Breed For The Need: The Nigerian Dwarf Goat

This week's "Breed For The Need" series will be covering my second favorite breed of goat: The Nigerian Dwarf!

The Nigerian Dwarf Goat:

  A breed of African descent, the Nigerian Dwarf has quickly become America's most popular dairy goat. And why wouldn't they?? Knee-high when full grown, found in an array of dizzying colors and patterns, able to be bred year around, and capable of giving up to a 1/2 gallon a day of the sweetest milk of all goat breeds... This pint-sized caprine has earned every bit of its celebrity status. I tried keeping Nigerians a few times, but these little guys are smart as whips and always found the holes in the fence that the Nubians created... Sigh. I did enjoy them though, and would love to get a herd of them going this year!

  While the Nigerian is certainly capable of giving the 1/2 gallon of milk that I stated above, please note that such production is *usually* only seen in the super high quality stock, which generally cost $800 to $1200 to buy. In short, if you buy a $200 doe off of Craigslist, please don't expect to get that amount of milk. She might, and there are still amazing little producers here and there, but the average quality Nigerian will most likely reward you with 1 to 4 cups of milk each day. So buy more than two if you're wanting a good amount of milk!

  Nigerian Dwarfs are subject to the same conformation standard as all the other dairy breeds, but unlike their larger relatives, they have the addition of having a height standard. This is made all the more confusing by the fact that there are three different registries, with different standards. Oy vey. The American Dairy Goat Association and the American Goat Society both require does to be less than 22.5 inches at the withers, and bucks to be 23.5 inches at the withers. The Nigerian Dwarf Goat Association says  does should be 17–19 inches at the withers, with a maximum allowed height of 21 inches, and bucks should be 19–21 inches at the withers, with a maximum allowed height of 23 inches. 

  And yes, you really can breed these pint-sized goats any time of the year! At a glance this sounds like a really great thing, and it is for the most part. The downside to it? Stinky bucks. Standard breed bucks come into rut only during the fall breeding season, and yes they stink too, but at least it's not year around! Nigerian bucks will stink all the time. A lot of breeders tell me that these small fellows have a stronger scent than the big boys, but I won't claim this fact to be absolute truth. But consider yourself warned that it might be, and build your buck pen as far from your house as possible!

Pros: Their small size makes them easy to keep anywhere! They're easy to find, easy to sell (Nigerian kids are the cutest of all goat kids, hands down.), and their wild colors are so much fun! They're great for kids (human ones) to handle, and you won't have to worry about dealing with an ornery buck who weighs more than you. Their creamy milk is to die for! And you'll never be able to buy half-and-half for your coffee again once you've tasted Nigerian Dwarf milk in its stead. 

Cons: Teat size. These girls can be the biggest pain to milk since most of them have teeny, tiny teats. Some have decent sized ones, but most don't. So if you have big hands, or carpal tunnel, then you may want to invest in some sort of milking machine. The "year-around-stinky-buck" thing is also a bit of a con. Keep a good supply of goat milk soap around since that's about the only thing that will get the pungent aroma off your skin! Height can also be a hassle if you want to keep registered animals; you may have a gorgeous doe or buck that would do great in the show ring, but if they grow even a half inch too tall, then they can't be registered! Aargh!

Best Fit For: Anyone who doesn't have a lot of room to spare, doesn't want too much milk, has small children who want to care for the goats, or just likes a wide variety of color! The Nigerian Dwarf is one of those animals that can easily adapt to any situation. If you wanted Saanens, you'd have to make sure you had enough room. If you wanted Nubians, you'd have to make sure that the noise level wouldn't bother anyone. But the Nigerians don't have any of those prerequisites. They're a great choice for anyone, on any level of experience. Just please remember to keep an eye on your fencing! They'll find the tiniest holes and pop right through them!

