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Dairy goats are very personable, hardy, and a very rewarding animal. They are often preferred by people who strive for a self sustaining life. A female goat is called a Doe. A male goat is called a Buck. If the male goat is castrated it is called a whether. Goats milk is the most consumed milk in the World.

Contents 1 Breeds 2 Feeding 3 Housing 4 Goat Milk 5 Sources

There are 8 breeds of dairy goats:

• Alpine
• LaMancha
• Nigerian Dwarf
• Nubian
• Oberhasli
• Saanen
• Sable
• Toggenburg

Dairy goats need a good supply of roughage. Alfalfa hay is the most use choice for the basic nutrition Kids and bucks need a balanced grain ration and milkers should be fed a standard dairy grain ration. Kids are milk fed until two to three months of age, but should be consuming forages such as pasture grass or hay by two weeks of age and grain within four. All dairy goats should have loose minerals in a container that is free for them to lick whenever they want. Also fresh clean water is important. Dairy goats are very particular about the cleanliness of their food. There are a naturally curious and may lead them to investigate newly found items by sniffing and nibbling, but they quickly refuse anything that is dirty or distasteful.

Dairy goats adapt well in all climates. They do not need elaborate housing, but do require clean, dry, well ventilated, draft free shelter. They need at least 15 square feet of bedded area for each goat. The pasture area should be a minimum of 25 square feet of space per animal, well-drained and properly fenced. Dairy goats have a strong herd instinct and prefer the companionship of at least one other goat.

Bucks should be kept in separate quarters away from milking does. T

More people drink the milk of goats than any other single animal in the world. Does are milked by hand or machine.

Goat milk has a more easily digestible fat and protein content than cow milk. It is more recommend for baby humans and animals. The glycerol ethers are much higher in goat than in cow milk which appears to be important for the nutrition of a nursing newborn.

Goat milk can successfully replace cow milk in diets of those who are allergic to cow milk.

Many dairy goats, in their prime, average 6 to 8 pounds of milk daily (roughly 3 to 4 quarts) during a ten-month lactation, giving more soon after freshening and gradually dropping in production toward the end of their lactation. The milk generally averages 3.5 percent butterfat. A doe may be expected to reach her heaviest production during her third or fourth lactation.^[1]

1. ^ http://www.adga.com