We need a nother goat to bred to a boer this middle aug. for 4-H projects. we have no good "canadates" here but we have herd of a nubian with no papers down the road for $50. she is 5-6 years old. AND NEVER HAD KIDS. are we asking for a whole lot of troble? i know that she is a full blooded nubian and not a cross (we went a looked at her 2 years ago) nubians here always seem to have more troble than others. is this with all of them and not just our 1. i'm pretty sure most of you are going to say no not to do it but it is worth asking. she is a tame goat but we decided not to get her because of the no papers and she had lillte scurs but now we are in big troble of needing goats!!!

-- lindsey in southern IL (l_shamhart@hotmail.com), August 06, 2001

Answers

Lindsey, has the Nubian ever been bred? I know she has never kidded, but she may have a cyst or corpus luti on her ovaries. Why are you considering a goat with a known history of a breeding problem as a "have to have" breeder? I love the Nubians; I don't know what you mean by more problems--milking, or healthwise. My Maggie is a tank. She weighs in at close to 200 lbs. If you really want this goat as a breeder, you might take her with the understanding that if she doesn't settle, you can return her. If she will breed, but doesn't take, try giving her 1cc of Cysterelion (from the vet) IM the day she breeds to the buck. That should knock the cysts and corpus luti off the ovaries, and allow her to stick.

-- Judy in IN (whileaway3@cs.com), August 06, 2001.

Yes you are right Lindsey if you were in my 4H group I would tell you to pass. Not only is she likely not going to breed, rarely with any goats around do does go unbred for long, and even if she gets bred will likely have just one big kid, which will mean kidding difficulties. With a first freshening udder that has not been used in all these years you will be lucky if she has milk or the temperment to let kids nurse. Take it from me, it is very unlikely that this is the ONLY goat for sale in your area, it is just the only one you know about! A 50$ goat is rarely in the long run a bargin. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), August 06, 2001.

the goat was never tryed to be bred before some people just had her as a BIG (in size) pet. there aren't may goats around here that are just old goat the people are either really in to them and ask 10X what we think they are worth or the goats are just old brush goats who are not papered or good milkers. if we want a goat we go to some people 45min. away they have nice goats but they won't sell them to us right now cause they are really busy in the middle of a huge fair and there goats are doing really good. we wanted a cheap goat that was still pretty good condition to bred for 4-H. what i ment when i said that our nubians had troble was that 2 try to come at once or they come out side ways or back wards and she always has 2 more than the time before and the goofy thing always picks the middle of the night and our vets are the stuborn most people they won't come out just for goats so me and dad just have to do our best so far we have done pretty well but nothing to brag about. and she does have some health problems to she gets "dandruff (sp)" in the winter. we have taken her to our vets (who you might have guessed don't know a lot about goats) they gave her parasite medicene the first time and bacteria medicane the second when that didn't work we started seperating her and giveing her wheat grem oil. that helps a little and so does lotion. but it always clears up in spring. any ideas what it could be? we also take her chain off it seems to help a little. she is a good girl she don't need one anyway and puts up with all of our "experaments." any one have the real answer to her problems?

-- lindsey (l_shamhart@hotmail.com), August 06, 2001.

am I missing something, or is this about breeding a goat to a pig? I thought a boar was a male hog, while a male goat was a buck?

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), August 06, 2001.

I had to laugh, too, Daffodylady, as a "boar" is indeed, a male pig, whereas what Linsey meant was a Boer goat, a meat breed. Sure got our attention, anyway, Lindsey! Jan

-- Jan in Co (Janice12@aol.com), August 06, 2001.

Try the spelling in the text, rather than in the subject heading. Don't know why, but I noticed someone else made the same slip not too long ago too, and of course once you've committed there's no way to go back and correct on this forum. I'm seeing typos in posts I've made all too frequently now.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), August 06, 2001.

I am not a goat person, but the same principles apply to any type of livestock you intend to raise. In order to get quality animals you have to spend money. Buying an animal that may be a problem, will in the long run, be far more expensive than going out and finding a good proven animal at a higher price. I would not buy the $50 potential problem.Also if this is for a 4-H project, the potential problems may just sour the youngster against any future projec

-- David A. (Scott@micronet.net), August 07, 2001.

I know that most folks tell you to stay away from auctions, but I -& several others I know - have had really good luck buying goats at our local auction. The key is to RESEARCH YOUR BUTT OFF before you go, though, so you know how to tell good stock from bad & signs of disease & things like that. Maybe our auction is a little nicer than most, I don't know. But it requires the animals to have health certificates for certain things certain animals are prone to, ie: Coggins for horses, TB for goats, etc. You still have to watch out, though. There are traders who buy & sell at all the auctions in the area & some of them aren't the most honest folks in the world - some don't care what they're selling as long as they're making some money on it. Also, you'll still want to quarantine the animal until you can get it to your vet & get it tested for everything, too.

If you're willing to drive a little ways, come on over & I'll take you up there & help you find a decent Nubian for your Boer. ;)

Another idea you might try, & something I've had good luck with, is putting a want ad in the paper. If you have an agricultural publication, I'd go that route. If not, go for one of those freebies that everyone gets that they say they throw away but that they secretly pore over, to see if there are any good bargains. A few months ago, I brought home a goat (impulse buy - oops!) who was a bottle baby. . . shortly thereafter, I realized my one milker I had couldn't keep up w/ the demand for our family AND this little bottle baby, so I went on a search for another milk goat (that's the excuse I gave my husband, anyway, heh). Well, during late winter/early spring, I assure you, this was no easy task. BUT . . . I got a phone call from a woman who had some very nice show goats & I ended up w/ a registered La Mancha (who, incidentally was evaluated at 91.5 by Harvey Considine himself! *puffing up chest*) milker that they were selling b/c she is too big of a hog & is too fat to show. I got her for $150 which was a STEAL. . . & now, I have a super foundation doe for my future herd of little champion La Manchas!

Another idea: look online! There are classifieds everywhere! Try a search on www.google.com for "livestock classifieds Illinois, Indiana, Ohio" or where ever you're willing to drive. . . Also, try "Nubians for sale Illinois, Indiana, Ohio" - or whatever. You'll probably come up w/ a lot of breeders who, many times, will have stock for sale. A lot of times, you can find very reasonable goats from the show folks, who sell their "less than show worthy" animals as pets - wethers or "family milkers" - doesn't mean there's anything wrong w/ them - just means that they have a fault that would keep her from winning blue ribbons in the show ring . . .

OR . . . if you don't HAVE to have a Nubian, you can buy a lovely, show-quality Toggenburg doe from ME, LOL! I just so happen to have one for sale & she is gorgeous & a total sweetheart. I'm selling her b/c I have too many breeds & need to get organized & have a PLAN. Well, The Plan doesn't include Toggenburgs, unfortunately.

At any rate, GOOD LUCK! I'm sure you'll find your doe eventually!

Regards, Sarah/MI

-- Sarah Sanders/MI (chilechile@hotmail.com), August 12, 2001.