or farm, it\u2019s important to know roughly how big your chosen goat will be to help you work out how much space it needs, how to feed it, and the like. However, this isn\u2019t always an easy question to ask in many cases, which can leave people wondering: how much do dairy goats weigh? This isn\u2019t the easiest question since there are countless dairy goat breeds.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, we\u2019ve outlined some of the key things you need to know to answer \u201chow much do dairy goats weigh\u201d with confidence. And don\u2019t forget: a dairy goat\u2019s weight will fluctuate throughout its life, so just because it weighs a certain amount at one weighing doesn\u2019t mean it will be the same the next time you run it through the weighing scales!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Much do Dairy Goats Weigh on Average?&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>First off, we should consider how much dairy goats weigh on average. On average, most dairy goat nannies will usually weigh around 120-150lbs, while dairy goat billies will often mark the scales at around 170-200lbs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, it\u2019s vitally important to remember here that this is only a very crude estimate of dairy goat\u2019s mature weights since there are countless different factors that influence how much your dairy goat will weigh. Even something as lactation can influence your goat\u2019s measured weight since a full udder carrying 5lbs of milk will undeniably increase your goat\u2019s weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Factors that Affect a Goat\u2019s Weight&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of the most common factors affecting a goat\u2019s weight include size, age, body condition score, stage of production, coat type, stomach fill, and the like. As such, you should always keep these points in mind when considering your goat\u2019s weight to estimate how much they are carrying. It\u2019s also worth remembering here that weight alone isn\u2019t a clear indicator of whether your goat is healthy, underweight, or overweight; for this, you should body condition score your goats regularly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Size<\/strong>: Invariably, a goat that\u2019s taller than another may weigh slightly more. However, it\u2019s worth considering that height alone may not be a big influence, depending on the actual body mass. A longer-legged breeding goat may only be slightly heavier than a comparable nanny with shorter legs.<\/li><li><strong>Age: <\/strong>Age isn\u2019t an immediate indicator of weight; even a mature goat may fail to meet its full potential if it didn\u2019t grow well as a kid. However, generally speaking, a young goat will weigh much less than a more mature goat. However, goats tend to do the majority of their growth within the first year of life, and the following years are much steadier.<\/li><li><strong>Body condition score: <\/strong>Did you know that, for ruminants, a single body condition score represents a weight change of around 5-10%? As such, a goat that\u2019s in body condition score 2 (underweight) will likely weigh around 10% less than a healthy weight goat.<\/li><li><strong>Production:<\/strong> A goat in production will often have highly variable weights. Of course, during pregnancy, the goat will likely weigh more due to the combined weight of her and her kids (plus placenta). Meanwhile, during lactation, her udder weight may be significant.<\/li><li><strong>Coat type:<\/strong> Most dairy goats tend to have very short, smooth coats. However, if your dairy goat has a long, heavy coat, such as a Golden Guernsey, this may influence its weight compared to other goats of a similar size.<\/li><li><strong>Stomach fill:<\/strong> Most dairy goats will eat several kilograms of food per day. As such, if you weigh a goat after eating compared to a goat that has been off its food, you\u2019ll likely notice a weight difference accordingly.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, even with the above factors in mind, individual goats (as with people) will also vary. A more muscled dairy goat will hence weigh more than a dairy goat with minimal muscling. It\u2019s worth noting that this difference is especially significant between dairy and meat goats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mature Dair Goat Weights by Breed\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The exact weight of your goat as a mature animal will vary. However, we\u2019ve listed some common mature weights by breed and sex for popular dairy goats as follows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>Breed<\/td><td>Male (Billy\/Buck)<\/td><td>Female (Nanny\/Doe)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Saanen<\/td><td>160lbs<\/td><td>140lbs<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Toggenburg<\/td><td>150lbs<\/td><td>120lbs<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Anglo Nubian<\/td><td>220lbs<\/td><td>180lbs<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Alpine<\/td><td>170lbs<\/td><td>135lbs<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>La Mancha<\/td><td>165lbs<\/td><td>130lbs<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Oberhasli<\/td><td>150lbs<\/td><td>120lbs<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Nigerian Dwarf<\/td><td>70lbs<\/td><td>60lbs<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Golden Guernsey<\/td><td><br><\/td><td><br><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Evidently, the different goat breeds can have substantial differences between them in terms of weight. If you\u2019re looking for a small and easy to handle goat, a nigerian dwarf might be your best bet. But, if you want a high-producing, large framed dairy goat, a Saanen, Toggenburg, or Anglo Nubian could be good options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Can I Weigh my Goat?&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you need to weigh your goat, the most obvious option is to put it on a weigh scales. However, you\u2019ll need specialist, contained weigh scales to do this well (or a lot of patience until the goat stands still on it).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alternatively, if you have a small goat such as a Nigerian Dwarf, you may be able to weigh it on human weigh scales by weighing yourself, weighing you holding the goat, and working out the difference. This is a method we often use for our Boer kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, you could weigh your goats with a weigh tape band. This is much less accurate. However, a measuring tape around the girth can be a simple way to estimate your goat\u2019s weight crudely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re looking to buy a new dairy goat, starting out by checking their weight is often highly important. Of course, this is something that many people aren\u2019t aware of, which can often leave us surprised by how much (or how little) our goats weigh. Of course, it\u2019s highly worth considering that a dairy goat is bred to have a fine build, so they will often weigh much less than a meat goat or fiber goat of comparable height and size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, you should always be careful when judging your goat\u2019s weight, especially when it comes to feeding rations and medications; while some people can judge weight by eye (something I like to think I\u2019m pretty good at), this is a skill that takes a long while to learn and can often be deceptive!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When choosing the perfect new addition to your family or farm, it\u2019s important to know roughly how big your chosen goat will be to help you work out how much space it needs, how to feed it, and the like. However, this isn\u2019t always an easy question to ask in many cases, which can leave&#8230;<\/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":[3,7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308"}],"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=308"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":309,"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308\/revisions\/309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}