Spanish goats

[deschutes dawn]

I have an opportunity to invest in some High quality Spanish does and a buck. They are of the Baylis line. I would like to try an outcross of Spanish blood to toughen up my packer breeding. Does anyone have info or experience with the Spanish lines? I am totally intrigued with the tough and easy to handle and care for goat lines. How would they cross with pack lines? Would they be worthwhile to cross with dairy to get a multipurpose goat? Plus it might be rewarding to help preserve a heritage breed that could be so versatile.

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

There is no such thing as an easier to care for breed of goat. There are just those that dont get cared for as well. All goats get worms, need hooves trimmed, loose minerals... Granted goats in their original region do tend to contend with their locale conditions better.

[deschutes dawn]

The promotion of these goats are, they are less susceptible to parasites, easy birthing, that is, need almost no help kidding, excellent mothers, can thrive on lower quality forage, and are tougher than the average dairy goat. I am curious as to whether they would add good enough qualities to a pack goat program to make it worth a 9 hour drive one way to add a good quality buck (the owners assessment) to create enough of an improvement to make it worth it. I could probably "pimp" him out (so to say, hehe!) to make up the time and money involved to get him. Some of the meat breeders in this area are interested in adding the Spanish lines to their program. In this deal I would have a care lease for the Spanish does and get to keep all offspring.
I am not an experienced breeder, just an experienced keeper and critter lover so it's kind of exciting and disconcerting to consider such an offer. Apparently I need wine and chocolate to make such a decision! Aaaaack!!!!

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

Did a bunch of reading on them. Hardy in hot climates so they are perfect for their kinda area. Able to eat low quality food and maintain. Which does in turn make them slow growing and smaller of size. Still not sold on them being more parasite resistant. That alone can be attributed to their climate. Hot dry areas have a fraction of the parasites you will find in wetter areas. Tropical environments are the worst. They are on par maintenance wise with the boer goats. Which is to say they are considered meat goats. So higher feed quality, hoof trimming, vaccines and so on are not needed or done. But this is totally a profit factor. But I will give that this may in turn, produced a hardier goat over the years.

So, with the above said, it may still be worth it to give it a try. I maybe wrong on all levels and the result is an outstanding pack goat. Only by doing it will you know. If nothing else the hybrid vigor may be so great as to warrant the experiment. Just dont go in expecting to much

[Nanno]

I've actually been wondering the same thing about combining the Spanish and dairy bloodlines. My neighbor recently got back into goats and bought well over 100 Spanish meat goats. They're very pretty, come in a variety of colors, look sturdy and plump, but they are fairly small compared to most dairy breeds. Phil and I are actually considering going through my neighbor's herd and picking out a goat or two if we find any we particularly like. He's more likely to part with the Spanish goats since he would rather concentrate on the Boers (which currently comprise about 1/3 of his herd). Best of all, the Spanish goats have airplane ears!

[deschutes dawn]

Thanks for the input. I've been studying them for awhile but other than what you said I haven't found a whole lot of information. The people who have them of course are gung ho but still not as helpful about what I would like to try as I could hope. I will play it by ear at this point.

[nebs]

For the exact same reasons, I have been researching Kiko Alpine crosses. The thing with Kikos is there doesn't seem to be much breed standards. Some are tall, others really short, etc. However they are supposed to be more self reliant, good mothers, and some bloodlines could really add some height and muscle mass. I really liked my ibex theory to accomplish this, but since that can't be done in my state, this is the next best option. I just really like using Alpines as the foundation. Good luck, and keep us posted if you do it!

[deschutes dawn]

I'm waiting on a ranch to answer that I haven't heard from yet that has a line that was developed in Montana. That might help my thought process.

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

Ah Montana Dats me home town home.

[deschutes dawn]

Well, I've been in contact with the Spanish goats owner. He GAVE the buck to his neighbor and I wouldn't have him to breed. That was my whole thought process to begin with was to have a buck for crossing with my does.

The search casually continues.

BTW Dave, my late husband was from West Yellowstone.