(pictured here is Daisy our eldest breeding/milking doe)
Nubian History
The Nubian’s distinctive face – The Anglo-Nubian breed originated in England as a cross between the Old English Milch Goat and the Zariby and Nubian bucks imported from India, Russia, and Egypt. They have been exported to most countries from England and in North America are referred to as simply Nubians.
Breed characteristics
The typical Nubian goat is large in size and carries more flesh than other dairy breeds. The Nubian breed standard specifies large size, markings can be any color, the ears are long & pendulous with a Roman Nose. The Nubian temperament is sociable, outgoing, and vocal. Because of its elongated ears and sleek body, the Nubian is occasionally nicknamed the “Lop-Eared Goat” or “Greyhound Goat”.
Breed standard
According to the Canadian Goat Society the Nubian goat should be a relatively large, proud, and graceful dairy goat of mixed Asian, African, and European origin, known for high quality, high butterfat, milk production.
The head is the distinctive breed characteristic, with the facial profile between the eyes and the muzzle being strongly convex (Roman nose). The ears are long (extending 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 hair is short, fine and glossy. Any color or colors, solid or patterned, is acceptable.
Uses
The Nubian’s size makes it a very useful dual purpose animal. The Nubian breed leads the way for the dairy breeds in butterfat production: it produces on average, 5% or more butterfat content. This is surpassed only by the Nigerian Dwarf, Pygmy goat and Boer goat breeds, which are less likely to be used for large scale milk production, as for a dairy or cheese
Our Herd
Honeylocust Homestead’s herd of Nubian goats currently consists of 5 members. We have 2 breeding does, 2 bucks and 1 Whether (castrated goat).
This summer our older doe, Daisy gave birth to 2 bucklings… Honeylocust Klif & Honeylocust Korn Pop. Our Nubians are all registered with papers and we have a closed herd that has been tested and proven negative for Johnes, CAE & CL. We decided to whether Korn Pop as a companion goat & Klif was left in tact to breed with our younger doe Koraline in 2023. If you notice our names are predominantly starting with a “K” that would be because the Canadian Goat Society chooses a new letter for every year in order to keep track of when kids were born. You don’t necessarily have to name your goats with this letter, however Nick and I have traditionally chosen names that correspond for our own records. The use of the letter is in the tattoos on the kids ears. For example our bucklings were tattooed with codes on each ear. One ear has HNYL to show they are registered to our farm and the other ear wears either K1 or K2 depending on the order of birth.
We have one more member in our herd and that is our oldest buck, Cupid. Born on valentines day 2020 he has turned into a handsome Nubian with a Quirky personality. He tends to become a lot of peoples “Barn Favorite”.
Goats Milk Soap
Our Nubian herd is primarily used as milking goats to make our Honeylocust Homestead Goats Milk soap products (we also provide ourselves with butter, cream & cheese)
We have started our journey into learning the ins and outs of soap making in order to bring you the best, healthiest, most natural skin care product possible. I have previously been a practicing Herbalist and received a certificate from the Herbal Academy. It is my goal to merge our soap making and my herbal knowledge in order to create exclusive soaps that will be geared to specific needs and benefits. We sold our first batches at this years annual Wallaceburg Holiday Market and we are excited to bring you many new and exciting soaps in 2023!
“Hand milked ~ Hand made”
Honeylocust Homestead 