Pros and Cons of raising Meat Goats and Dairy Goats

 

Hello and Welcome to Lion Soul Homestead's Blog:

Photo by Vladimir Srajber: https://www.pexels.com/photo/goat-herd-grazing-in-croatian-countryside-34075170/

Today, I'd like to dive into the pros and cons of raising Goats for Meat vs. dairy, or potentially both.

Photo by Andreas Ebner: https://www.pexels.com/photo/goat-standing-in-a-field-14688313/

Meat Goats: Pros 

• Generally, they are more capable than dairy goats at birthing and raising their babies without assistance.
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• Some meat goats, like Boers, can be roughly 200lbs, give or take. That's a pretty good return on investment, even if feeding store-bought feed.
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• Males are, of course, larger and usually the ones used for meat. If you tend to get more males, you get more meat per year.
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• Meat breeds tend to have fewer issues in general, such as needing hoof trimming, deworming, other illnesses, or diseases. 
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• *Always test for issues regularly to make sure they do not need treatments such as deworming* 
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• ~ Just because they are less likely to need medication, it doesn't mean they never will~
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• Goats used for meat can give you about 40-50% meat based on their weight.
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• If you're comfortable with waiting 2-3 years, you can get a high yield of meat per goat.
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• Keeping male goats longer means they could breed your does so you don't need to outsource.
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• You can raise them to about 8 - 10 months old

Meat Goats Cons 

• Some breeds produce less meat than others, such as a pygmy, which stays smaller and is better for smaller families or someone not wanting a large meat animal. 
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• Larger breeds can be dangerous unless well socialized with their owners. However, most try not to interact with meat goats due to it making it harder to dispatch the animals later.
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• Generally, they are not great for meeting a homesteader's dairy needs. Especially while also raising their babies.
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• Example, if you raise your goat to 200lbs, you'll get almost 100lbs of meat. Now times that by at least 4, and you have 400lbs of goat's meat. 
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• While the above example is possible, you'll likely be raising them for 2-3 years, most likely having to give some pelleted feed.
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• Furthermore, if you're raising multiple males to roughly 200lbs, you'll want to castrate them to reduce fighting, which, unless done by you, can cost extra money. 
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• Raising most any animal longer for meat, tends to make the meat tougher.

Photo by Apollonia: https://www.pexels.com/photo/portrait-of-a-white-goat-in-natural-setting-33581057/

Dairy Goats: Pros 

• Produce high amounts of milk, and depending on how many kids they have, could produce enough milk for the owner and the kids. 
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• Larger breeds can produce 1- 3 gallons of milk per day.
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• Larger breeds (preferably, but any goat) could be used in a dual-purpose way to give your family meat as well.
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• Nubians (Large Breed) & Nigerian Dwarfs (small breed) have high butterfat, which is desired for many reasons.
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• Often dairy goats tend to naturally be friendlier, which is nice when you have to milk them twice a day, or help (or just watch) them give birth
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• Some larger breeds could be used as dual-purpose purpose like dual purpose chickens. This just means that the animal could produce enough meat to be used for meat & milking purposes.

Dairy Goats: Cons 

• Smaller breeds give less milk; Nigerian dwarfs tend to give roughly 1  to 2 quarts per day. 
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• Larger breeds tend to have less butterfat, which contributes to the taste of the milk. 
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• Depending on what you want to make with your milk, you might need a certain breed (limited in choices), such as if you want higher butterfat.
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• Tend to need more maintenance care, such as hoof trimming, deworming, illness, and/or disease. 
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• Poor breeding practices or just poor genetics can make milking harder, such as small teats (on a large breed), split teat (I would never breed), poor quality udder, which can get worse with age.

I want to go further in depth about some of the statements above, such as poor genetics/breeding. While most breeders are truly doing their best to breed for better offspring, it is not always known until after breeding and raising up the offspring. If the parent/offspring will be worth breeding again, or if they just need to be bred to a better partner. 

Furthermore, when talking about maintenance in goats, just because you buy a meat goat doesn't mean it will be less maintenance, nor will a dairy goat necessarily be higher maintenance. The statements made above about meat goats tend to be less maintenance than dairy goats, which are higher maintenance. Those statements tend to be truer for the purpose of goat (meat or dairy). Just something to keep in mind, especially when researching, buying, and breeding, as a potential issue in all goats, but possibly more likely depending on the purpose goat you're getting. 

I'd like to also add that when talking about using a dairy goat as a dual-purpose goat, you could also use a meat breed for dairy and meat as well. The main point I want to make here is that while it's not as common, especially in America. Then again, eating goat meat is still new-ish to most Americans as well. I'm getting off topic, eating "dairy goats" I feel is more common in breeders. Since you can only find homes for so many Wethers before no one wants to buy because the breeder feels their genetics are not good enough. While I'm glad we have people who try to improve the offspring, sometimes it's just easier to eat them. You can't keep all of them till they pass on, or find pet homes for all of them, but using them to feed your family is definitely a good use of the animals.

Photo by Dr.Vivasayam YouTube Channel: https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-goats-in-the-cage-6733517/

In conclusion, any breed(s) of goat can be used for milk or meat or both, but some are just better at their designated purpose.

I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. While I know some of the topics mentioned in this article might be uncommonly talked about, I do hope everyone will be respectful in the comments. These articles and their comments could be read by young readers, and I'd appreciate it if everyone commented in a role model manner. 

Thank you for stopping by, have a good day!!