"Breed For The Need": The Nubian Goat

  Get this: We're starting a new series on the blog! I've been thinking about, and planning this, for almost two years; and today is the first post! I'm dubbing this the "Breed For The Need" series and what we'll be doing is this: Every Tuesday a different breed of livestock (both rare and common) will be highlighted. We'll go over the breed's pros, cons, perks + quirks, and what situation it's best for. Each month we'll highlight a certain species, and this being the first month of doing this (granted, we're halfway through the month), I'll be starting off with goats (of course). 

 So, in honor of this being the first post, I've decided to highlight a breed that I know best of all:

The Nubian Goat

  One of the most popular and identifiable breeds, the Nubian has long held the status of being an excellent choice in the goat world. Unfortunately, this popularity hasn't always been a good thing, and the breed has suffered from many an inexperienced/uncaring breeder to the point where a Craigslist search will bring up one ad after another, showing a steep-rumped, narrow-bodied, short-eared animal that only has the capacity to milk a 1/2 gallon a day, even at the age of 4 years. Blah. 

  A good quality Nubian is built like a tank. Albeit, a graceful one. She should be wide, deep, and have the capacity to milk 1 - 2 gallons a day. Butterfat percentage should be right around 4% to 5% (she's the Jersey cow of the goat world).

  Temperament wise, Nubians are probably the most dramatic, vocal, and gregarious. Think "needy, clingy dog". Nubians love people, but this isn't always a good thing since some will go through almost any kind of fence to get to "their person"! The vast majority of them though are mellow, sweet creatures (and not always the brightest). Even the mellowest doe though, will still retain the signature drama; recoiling in utter horror and disgust at finding a weed in her alfalfa hay, a piece of dirt in her water, or worst of all... That you tried sneaking deworming powder into her feed!! They are divas, but somehow that just makes them all the more lovable (well, until they've escaped from their pen for the 10th time in one day...).

Pros: Generally of gentle nature, and rarely gives off -tasting milk. The high butterfat makes for sweet tasting milk that is always in high demand by the public. It also means you'll get a higher amount of solids when making cheese! Nubians come in a wide range of colors too, which is yet another factor in their popularity. They're easy to find, usually easy to sell (who in this world can resist a floppy-eared goat kid??), and their sale price is generally pretty decent.

Cons: Noise level. These goats tend to be loud; especially during breeding season, or whenever something changes. Or when they see someone outside. Or when they're *sure* that they're about to keel over from starvation since breakfast was 2 hours ago. Alright fine, they're loud. My herd name of "Goat Song" originated purely from the noise level of all my girls. 

   

  Another con is that this breed has a unique genetic defect that isn't seen in any other breed. It's called "G6S", and surprisingly enough, many normal looking goats are carriers of this fatal problem. Rather than attempt to give you the scientific spiel on what exactly it is, I will direct you to this very long, very detailed article that should answer all your questions about it: WHAT IS G6S?

  Responsible breeders will test their goats, and state each animal's status publicly on their website. However, I've seen quite a few well-known breeders tap dance around this slightly and use a sleight of words to make it look like their entire herd is G6S negative. A truly G6S negative goat will have a note that says "tested G6S normal". If the animal didn't test normal, but holds a high value to the breeder, they'll often write "G6S normal on pedigree". See what they did there? It still sounds like they're saying it's a negative animal, what it really means is, "This animal is a positive carrier, but her parents are negative, so we don't know where the positive gene came in." Now, there's a chance that this "normal on pedigree" girl may throw normal kids, but it's a bit like playing with fire. And if you're paying $1,200.00 for that kid that may or may not be normal... Well, I wish you luck, and hope you have deep pockets. So consider yourself forewarned; these are great animals, but they do have this annoying fault!

Best Fit For... The Nubian is best for someone who has a good sense of humor, a lot of patience, and doesn't have neighbors right next door! If you only have a moderate amount of space, and want only a moderate amount of milk, then this might be a good fit for you. Make sure you're ready to take on the responsibility of being a breeder though! The Nubian really needs some help to breed out those horrible steep rumps and narrow bodies; and those problems won't go away until more of us make sure that we're doing our part.