Best milking goats for small homestead?

burekcrew86

Ah, glad you had mentioned about the soap part.  This makes the suggestion easy.  Alpines.  Alpines produce the most milk in one sitting.

Now, if you said cheese, that is a totally different realm.  It's all Nubian.  Nubian produce the sweetest and the most cream out of the goat kinds.

If for meat, then a Boar mixed with 1/4 Saleen or Nubian is a good choice.

burekcrew86

That’s great information! Thank you so much!

Desire’

Great info bmaverick!  I had a Nubian on my 2 acre homestead because I really appreciated the similarity in flavor to cow milk.  It was a good choice for someone who was new to goat milk.  On a very small homestead I would get a Nigerian dwarf.  They have a high butterfat content which would be great for soap making if you are only making soap for you and your friends.  The Nigerian dwarf gives less milk than the full sized goat so if you are selling soap you may not get enough yield.

Alison

I have a Saanen and two Toggenburgs.

The Saanen is the only one who has been in milk to date. Will join the Togg's when they are a bit older + at a time that will give us full coverage of milk through the year.

I got the Togg's from a dairy that said their mums produced heavily - around 8lt a day. I've found the Saanen's milk very creamy. I have been very happy with the [basic] hard cheese with the Saanen's milk.

I have had smaller goats, but found milking fiddly. The larger animals produce more and are easier to milk.

As long as you know you will need more than one goat as they are herd animals and would otherwise likely be unhappy in a paddock by themselves.

sherryo

Ive always been partial to Nubians.  They have a high enough fat content in their milk that it is possible to skim cream and make small amounts of  butter without any extra equipment.  The cheeses are richer too.  The bucklings are heavy enough to be a meat source.

Look into LaManchas if you want high production, low fat milk for soap.  They are very hardy, very thrifty, very calm, and excellent producers.  Their ear type is a bit odd, but once you get to know them you will LOVE them.