Mathom Farm Dairy Goats

Our Goats

COMMERCIAL DAIRY GOATS Mathom Farm is a commercial goat dairy. As such, we are most interested in goats that will produce high volumes of good quality milk, irrespective of breed. Purists will argue that the particular breed of dairy goat that interests them "is the best", however because of differing climate types, pasture species, milk product markets and other variables that affect production, we have decided to mix breeds to suit our requirements. So Mathom Farm is not a goat stud that concentrates on producing animals for the show ring. Although we respect the achievements of breeders of the show goats we find it difficult to extrapolate high production figures in their animals to the commercial situation. Indeed, we have amongst our stock some fine pedigree animals, however in the commercial farming situation they usually fail to emulate the outstanding test results that other members of their blood lines have previously produced in the show ring. Having said this, our pedigree breeding bucks are all animals purchased with the intention of providing the best input into our herd and as such we welcome contact with breeders who can assist with outbreeding. ROLL YOUR MOUSE OVER AN IMAGE TO OBTAIN A DESCRIPTION. CLICK ON AN IMAGE TO ENLARGE.
BREED	WHY THE ATTRIBUTES ARE USEFUL TO US
SAANEN AND CLOSE SAANEN CROSS. 80% of our herd	In terms of volume the Saanen is the premier milk producer. These goats are friendly and placid, with serious fighting or bullying being rare. This is important for shedded goats, as in close confines where competition for food is strong, aggressiveness may result in damage to less dominant goats. Mathom Farm has 8 Saanen bucks, 4 of whom have pedigrees. The others are used as "clean-up" bucks.
TOGGENBURG AND CLOSE TOGGENBURG CROSS. 15% of our herd	Although the Toggenburg is close to the Sannen in milk volume, herd testing has shown that our Toggs generally produce slightly higher milk fat, protein and other solids. Because Mathom Farm produces milk for cheese manufacture, a high fat and protein content is very desirable. The Saanen/Toggenburg cross has shown in herd testing to provide high volume/high butterfat milk. Also, the brown pigmentation of the Toggenburg and its crosses negates the problem of skin cancer to which pure Saanens tend to be prone. Generally, the Toggenburg tends to be a hardier goat. Both of our Toggenburg bucks had pedigrees however Woodsend Boris died of natural causes and Eamon had to be euthanased due to inoperable urethral calculi.
ALPINE	Our Alpines are from British Alpine stock. Generally they seem to be hardier than either the Saanen or Toggenburg and their milk production suffers little during cold, windy weather. We now have a number of Alpines in the herd, along with some crosses. Our Alpines milk out more quickly than other breeds, however their milk yield is less than that of Saanens. Herd testing shows that they generally give milk of a higher butterfat content.
ANGLO NUBIAN	The Anglo Nubian is the premier butterfat producer, however in the commercial situation we have found that their milk volume is significantly down when compared to others. We also have found that the breed tend to have a shorter milking season. They do however cross very well with other breeds. Some of our best all-round does are Anglo Nubian crosses. Mathom Farm's only Anglo Nubian buck didn't make it through the mating season. This is probably because of the drawn out and elaborate mating ritual of the Anglo Nubian not allowing him to compete well with other bucks.