So recently I have been seeing alot of posts from people and receiving responses from people who have just plain out been unhappy with their purchases in the Nigerian world. For some odd reason they think they have been douped because they should have been getting a gallon a day milkers!! So I am going to be honest here. Listen closely........ You may get a gallon a day milker, she will probably be about 8, have very little attachments, probably poor conformation, and more than likely be crossbred as Nigerians typically dont give a gallon a day (at least not for extended timeframes). Sometimes you will see one peak that high, if she is feeding her kids and you only take them off after 12 hours, but if she is just being milked regularly and not nursing her kids probably not. Also, sometimes our minds trick us because we dont know any better. Well she has a milk star, well yes she does, do you know how that is figured? How much butterfat was in her milk? So she milked less but had more butterfat and still got her star. Stars dont always mean they are gallon a day milkers. Also get them home and they drop dramatically. Well you moved them, switched feed, and they dont have any friends. I get pretty out of sorts when I am in a new environment too. I am pretty sure that I wouldnt fare well in the milking department either if I were moved to a new place and expected to perform. I have heard numerous times that it takes a doe at least a year to really settle in to a place and establish pecking order and get comfortable with the surroundings. So I dont judge them until they have had that time. Also there are those who want a nice milk goat cheap. So they buy a cheap milker and she gives them a couple cups a milking. So they have to buy another cheap goat to give them another couple of cups. Now they are feeding two cheap lets say $250 goats to get 4 cups a milking, roughly a quart a day. They are also feeding 2 of these cheap goats and that costs them lets say roughly $25 a week? I am just guestimating here. Now my common sense says to me, why didnt I just buy the $400 doe that was giving a quart a day? I would have spent less, and would be feeding less than I am right now. Not to mention the kids may bring in more income to pay for her feed with the right breeding and accomplishments. See where the mind played a trick right there, you always get what you pay for, and you may think you are getting lucky, but are you really? So here is my challenge to those who want to buy cheap gallon a day milkers. First, dont expect a FF to milk a gallon a day, NOT happening. Second, dont expect perfection from your goats and you wont be disappointed, it is what it is and remember you arent perfect either. Third, You will always be disappointed if you dont have realistic expectations of what a miniature dairy goat can do. Do you really need a gallon a day? If so maybe you should own a standard breed and hope they give you a gallon a day cause let me tell ya, there are some out there that wont! And lastly, figure it out in your mind before convincing yourself that the cheap goats are the way to go, you will save yourself some time and $$$. And at least make sure that you are buying from herds that appreciate healthy animals. It is no ones fault but your own if you buy diseased animals because you didnt care until you realized that some of these diseases could be transmitted to you through your milk. This is just whats been on my mind lately :)
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 16:23:45 +0000
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