Our Nigerian Dwarf Goats!

People ask if our goats are Pygmy goats  because they are so small.  They are Nigerian Dwarf Goats, which is a miniature dairy goat breed with West African ancestry.  They do have their own registry, the Nigerian Dwarf Goat Association (NDGA) and are also registerable with the American Dairy Goat Association (ADGA) andAmerican Goat Society (AGS).  Pygmy goats are not dairy goats and are smaller, cobbier, and stouter.  The Nigerian Dwarfs have the conformation of a dairy goat, meaning the goats are judged largely on their udder size, capacity, and quality, as well as the milk that they produce.  Nigerian Dwarfs typically stand at around 22 inches at the withers for does (girls) and 23 inches for bucks (boys).

Nigerian Dwarf Goats are gaining in popularity because of their small stature, friendly nature, and endless color possibilities!  They can even have blue eyes, which is not a genetic defect.  Nigerians are incredibly comical and love to play, jumping, kicking, bucking and balancing.  If you are not careful, they can be little escape artists, which can be part of their charm.  Even though Nigerian Dwarf Goats are a small dairy goat breed, they produce one of the highest butter fat in milk and also produce more milk for their size than other dairy goat breeds.  As you can see, the Nigerian Dwarf Goats are perfect little goats for milk producing on small acreage, as well as pure entertainment!  My husband and I can sit for hours just watching them play!

We started out with Smudge as a two-day-old bottle baby and needed to get her a friend ASAP, which is how I found Lola.  She was 10 days old when I brought her home and started her on the bottle as well.  I tried breeding them at two, but they did not take.  Worried that I had started too late in their life, we had the buck over here for a two-month extended date with our girls.  After not knowing if our girls were pregnant or not, I decided to search for another goat that was pregnant.  I came home with Elsie as a First Freshener (first time pregnant), as well as a three-month old doeling.  We are hoping that the trip was not too much for Elsie and that she was able to maintain her pregnancy.  

In 2011, Lola kidded as a First Freshener with one DARLING buckling!  All went smoothly, and Lola is turning out to be an unbelievable mom, both in the nuturing department, as well as udder development!  I am pleasantly surprised as she has always been so tiny.  A large udder means more fresh goat milk for my goat-milk lotion and other goat-milk products!

During 2011, we have increased our herd to include six does and one buck.  As of this writing in March 2012, we have 11 kids that are happy and healthy and our evening entertainment!

Cheers!