Nubian goats: description and milkiness of the breed, color and price, content

The Nubian goat breed has an original appearance, unusual in our area. These animals have a convex nasal septum and hanging ears. In running, Nubians look like rabbits, their ears rise. Milk from representatives of the Nubian breed is tasty and fatty, odorless. Productivity is 3-6 liters per day. Nubias are very expensive, and the period of their economic use is 9-10 years.

History of occurrence

The Nubian breed comes from northern and eastern Africa. It is in these desert places that goats with long ears and short hair live.The breed was slightly improved by the British, crossing African goats with the best representatives of the Alpine breeds. It happened back in the late 19th century.

In the 20th century, a new Anglo-Nubian breed began to conquer the world. Goats have gained popularity in many European countries and even in the USA. In Russia, they appeared only at the end of the 20th century. In just two decades, they managed to adapt to new conditions.

It is profitable to breed these animals, because they give from 3 to 6 liters of milk per day, and eat 2-3 times less than cows.

Characteristics and description of the breed

According to established breed standards, Nubian goats have a convex nasal septum, heavy brow ridges, wide, thin, hanging down to the middle of the neck, ears. Height at the withers reaches 70-90 cm, body length - 1-1.2 m. Weight of females - 45-55 kg, males - 65-95 kg. The body is trapezoidal, the tail is short, raised up, the neck is long.

Nubian goats have deer-like eyes and a massive forehead.There are animals with and without horns. As for the color, there are no clear restrictions. Nubian goats can be brown, chocolate, black, white, spotted, variegated, that is, black-white-brown. The coat is generally short and close fitting. Legs - wide apart, graceful, but strong, thin and long.

This lop-eared breed has a high milk yield. The Nubian goat gives from 3 to 6 liters of milk per day. Its fat content is about 5 percent. The female udder is large, spherical, highly attached to the body, with two long nipples.

Varieties

There are several types of Nubian goats:

African.
Australian.
Alpo-Nubian.
Anglo-Nubian.

Animals of different species differ only in coat color. All Nubian goats necessarily have a convex nasal septum and long (to the middle of the neck) wide ears.Alpine crossbreeds have an ash brown coat. Anglo-Nubian goats are often bay and spotted (white and black) in color. African - light, red, black and white or brown and white. The Australian representatives of this breed have a brown-white coat color.

Pros and cons

Nubian goat virtues:

get used to the owner, consider him the leader and obey;
give 3-6 liters of fat milk per day;
females give birth to 3 kids at a time every year;
milk can be used to make yogurt and cheese.

Cons of the breed:

stubborn and headstrong character;
loud and harsh voice;
often bleat, require attention;
bully, often butt heads with other animals, cannot live in a herd;
poorly adapted to the northern climate;
are expensive.

Keeping goats in household plots

The Nubian breed is used to the heat. In the middle lane and in Europe, premises are being built to keep these animals. Goats should be in a barn or barn throughout the cold season, that is, from November to April.

In summer, animals must be grazing in the meadow so that they eat fresh green grass and are exposed to the sun.

Usually representatives of the Nubian breed are kept in a barn (shed) with an area of 4 square meters. meters per person. They lay a bed of straw on the floor. It needs to be cleaned, that is, replaced daily.Dirt and dampness is the main cause of goat udder diseases. The room where the animals are kept must be clean, dry and warm. The recommended temperature is between 15 and 25 degrees Celsius all year round.

Representatives of the Nubian breed are very clean. They do not like to sleep on the floor, on dirty bedding. In the barn, they can build a sunbed from wooden boards. Nubians love to climb all sorts of hills.

Indoors, it is necessary to install a manger for hay, feeders for vegetables and grains, drinkers for water. Goats are fed 2-3 times a day. In the summer, they graze all day in the pasture, only at lunchtime they drive them into the barn for a couple of hours. They are also milked 2-3 times a day. Before milking, the udders are washed with warm water, and the nipples are greased.

Diet

Representatives of the Nubian breed eat grass in summer and hay in winter. The main thing is to make sure that they do not come across poisonous or soapy plants. In the summer, animals can be grazed in the meadow, but only after the dew has dried, and in no case in the rain. Between feedings, goats should be given clean water. Preferably 5 liters per adult 2 times a day. The amount of milk depends on water.

Nubies are fed hay in winter. The better its quality, the longer the goats will keep their teeth. It is best to stock up on meadow and forest hay, cut at the beginning of growth or during the flowering period of plants. Usually, nubies are fed legumes and cereal grasses, useful plants (nettle, dandelion, chamomile), clover and alfalfa.

