I have a sannen/boar yearling doe. If I breed her back to a sannen will any of her kids be decent milkers? I also have a sannen/boar wether, thought of keeping him for company to my sannen buck. Is that necessary or possible? thanks

-- Cindy (ourfamilyfarm@email.msn.com), February 08, 2001

Answers

They should be good milkers. I love my Saanens milk, it never tastes funny at all. Hopefully, the does will have good udders. I don't know too much about Boers. Keeping the wether is a good idea. Sparky, our buck, get's upset every morning when the girls go out in the pasture. He can't go. A goat for company would be good.

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@hotmail.com), February 08, 2001.

No way of knowing, and genetics doesn't really work like that. This kid is not only going to be influenced by all the saanen bloodline in her, but by all the boer. So though she may not carry the extra teats, and small milk supply seen by most originating boer, she could, but she also could show the improvement given by all the Nubian stock that they were bred to when they got here. The boer may also wonderfully increase her butterfat, though she will never be able to convert calories to milk efficently, like her saanen mother could (instead saving some of these calories to make meat).

All of us who show wish that genetics were as simple as breeding our wonderful doe, to an even more wonderful buck, and guaranteing us these spectacular kids! The problem comes in all the ancestors lurking in the pedigree with their horrid rumps, splay toes and dippy chines, that come out and bite you in the butt! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), February 08, 2001.

Cindy,you are likely to get a very decent milker out of this combination.While it is true that Boers often have multiple teats,it has been my experience that these don't show up in the second cross. A good "homestead" milker doesn't have to set records to be a keeper. She may,or may not,milk as much or as long as a purebred.So what? Then breed those babies back to a Boer and you have your freezer goats too.Best of both worlds.

-- JT in Florida (gone2seed@hotmail.com), February 08, 2001.

Cindy in Ky, have you tried letting Sparky out in the evenings when the does go in? My buck became much happier when I started letting him alternate with the girls that way. And he doesn't mind being out at night like they do. He comes in at morning feeding, goes out when they come in for evening feeding.

-- mary, texas (marylgarcia@aol.com), February 08, 2001.

She is 50% Saanen, so her kids would be 75%. They will have a better chance of being good dairy goats than she will. If you breed her to a really high production buck, it will help with both her production and that of her daughters(if she has any).

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), February 09, 2001.