Nigerian Dwarf Goats
OK so they are crazy cute
Need more reasons to own a Nigerian dwarf? First lets talk milk.
Creamy, decadent, sweet pure milk. High butterfat, perfect for cheese making, ice cream, pudding. No goat flavor, unlike many other breeds. For their small size, Nigerians can really put it in the pail. 2-4 pounds of milk per day or more is not unusual and a pint is a pound the world around. These little Rumplestilskins are literally spinning straw (well, hay) into gold.
This is why our breeding program strongly emphasizes milking genetics. This is the most miraculous, life-sustaining talent these little beauties have.
Second lets talk size.
I love the convenient size of the nigerian dwarf! These guys weigh about 60-80 pounds on average, making them 1/3 to 1/2 the weight of a full size goat. SO much easier to handle, to lead around, to keep confined. If you have kids in 4H, or seniors who want to show goats, this makes the breed a natural choice. Fences can be modest, you don't have to build like Fort Knox. Nigerians can easily be transported in a dog crate, or, as one buyer did, the back seat of a Cadillac Escalade.
Third lets talk versatility
A Nigerian Dwarf can be so many things. Dairy producer - check. Brush/weed control - check. Show animal - check. Amazing pet - check. They can milk like crazy and clear your acreage of blackberries and poison oak. Talk about an easy way of creating defensible space around your homestead.
Nigerians are very dog-like and love affection. They are smart, sometimes too smart. They also come in cool colors and, unlike any other purebreds, can have blue eyes, always a crowd favorite.
What I Breed For:
For many years I have bred dairy goats under the herd name De Novo.
de no·vo
/ˌdə ˈnōvō,dē ˈnōvō/
adverb
-
from the beginning; anew.
I believe a dairy animal should be first and foremost a milk producer. So you will see in the pedigrees of many of our animals ancestors that are top ten/elite animals with solid reputations. Our bloodlines emphasize herds like Sugar Moon, Promisedland, and Cedar View with a good helping of Old Mountain Farm, CastleRock and Algedi/Alethia/Rosasharn and a few more. Productivity also relies on a solid foundation of good conformation. Again, you will see that our breeders descend from grand champions and goats with very good to excellent Linear Appraisal scores. I am still exploring several bloodlines to see what works best for me and what lines will consistently reproduce the features I am looking for. Sometimes great show titles and great milk production are more the product of great management than great genetics. The work goes on.
I like an animal who is user-friendly, carefree, solid. I do not appreciate delicate hot house flowers. I want a doe that will produce well under average management conditions. I want good size hand-friendly teats and large teat orifices to ease hand milking, lest the breed go the way of the modern dairy cow that really must be machine milked. I really appreciate does that can produce well with once a day milking - that is all many people can achieve in their busy schedules.
I want a doe that kids easily and is a good mother. I dam raise for the most part, co-parenting by handling the babies as much as possible. This is far less labor and I think the kids are better balanced psychologically. The momma goats so love their babies; in my hands, dam raising with co-parenting is the mentally healthiest option for all involved.
And, OK, I am a sucker for flashy color. I will not, however, sacrifice quality to get it.
I am busy. I work in emergency veterinary medicine on most weekends so, no, you will not see me haunting the local goat shows. As a health professional I also have concerns about the stress and disease exposure shows can represent. I do hope to produce, however, an animal that can hold its head up proud in the ring. I like to keep life simple so thus far have not invested my time and resources towards milk test and linear appraisal, though I appreciate and respect both practices.
Some Goat Basics
Nigerian Goats are charming, intelligent pets and useful farm additions. Here is what you need to know about keeping them happy and safe.
BUDDIES – Goats are herd animals and must have other goats around to be happy. Get a minimum of two! This in not a marketing ploy. A single goat will be miserable and will make you miserable too. They can be friendly with horses, donkeys, sheep etc but do best with another goat buddy.
SHELTER – goats hate rain! They won’t put a toe out if the weather is nasty. Goats need a secure, dry shelter for bad weather. This can be anything from a big dog house, a calf hutch or modified chicken coop, all the way to a tuff shed or a stall in a barn, all comfortably bedded in straw or shavings. They can take a lot of cold with good deep bedding.
