Hi, let me properly introduce me and family here. We have been getting CS for almost two years now, and two weeks ago I discovered for the first time the source for almost any information we desire THIS FORUM! For you who haven't heard my story yet, I'm sixteen living 5 miles out of a 400 pop. town of Oklee, Minn. 22 miles away from an 8010 pop. town of Theif River Falls, Minn. and am 65 miles away from Grand Forks, ND. We moved from Las Vegas, Nevada in the spring (April-May) to Northwestern Minnesota. We own 53 acres but 40 of it is in CRP, on the 13 acres we have a 40*65' hip roof barn in need of repair a sturdy comfy home and a 60*120' Quonset Hut. My mother so graciously homeschools me, and father works in TRF. Since May we bought 4 geese(2 African, 2 Toulouse), 29 chickens (RIR/NH), A holstien steer(well almost steer), a registered 6 year old Lamancha( for $85.00 from a local CS'er) and two runt pigs (see 'free pigs' 10/20 string). We have been praying for a farm for over 9 years, went took trips all over the nation( Missouri, Arkansas, Pennslyvania, West Virginia, And Utah!)but last Nov. 2 My dad went to Untidedcountry.com and found this farm there, we called on it, dad flew out here Nov. 20 (in the middle of a blizzard) and bought our farm that we were waiting for 6 years!!! Because of God's amazing grace and PROVIDENCE we named our farm, Providence Farm. Now to my Question the Lamancha we bought three weeks ago was bred with a Pygmy buck Will this breed be good milkers like Kinder goats? And how should we sell for them? She due due to kid in one to two weeks, I think. Thanks for time, God Bless, Gregory, Christine, and Chandler Joseph Wible, of Providence Farms

-- Chandler (providencefarms2001@yahoo.com), October 30, 2001

Answers

God does provide in wonderful ways! Congratulations

I have no idea about the goats cause we haven't gotten to that part yet.

-- Stephanie Nosacek (possumliving@go.com), October 30, 2001.

Mini-Manchas! Some people have bred to get these mini milkers also. I have also thought of going that route. Kids should be ok milkers. Some people milk their Pygmies. I don't, but I know they have very high butterfat. I would sell them as Mini- Manchas. A lot of people are looking for a smaller breed that will give the milk, but not eat as much. Have fun!

-- Wendy (weiskids@yahoo.com), October 30, 2001.

You ask "Can you milk a la mancha pigmy cross?" Not if the teats are an inch long! That's one of the tests. You could spend a year feeding a pigmy cross doeling before even breeding her, and then possibly end up with teats a 2 year old child couldn't squeeze milk out of from an udder that only gives you a few pints of milk. But if you milk mama goat for a year and breed her back to a good la mancha buck you'll have a much better chance of getting does that can put fresh milk on your family table AND you'll have animals you can show in 4H or Future Farmers. I know it may be hard to think about at first, because baby goats are so cute, but pigmy crosses make nice little meat goats and goat meat is very healthful and quite delicious. I got my first goat when I was 14 and over the years I learned that goats are not pets, they are livestock, even though I love my goats and treat them very well, they work for me and my family providing us with milk and meat for our table, and manure for the garden. In exchange for the wonderful meat, milk, and manure, we work very hard to feed them the best food, to keep them clean and healthy, and to respect their need for a pleasant, peaceful life. It is a LOT of work and we can't say "I don't feel like milking today" or "I really don't want to rake out the barn" or "It's cold out, I don't feel like going out and feeding the goats" even when we are tired or it's cold out, or we have other interesting things to do. Being a good farmer is like having a covenant between you and your animals. The problem with a cross between a working dairy animal like a la mancha, and a pet goat like a pigmy is that it will take as much time and effort to raise a not particularly useful pet cross as it would to raise a functional goat that can feed and enrich your family for years. I'm going to suggest you read lots of books about goat keeping and listen to the goatkeepers in your area. You will also learn a lot from reading this forum. I've loved goats for 44 years now. They are a wonderful, useful, worthy animal.

-- Ellen (gardenfarm@earthlink.net), October 30, 2001.

Mini-Manchas are LaManchas crossed with Nigerian Dwarf goats, not Pygmy goats. Ideally, they retain their dairy conformation and good production, but are smaller than standard LaManchas. A lot depends on the stock you start with, of course.

-- Laura Rae Jensen (lrjensen@nwlink.com), October 30, 2001.

Welcome to the forum Chandler!!! We bought our "dream farm" through United Country also, back in 1994 it was called United National Realty though! Like your Dad, we bought it as soon as we came and walked the property, on the same day. We had been looking for rural property for 4 years, over 3 state areas, until we found "home" here in SE Ohio in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), October 31, 2001.

Sorry, I really didn't think it mattered what they were crossed with to get the smallness. I have a couple of Pygmies that have very nice udders. If I didn't have my Nubians, I'd probably milk them. Just because they're Pygmies, doesn't mean the teats will be small. I had a Nubian that I had to finger milk. It all depends on the individual animal. Pygmies are dual purpose & can very well be milked just like any other goat. My best milker is half Boer, so just because some consider them a meat goat, doesn't mean they can't be milked.

-- Wendy (weiskids@yahoo.com), October 31, 2001.