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15 Famous Goat Breeds To Raise For Milk, Meat And Fleece

Domestic Breeds of goats are different from the ones raised on farms. But nowadays, several people are domestically raising goats for milk, and meat. Nevertheless, raising dairy goats at home is not an easy task. People often do not know how to raise goats for fruitful produce. Raising milk goats is different from meat goats or fleece goats so excessive care and skillful techniques are required. There are numerous types of goats but not all can be bred for dairy and meat. Here, we have collected 15 most famous goat breeds that can easily be raised at home.

Dairy Goat Breeds

1- Alpine:

Alpine goat breeds can easily be found all across US. These goats were first originated in the Alps and are also commonly known as “French Alpine.”  These goat breeds range for medium to large size and adapt to their environment very easily. Due to this, raising them domestically is trouble-free. They come in various colors and patterns. Alpines are one of the  best for dairy farming as their milk contains an average of 3.5% butterfat. However, the downside is that they are seasonal breeders.

Dairy Goat Breeds

2- LaMancha:

LaMancha have a Spanish origin but are easily found in US. They are medium in size and healthy, friendly and sturdy goats. They have the best dairy temperament and thus, provide rich dairy produce. Their milk contains about 4.2% of butterfat but they are also seasonal breeders. LaMancha are medium sized goats with small tiny ears that are either gopher ears (sweet rolls) or elf ears (hooked ears).

AMancha breeds of goat

3- Nigerian Dwarfs:

The Nigerian goat, as the name suggests, originated from Africa. They are tiny, small goats are best for dairy produce. Although they are very small but can give up to 3-4 pounds of milk per day. They are regarded to be best dairy goats as their milk contains about 6.1% butterfat. However, Nigerian dwarfs are difficult to milk but they can be raised all year round. These goats also come in variety of colors and patterns. Related: tips for raising goats.

Nigerian Dwarfs breeds of goat

4- Nubian:

Nubians also known as Anglo-Nubian are a big, graceful goat breeds. They are proud of their body structure as they have long, pendulum-like ears and Roman nose. They are a cross breed of African and Indian bucks and were raised in England. Although, they are large in size but are not heavy producers. Their milk approximately contains 4.6% of butterfat. They are considered seasonal breeders but they can even be raised all year round. Related: tips for popular sheep breeds.

Nubian breeds of goat

5- Oberhasli:

These goat breeds are also known as “Swiss Alpine” having a medium sized built. They are in bay color with clear black spotting all over the body. Their milk contains 3.6% of butterfat and cannot be raised all year round.

Oberhasli goats

6- Saanen:

They are large, white goats with upright ears and originally grown in Switzerland. Saanen goats are heavy producers but their milk is low in butterfat as compared to other dairy goats.

Saanen breeds of goat

7- Toggenburg Goat:

They are the oldest breed of dairy goats having medium-sized body. They come in various colors ranging from fawn to dark chocolate brown with white marks on the body.  They are commonly raised for producing milk which is usually used to make cheese. However, their milk contains only 3.3% of butterfat.

Toggenburg breeds

Meat Goat Breeds

8- Boer Goat

This South African based goat breed has long, hanging ears and Roman nose. They have white body with colored head and backward curved horns. However, they have a gentle built but are strong and vigorous. They mostly breed in September and end in January.

boer breed of goat

9- Kiko Goat Breed

Kikos breed was first grown in New Zealand. Keeping goats is tricky but Kiko are hassle-free as they can easily be raised even in harsh weather conditions. They are heavy producers and that is why named kiko, which means meat. They can also be grown all year.

My beautiful picture

10- Spanish Meat Goat Breed

Also known as Brush goats, they were introduced in America by Europeans. They are short but have a strong built. These meat goats are available in various colors and can be grown in any month of the year.

Spanish Meat Goat

11- Tennessee Fainting Goat

These goat breed has various names due to its unique characteristics. The most popular ones are fainting or nervous goats named after their genetic imbalance. When shocked or surprised, these goats fall down as their muscles get locked or jammed. Nevertheless, they not only provide generous amount of meat but also fleece.

Tennessee Fainting Goat

Other Breeds Of Goats

12- Angora

Angoras are raised for their thick fleece. They are medium sized goats having long thick coat also known as mohair. They have a Turkish background. Related: tips for breeds of guardian dogs to raise for livestock.

Angora goats

13- Pygora

It is a cross breed of Pygmy and Angora raised to produce fine fiber. Pygoras have three different kinds of fleece categorized according to their characteristics.

Type A: The fleece is Angora dominant having almost 6 inch of fiber. The fiber of the fleece is lustrous and mohair.

Type B: It is a blend of Pygmy and Angora which gives fleece both kinds of fiber; cashmere and mohair. The fiber is slightly curled and 3-6 inch long

Type C: The fleece is Pygmy dominated which makes fleece cashmere type. The fleece is dull, matted and is 1-3 inch long.

Usually pygoras produce up to 6 pounds of fleece per shear and they can be shorn twice a year.

Pygora breeds of goat

14- Kinder

Kinder are dual-purpose goats bred in US for both milk and meat. They come in variety of colors and patterns and can be bred anytime in the year.

Kinder goat

15- Pygmy

They are of African origination having a small body structure. Nowadays, people are usually raising pygmy goats for meat but they are basically bred as pets. They can be raised all year round.

Pygmy goat

About Farhan Ahsan

My name is Farhan Ahsan,I am web enthusiast, writer and blogger. I always strive to be passionate about my work. I started my work at the beginning of 2007 by engaging myself with detail reading and exchanging information with others. Since then things and times have changed, but one thing remains the same and that is my passion for helping and educating people, building a successful blog and delivering quality content to the readers. I always love to write about gardening, sustainable life, off grid living and homestead farming.

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15 comments

  1. The La Mancha are known for their great flavored milk for cheese making because of its mildness.

  2. Thanks for this information. I highly appreciate you taking the time and effort for the world to see these.. these miraclious species! They’re the best!
    Good luck in the future fellow-goat breeders.

    Greetings from Uzbekistan!

  3. lovly goats
    beautiful sexy lush fap fap fap fap

  4. First of all Thank you very much for the details information about the various types of breeds.
    I am from Nepal and i am planning to start commercial Goat Farming in Nepal. So that this types of information will really help me go make my future plane in my buisness.

    once again Thank you

  5. Its really wonderful to have this crucial information about goats Ugandans we are much more interested to have these exotic breeds but what can we do to have them so that we cross breed with ours

  6. thanks for this precious information which you have mention in your website..this information really helps us to know more about the other new breeds.. we’ll also like to buy some new breeds which we don’t have in my country..if you supply in Nepal also…! pls let us….

  7. I am from Bangladesh.How can I buy those goat?Please reply me as soon as possible.

  8. Its great. superb work keep up

  9. Good Information about breeds of goat i like it keep it up

  10. Agriculture is the part of my field am so interested and so glad to access this blog

  11. Dr. Nemy Davalos

    Nice pieces of info. keep it up…

  12. Good info . I need articles of saanen.

  13. Amelia Hintz - Strub

    I have quite a few Nigerian dwarf goats, 1 Nubian , and 5 Boer goats

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