i love Nubian. i had a wethered Nubian and he wasn't stinky or mean. he just liked to be carried every where.

 

Yep, a Nubian wether is your best bet. I adore Nubians, especially the mini ones.

But goats are stinky, regardless. It's just that the neutered males tend to be less stinky than the intact animals.

If you're used to livestock, goat stench shouldn't bother you.

 

DEFINITELY get a whether - primarily because there is a lack of uses for them. Bucks have value for breeding, does have value for breeding/milk, whethers, if they can't find good pet homes, tend to only have good value for slaughter. Getting a whether for what you need would be a good thing to do.


From a personal standpoint, I'm not a fan of Nubians. They are far and away the biggest, bossiest, and most vocal of the dairy breeds. I prefer LaManchas (my personal favorite) or the Swiss breeds (Saanens, Alpines, Toggenbergs or Oberhauslis).

Bucks are disgusting. They have such a horrible stink during breeding season due to their "buck cologne" - a very pheramone-heavy urine they spray on every surface of their pen, and on their billy beards, which they then wipe all over themselves, and on you if they get the chance. It makes a gross, oily smell in the air that you can NOT get out of your nose, even long after you've gone inside and washed. The smell even taints the taste of doe's milk - most people who have tried it and not liked it, have tried commercially raised goats milk, which is ALWAYS tainted with buck flavor due to the commercially financial decision making it necessary to keep a buck on the farm.

I never kept a buck on my farm and sent my does away to be bred, and none of my does or pet whethers EVER had any buck smell - and people could not distinguish between my goats milk and standard cows milk, other tham my goats milk was much cremier.

 

Hmm, maybe I will look for a wether then.

 

I would suggest a wether, and if you're not getting a bottle kid, or one that has been raised solo then I'd suggest getting two.

Goats don't generally stink, only bucks. Nubians are good, in my experience they seem to like horses better. You'll want one that is polled or has been disbudded. I raised Nigerian Dwarf goats and disbud all mine as babies. Most dairy breeds will be disbudded.

To bad you're not closer, I currently have the sweetest, most adorable little nigi wether avaliable, and soon may have some mini alpines avaliable.

 

ok most goats have horns... but most goats are de-budded at birth (you can look that up) so they don't have horns. a nanny (female) goat would be best as they have lovely nature although they will be loud when they come into season. most of our goats lived to about 12-13 but unfortunately, they all died of cancer.

They were all saanen goats, which are bigger that most goat breeds and white, i recommend them because the high difference isn't too big compared to a horse (a lot of goat breeds are small) so they will be able to deal with horseplay.

 

Boer i would say are the best they are great companions and aren't as noisy as your dairy breeds. They are also less maintenance. You could also show them in goat shows.

 

i think so...we just got one 2 days ago to keep our calf company

 

Hey there! Where in MN are you?? I'm in MN as well, and got 3 Nubian wethers this summer. They are the nicest little guys ever! They are pretty noisy if they know you are around and not giving them attention, or when they get separated from each other, but I don't mind that.

 

I have a wether you can have lol he's great. But I'm over in VA.

 

Unwethered males (bucks) do stink. Wethers don't really have purpose because they're castrated, so they're perfect weed eaters.
I like Nigerian Dwarfs. But I would get more than one goat. They dont like being alone. Nigies are tiny enough that even full grown you can pick them up and haul them if they dont want to walk (mine acts like a spoiled little princess--she must be carried less she wont go). And they're quite the little charmers. I love their personalities.
Almost ALL goats will get horsn unless you have them dehorned as babies. I assume it doesnt feel too good, and it doesnt smell nice, but it's fast and then overwith and you'll never have to deal with horns or someone sneaking up behing you and spearing you :lol: The breeder you get your goat from can do it when it's still a little bitty kid.
Also, I advocated getting a bottle fed goat. They seem to like people better.

 

i strongly suggest either a doe or a wether because they will definately NOT stink whatsoever as for the breed i suggest either a Pygmy or Nigerian Dwarf which are moth miniatures they are both more personable and they don't require as much maintenance and grain or hay but i would also somewhat recommend a mixed breed between the pygmy and another breed because it's been proven that mixed breeds in any animal are more hardy and will most of the time last longer than a purebred also please lock your goat up at night inside because cyotes can and WILL get into your fence and kill it. also a pygmy will cost you less to feed than a medium to large dog last year our pygmy goat doe costed us less than $40 to feed so I actuallly made a profit from showing her because i won $300 in show earnings and by the way she is not registered and still won all that money so it just proves unregistered animals are just as good as registered!!!!

 

A wether would be your best shot. What kind of fencing do you have? Goats are escape artists and will try to get out of fencing just because they can !

Alot of people jump right into buying goats without realizing what a pain they can be.