We chose the Nubian because after 3 years of research, reading every book, description, and talking to numerous breeders about all of the different breeds: For us Nubians were regal, we loved the temperament and long ears :) Plus we wanted a dual purpose breed that would not only produce great tasting milk and plentiful cheese, yogurt, kefir, ect, but also carries a good carcass so the wethers could be raised for meat. We raised them for about 10 years, we now only have 1 older doe, 1 doeling, and 2 wethers, but we are leaving our information up to help others in their endeavors to raise healthy goats.

The Nubian is a relatively large, proud, and graceful dairy goat that traces its ancestry to India and Egypt. Nubians were produced to be an all-purpose goat, useful for meat, milk and hide production. It is not a heavy milker usually between ¾ gallon for a first freshener to 1 ½+ gallons for a 3-year old and of course the goats health, and breeding as well as feed, and nutrition all are major factors in how much they will produce, they make up for lower production by producing a larger meat carcass and a high butter fat content (between four and five percent). The Nubian breeding season is much longer than that of the Swiss breeds so it is possible to produce milk year round.

As it is the most well suited of the dairy goat breeds to hot conditions, the Anglo Nubian has been used in grading-up programs in many tropical countries to increase the milk and meat production of local breeds. We live in the mild to cold climate of the high plains at the foot of the mountains east of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and they do great here as well..

The Nubian goat is named for Nubia, in northeastern Africa. The originally goats imported from Africa, Arabia and India were long-legged, hardy goats that had some characteristics desired by goat breeders in England. English breeders crossed these imported bucks on the common short-haired does of England prior to 1895 to develop the Anglo-Nubian goat. In the United States the breed is usually spoken of as the Nubian.

The Nubian is regarded as an "aristocratic" appearing goat and has very long, pendulous bell shaped ears that hang close to the head and usually extending 1” beyond the nose. The Nubian carries a decidedly Roman nose and is always short-haired. Any solid or parti-colored coat is permitted in the Nubian, any solid color or a combination with white. A mature doe should stand at least 30 inches at the withers and weigh 135 pounds or over, while the males should stand at least 35 inches at the withers and weigh at least 175 pounds.

The head is the distinctive breed characteristic, with the facial profile between the eyes and the muzzle being strongly convex. The ears are long (extending at least one inch beyond the muzzle when held flat along the face), wide and pendulous. They lie close to the head at the temple and flare slightly out and well forward at the rounded tip, forming a "bell" shape. The ears are not thick, with the cartilage well defined. The hair is short, fine and glossy.

Any color or colors, solid or patterned, is acceptable.

For more details go to the American Dairy Goat Association.