What are the easiest goat breeds to raise?
You may be thinking of buying a little farm – or you already have one – and you are considering what domestic animals you should keep. If you’re thinking of having goats – first, you need to consider their products, and keeping conditions about which I would like to give a summary to you now.
Nowadays the goat milk and its meat are not consumed by too many people because they don’t possess the necessary knowledge about these animals. We shouldn’t neglect this kind creature, for its keeping is economical; its products are extremely delicious and last but not least very healthy! What’s more keeping goats is an exciting experience! There is no other farming animal that would give us such a diversity of products with only little investment and under modest keeping condition like the goat. Comparing its body mass to its milk production ability, goat stands at the first position among our dairy animals; for example, while a cow gives 5-6 times as much milk as its body mass, the goat produces about 10 times as much milk as its body mass. It’s remarkable, isn’t it? What’s more, the protein content of the goat meat (in proportion to cows’ or sheep’s) is high while its fat content is smaller. Its benefits come from not only the meat and milk, but from its leather, fur, and dung as well.
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A goat generally likes the bushy, weedy, rapid slope grazing-ground so it can utilize those fields that other livestock don’t really prefer. What should you know about its milk? First of all that it is the healthiest one among all the milk-producing livestock.
The greatest advantages of goat milk are: it can be digested easily, those who have a milk allergy can consume it because it lacks the protein that causes milk allergy, it is excellent to feed tots with goat milk, and as tuberculosis is very rare among goats, this milk is TBC free! Then, I shouldn’t forget about mentioning goat milk soap! It will make your skin so smooth that after one bath you won’t consider changing it ever again.
After all these fantastic and superb pros I really can’t mention any cons of it, maybe only one thing – if you have a go at buying your first goat you will get the second and third one too! Otherwise, there is an extremely important and essential fact that everybody has to know about goats: they are definitely social animals, therefore they need the company of other goats – or at least other livestock’s presence – as keeping them alone is a very cruel thing.
If you never tried goat milk and are afraid that it would taste/smell bad, do dare. Because when you try it, you will most probably exclaim surprised – “Oh, it is delicious! Wow! It doesn’t have any strange and bad taste!” Well, no, it really doesn’t have bad taste. If yes, it is only the result of keeping the animal under bad circumstances.
There are more and more people – perhaps you too, dear reader – who decide to lead a more natural life and to buy a small farm in order to start keeping animals. If you are interested in other livestock around your house, we kindly recommend to you our previous article on 7 Easiest Farm Animals to Raise for Profit.
All right, all right, you may say – but how can you decide which breed to buy? Well, it all depends on two things: where you want to keep them (in the mountains, or in a flat countryside) and what you want to get as a result. Therefore, the question you should ask yourself is: do you want dairy, meat or fiber breeds? In other words – what kind of products you would like to gain from raising goats? In order to help you with making a decision, we ranked the three most popular breeds from all the three types and a number one breed which is perhaps the most appreciated one in the world. To have the adequate answer we watched Goat breeds on Department of Animal Science. We checked and compared all the breeds regarding their features, like how much milk they give, what their best attributes are, how much land they require, and so on. We need to be honest though; we relied on the personal experience of raising goats, familiar with the fact that the most popular goat breeds are also the easiest goat breeds to raise. So, let’s see those beautiful breeds that are easy to take care of!
10. Fiber breeds: Nigerian Dwarf
Its name “dwarf” comes from its miniature appearance as its height is 17″19” of a doe, and 19″-20” of a buck. But its fiber ability is extremely good. These small goats are very funny animals, easy to raise, easy to shear and easy to fall in love with. Highly recommended if you don’t have too big land to keep goats.
9. Angora
This spectacular-looking goat that ranks 9th on our list of easiest goat breeds to raise originates from Angora, Minor Asia. This must be one of the oldest goat breeds in the world as the Old Testament also mentions the use of mohair from the time of Moses. Angora’s most valuable product is, of course, mohair – so if you think of raising fiber goat, Angora is the perfect breed for you!
8. Cashmere
Well, cashmere is well-known all over the world, and it is said to be the fiber of kings. 60% of the world’s’ cashmere supply is from China, and the rest is distributed in Turkey, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kashmere, Australia, New Zeeland, and Iran. These goats that rank 8yh on our list of easiest goat breeds to raise are very easy to raise as they are very healthy and they need very little care. They don’t really jump too high, so a standard woven fence will keep them in their place. Their dual coat is sheared once a year which can be sold to hand spinners or wholesalers.
7. Meat breeds: Kiko
This breed takes the 7th place on our list of easiest goat breeds to raise, but this doesn’t mean that it lags behind. This is a real purpose-bred goat; developed in New Zeland as a pure meat breed. Its name originates from the Maori word ’Kiko’ meaning flesh, meat. These are really hardy goats and can abide any kind of weather. The weight of an adult buck can be 100 kg and the does can weigh 60 kg.
6. Kalahari red
The average weight of a buck can be 115 kg, while does are 75 kg. Their mothering instincts are very good; they don’t need any help during parturition which eases its keeping very much. It got its name from the Kalahari desert in Africa.
5. Boer
Boer goat got the first place among meat breeds and you will see why!
This breed was developed by crossing Angora, Indian and European goats in South Africa. Its name comes from the Dutch word ‘boer’ which means farmer. It is primarily meat goat, it has floppy ears and horns as well. It needs very low maintenance so, which is why it takes the 5th place on our list of easiest goat breeds to raise. The weight of a boer buck is between 110-130 kg (!) while the ewes are between 90 and 100 kg.
4. Dairy breeds: Alpine
What about the dairy breeds that are easiest to raise?
The French – Alpine goat, the number 4 on our list of easiest goat breeds to raise come from the Alps, Europe. It is also referred to as Alpine Dairy Goat, as it gives 1000-1100 kg of milk during the whole lactation (300 days). The butterfat content of its milk is 3,4%. They are adaptable, hardy animals that can cope with any climate under any weather circumstances while giving excellent production.
3. LaMancha
It originates from Oregon, and it has an outstanding diary attribute. It is an extremely sturdy goat that is able to withstand any kind of hardness and yet it can produce milk, therefore we can say it is really worth keeping it. The high butterfat content of its milk (4%) lifted this breed into the top of our list. It can produce 1100-1150 kg of milk during the whole lactation (about 300 days).
2. Saanen
It originated from the Saanen Valley, Switzerland, Europe. Saanen ewes, the number 2 on our list of easiest goat breeds to raise, are great milk producers (1300 kg during the whole lactation period), and the butterfat content of their milk is 4, 1-4,2%. Their size is medium as the does are usually 65 kg. As they come from a mountainous country, they can withstand the robustious climate and are very hardy ones.
1. Nubians
Nubians got the number one place because without a shadow of a doubt it is one of the most popular, well-known and all-purpose goats: useful for milk, meat and hide production. We can say this is the queen of the goats. It is not rare that a Nubian can produce 1200 kg of milk during the whole lactation (270-300 days) which is pretty much! Its milk also has high (if not the highest) average butterfat content: 4,9%. Nubians are very grateful to raise. This breed was developed in England; British goats were crossed with bucks of Indian and African origin.
As we have reviewed the easiest goat breeds to raise – which one(s) would you choose? As for me, I’d prefer the Nubians not only because they are all-purpose, but I really love their long, floppy ears; and the Angora goats because of their funny appearance and wonderful fiber.