As a top dressing, animals can be given finely chopped vegetables: carrots, Jerusalem artichoke, pumpkin. Nubians willingly eat beet tops and root crops themselves. Goats recover well from grains (oats, barley, corn, wheat) and boiled potatoes.True, you can give these products only in a minimal amount (no more than 200-500 grams per day).

In winter, to replenish the reserves of vitamins, animals are fed with spruce or pine branches, pharmacy vitamin and mineral preparations. Goats willingly eat premixes, cake, mixed fodder, chaff, chaff. Chalk, s alt, bone meal are added to their feed. You can simply put s alted lick bars in the feeder or attach to the wall.

Animals love apples and pears. True, these fruits cannot be given whole. They can get stuck in the esophagus and cause delayed gas and bloating. If goats are grazing in an unfamiliar pasture, you need to watch what they eat. Nubians are very fond of branches of fruit bushes and trees. This roughage, although useful, leads to rapid grinding of the teeth.It is better to feed them with the leaves of trees (willow, maple, oak, apple tree), you can even prepare them for the winter.

Features of breeding Nubian goats

Representatives of the Nubian breed reach puberty by 6 months of age. True, it is recommended to cover females only at 1-1.5 years. It is desirable that the male also belong to the Nubian breed and in no case be a close relative of the goat. You can, on the contrary, improve local goats by taking a Nubian goat for insemination.

Nubian goats should preferably be covered in the fall, then in the spring goats will be born, which can be pastured in the meadow in the summer. Pregnancy in females lasts 5 months. After lambing, young goats begin to be milked. Milking virgin goats is not recommended. If a milking female becomes pregnant, then in the second month of pregnancy they begin to slowly start her up, that is, they gradually stop milking. It is necessary that nutrients go to the development of offspring, and not to milk.Two months before lambing, milking goats are completely stopped.

Usually, Nubians give birth to up to 3 kids at a time. Cubs can live under the uterus for up to 2-3 months. You can take the kids from their mother and artificially feed them with a bottle and nipple. True, this is troublesome.

After lambing, the goat must be properly milked. As soon as the female has given birth to all the cubs, you need to express some colostrum. The first two weeks, this product should go to feed the kids. After the cubs are full, the female needs to be milked. It is desirable that not a drop of milk remains in the udder. This will be a signal to the body. More milk will start to arrive.

In the beginning (immediately after lambing), the goat is milked or the kids are allowed to go to it 5 times a day. Then the female can be transferred to another schedule. Usually they are milked 2-3 times a day. The field of the first lambing can produce up to 3 liters of milk per day. It is advisable not to cover the goat more than once a year, otherwise too frequent childbirth will lead to the depletion of the female's body.

Frequent illnesses and prevention

Representatives of the Nubian breed are heat-loving animals. They have short hair, such goats are poorly adapted to winter. In the cold season, they can catch a cold, get sick with bronchitis and pneumonia. It is advisable not to take these animals outside in bad rainy weather and in frosts.

Nubians can suffer from digestive disorders, metabolic diseases. The cause of such diseases is improper feeding and poor quality feed. Excess grains can lead to ketosis. Too much water and legumes are the cause of bloating, that is, tympania. In case of eating poisonous plants, animals can become poisoned. Goats should always be fed fresh food, dry soft grass, finely chopped clean vegetables.

True, ideally sterile conditions cannot be created by these animals.After all, they eat from the ground, often drink water from reservoirs, and come into contact with other domestic animals. Goats, especially those with weakened immune systems, can contract various infectious diseases. Many of these diseases, according to sanitary rules, are not treated, sick animals are simply sent to slaughter. You can avoid various problems and vaccinate goats at the age of 3 months against the most dangerous diseases. Usually animals are vaccinated against brucellosis, foot-and-mouth disease, anthrax, and smallpox. As a preventive measure, goats are given antiparasitic agents 1-2 times a year.

Price of animals

Nubian goats are a rarity in our area. These animals have a beautiful and unusual appearance. They give as much milk as native local goats, that is, 3-6 liters per day.But Nubians are beautiful and very expensive. Each farmer sets his own price. The cost of the animal depends on the purity of the breed.

Nubian goats are usually sold for 500-1000 dollars. There are breeding individuals and 2-6 thousand each. Nubian goats are bought by lovers of rare and exotic animals, as their productivity is no better than that of ordinary goats.

Profitability and prospects

Representatives of the Nubian breed are expensive, the benefit from their acquisition is only in the future sale of thoroughbred kids. The milk and meat of such animals are no different from the products of ordinary goats. If you buy a Nubian for 1 thousand dollars, then in a year she will give birth to 2-3 kids, which can also be sold at the same price. True, it will be necessary to take care of insemination by a breeding goat.

Nubian goats are mainly bought by owners of private farms. On an industrial scale, such animals are not bred. Their meat and milk are not in high demand in the market.