Nubian Goat
Photographic Print
2007

"The Nubian breed originated in England as a result of breeding two different pure bred goats, one goat being of Indian descent. Color is not a distinguishing characteristic of this breed as they can be most any color; it is the head with its facial profile between the eyes and the muzzle being strongly convex (Roman nose) that distinguishes it amongst others. The ears are pendulous and should extend at least one inch beyond the muzzle.

Nubians were a relatively new breed when Mrs. Sandburg decided to add them to her herd as an experiment. She simply liked their look and the fact that their milk had a high percentage of butterfat. She preferred the taste of Nubian milk. She believed her breeding program would do well with the Nubians; since they were a newer breed, she anticipated seeing improvement in this breed sooner than she had with Toggenburgs. Seeing consistency with their milk production she anticipated wouldn't come for another one-hundred years and noted: "It will take another hundred years of breeding before Nubians will approach the consistency of Toggs and Saanens in production. But there is a special fascination about them, so I'll always have a few Nubians in our Herd. We do have some that are doers as well as lookers-but you can't be at all sure of the next generation!"
Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site