FEEDING – Goats are great at browsing down shrubs like blackberries and poison oak. The also love eating your rose bushes and small trees if allowed access! They aren’t great grazers so don’t expect them to mow your lawn or pasture well though they will make a bit of a dent in it. No matter what landscape they are eating, most will need feeding in the form of daily hay, maybe some hay based pellets and the occasional treat. Grain, cookies, any simple carbohydrates should be fed very sparingly, like a handful a day, with the exception of milking does or growing babies who need more calories. Other safer treats include black oil sunflower seeds in the shell and almond hulls. DO NOT allow goats to eat chicken feed - they will grain overload on it and it can kill them. Some of my goats will also eat dog kibble given the chance - also not advised.
All goats benefit from salt blocks, and loose salt mixes that contain trace minerals – my favorite is the Sweet Lix brand.
SECURITY – one of the biggest risks to goats is predators, either coyotes, big cats, or neighbor dogs. Solid fencing at least 4-5 ft tall is the first line of defense and this also helps keep the goats home. A Hot wire along the top is helpful. It is wise to have a solid shelter that the goats can be closed into at night, as that is when the worst predation happens. Livestock guard dogs, like our Pyrenees, are a great investment for protecting your herd. Some people will use donkeys or llamas for the same purpose. Please see our Great Pyrenees page for more information.
HEALTH CARE – Goats are pretty darn healthy when fed and housed correctly. They will need some regular maintenance in the form of hoof trimming every 2-4 months, occasional worming, and vaccinating once a year. Some will need a shot of selenium annually in selenium deficient areas like ours. Some need copper supplementation. Most goat owners do all these things themselves.
Goats can get illnesses like any other animal. Most common is probably respiratory disease, sometimes just a cold, sometimes pneumonia. Sometimes antibiotics are necessary and many medications in goats must be injected, not oral, as their stomach inactivates numerous drugs. Bloat or upset stomach is probably the next common, usually caused by improper diet, too many treats, an escaped goat that got into the grain bin etc. This can be simple and self limiting all the way to fatal depending on what the goat ate and how much. An ounce of prevention is sure worth a pound of cure in this case. Goats can have trouble kidding, get mastitis (udder infection), skin cancer, viruses, pink eye (infectious conjunctivitis), wounds, etc. Please please seek out a relationship with a goat savvy vet before your goat gets a major issue. Lots of heartache can be prevented by purchasing your goats from a herd that has health tested their animals and in on a wise health management plan.
Neutered male goats in particular are prone to making bladder stones and having problems urinating. Animals with blocked urinary track are very painful and depressed and often strain to urinate with little or no urine produced. This is a true emergency that needs immediate and possibly surgical intervention. Proper feeding with mostly grass based hays, lots of fresh water, feeds with urinary acidifiers and plain salt licks seem to be the best preventatives.
HANDLING – Goats can be very loving. Bottle babies are often so tame they are a bit of a pain, knocking of the back door to come into the house, sleeping on the couch and hogging the remote. That makes them convenient to catch and handle, however. If kids are dam raised and don’t know you they might be shy initially. Goats are smart: they will figure out who is kind and worth knowing. To have a goat get to know you, it is best to house them in a smaller pen and handle them every day, even if they don’t seem excited about it to begin with. Offering treats, scratching them, holding them in your lap all help. I find animal crackers are almost universally adored by goats and often the way to a goats heart - fed sparingly! I also tell small children that goats like to be read to, good motivation for all parties involved. Usually within a couple of weeks they will warm up to your attention.
It is a good idea to leash train your goat, just like you would a puppy. Be advised that excess pressure around the neck causes goats to collapse and tremor. Though they recover quickly it is unpleasant for all involved. Don’t use a choke collar and go easy on the neck pressure. A goat is often more apt to move forward by holding its tail and applying a forward pull vs yanking on their neck.
Goats are readily transported in a dog crate, though they can also ride in your lap, in a camper shell or trailer. One exceptionally enthusiastic goat fan simply loaded all her new kids in the backseat of her Cadillac Esplanade.
IN CONCLUSION -Treat your goats with love, respect and intelligence and they will reward you with companionship, delicious milk and fun.