We started raising Nigerian dwarf goats in 2002. I was familiar with the conservation list of the Livestock Conservancy, and I wanted all of our animals to come from that list because I wanted to help preserve rare breeds. The Nigerian and Oberhasli were the only two dairy goats on the list, so I didn’t have much to choose from. I can’t honestly say I remember all of my original reasons for choosing the Nigerian, but it’s a decision I have never regretted. In fact, after we started showing goats, and we were exposed to other breeds, my daughters and I considered adding just about every other dairy breed out there at one time or another, and we did have LaManchas for about seven years. So, why do we still have Nigerian dwarf goats after all these years?
Small size
When I realized I needed to downsize after my daughters left home, there were two reasons that I kept the Nigerian dwarf goats and sold off the LaManchas. Size played a huge role in my decision to sell the LMs. Although they are the sweetest goats, we don’t always agree, and when there is a disagreement, it’s tough to win when the goat weighs almost as much as I do. I am able to pick up almost every Nigerian on the farm, if needed. And if I can’t, then my son or husband can. They’ve even picked up a fully pregnant goat and put her in my car to take to the vet hospital for a c-section.
Because of their small size, they can easily be transported in large or extra large dog crates, which fit in SUVs and mini-vans. My LMs were on the smaller side, so they could also fit into extra large crates, but some breeds would require the giant size, which is expensive and doesn’t fit inside most vehicles. Over the years I’ve sold many Nigerians to people who had small children and felt the smaller goats would be easier for them to handle. I’ve also sold some to older people who had a larger breed and were downsizing to the Nigerians for that reason.
Higher butterfat
Standard-size goats have a butterfat around 3% to 3.5%, except Nubians, which average 4.5%, and Nigerians, which average 6.5%. We were on milk test when we had both Nigerians and LaManchas, and the butterfat of the NDs was usually almost twice as high as the LMs. In fact, we only made cheese with the LM milk a few times because we realized the yield was almost always about half as much as what we would get when making cheese with ND milk.
One year I had a LM doe and a ND doe give birth on exactly the same day. On one of the early milk tests, I noticed that the two does had produced exactly the same number of pounds of butterfat so far, but the LM had produced 200 pounds more milk. The first thing that popped into my head was that the LM milk was “watered down.” The LM was definitely producing a lot more milk, but if your goal was to make cheese, the extra fluid milk was really not helpful.
If your goal is maximum fluid milk production, and you prefer the taste and texture of skim milk, then you may view the Nigerian’s high butterfat as a disadvantage.
Taste of milk
None of us was ever a big fan of the LaMancha milk or any other goat milk that we tasted other than Nigerian dwarf. In all my years of selling goats, I’ve never lost a goat sale because someone didn’t like the taste of the milk. In fact, most people are surprised and excited about how much they love the taste. Some have said it tastes just like store-bought milk, while some say that it tastes even better. I personally prefer it to cow milk. People hypothesize that the high butterfat makes the milk taste sweeter than other goat milk, but whatever the reason, it’s definitely my favorite. Although I didn’t think the LaMancha milk tasted bad, one of my daughters strongly disliked it, and I could not even trick her into consuming it when it was used in a gravy or other foods. She’d catch me every time! Obviously taste is a personal preference, and there are plenty of people who prefer the milk of other breeds.
The down side
Kids
One of the things I don’t like about Nigerian dwarf goats is something that many people love, and that’s their tendency to have litters of kids rather than simply twins like other breeds. We have had three does that have given birth to quintuplets a total of five times, and we’ve had more quadruplets than I can remember at this point. I’ve also sold two does that went on to have six at their new home. This is highly genetic, however, and it is possible to select for or against this trait. After many years of dealing with it, I’ve decided to sell off or retire the lines that throw the high multiples because it’s too stressful for me. Does only have two teats, so in addition to her production, you also have to consider her personality and the personality of the kids. Mom will have to spend a lot of time standing, and those kids will fight for the two teats, sometimes leaving a smaller or less aggressive kid to starve. This is why I rarely let a doe try to raise more than three kids now. (Here’s a post where you can learn more about how many kids a doe can feed.)
Popularity
Although Nigerians were rare when I got started in 2002, today they are the fastest growing breed for all of the reasons I’ve mentioned so far. The high kid count has also made them a prime target for people who want to make a fast buck, leading to goat versions of puppy mills where people breed the does twice a year rather than once, and they never milk them, which means their ability to be a good milk goat is unknown. This means there are many low-quality Nigerian dwarf goats on the market today. This makes it challenging for those buying their first goats. It’s really important that buyers looking for milk goats ask about milk production of does and stay away from buying kids whose dams have not been milked. Here are more tips on buying goats.
Which breed is best?
Just as people have different taste in food, wine, music, dogs, and everything else imaginable, people have different tastes in goats. I’ve avoided writing a post about Nigerian dwarf goats until now because I felt like I was obviously biased. But, who better than a true lover of the breed to explain why they’re so awesome!
How much milk does your best doe give at peak lactation? How much is average?
I went with Alpines because I didn’t want a lot of fat in the milk, and they are larger and supposedly give more milk. I avoided Nigerian dwarfs for the reason you mentioned above about some ND breeders being essentially the equivalent of a goat puppy mill, and selling surplus possibly low quality animals to make them some profits as fast as possible.
I knew I was forgetting something! My best does peak at 3 quarts. Most peak at 2 quarts. The breed average is 1 quart a day over the course of a 10-month lactation. I don’t really think about the fluid milk production much because our main goal is cheese — and I can make as much cheese from a ND as I could from a bigger goat. If you want fluid milk, then definitely a bigger goat is a better fit.
Just because there are some puppy-mill-type breeders out there does not mean that you can’t find excellent NDs. You just have to be a smart consumer. But this is the case with all breeds. I have a friend who had an Alpine that produced less than my best NDs, and if you look at the range of production on the ADGA breed averages, that’s not unusual. The bottom of the range for all of the standard breeds is worse than my best NDs.
I 100% agree with everything you’ve written! We have 3 milking does on our small hobby farm, and the milk is the best tasting milk out there – even compared to cow’s milk. We have made wonderful cheese with this milk and the time spent with these friendly little goats has been so rewarding for our children, my husband (who was reluctant to own goats at first, but now spends time holding the babies often!), and myself. I love the quiet time sitting and milking them, and the ability to handle their small size is one of their best features!
Great article spreading the love of NDG’s!!!!
Well Deborah, though you say something to the effect of “I made all the mistakes so you don’t have to”….todays email came and I have realized I have made a big mistake! I wanted Nigerian Dwarfs from the start, however, my journey started me off with a ND/pygmy male and the woman let me “borrow” two Nubian wethers to show little one how to be a goat. Not only did the three become the “Mod Squad”, lol, but I fell in love with the wethers and asked if I could buy them. She was thrilled that they were on large acreage and their coats had turned beautiful and their bellys were full that she gave them to me. Then I found Kikos and fell in love with them, then a friend asked if I would be willing to bottle feed to male lambs (had no plans to have sheep) because they had been rejected so I thought I’d get that skill underneath my belt. The lambs lived in my home, wearing diapers, because it was freezing winter and I had nothing set up for them outside and everyone said it was hard to keep a lamb alive. They both made it and they are the friendliest lambs ever. So now it was time to get Nigerian goats. But wait! I bought someone a special gift and she broke down crying. She gave me 3 baby goats as a gift back (Alpine/Nubian). I fell in love….however, they are so full of energy I have been knocked over, stepped on, whacked in the face and had my legs attacked (all for milk bottles) that I am bruised up and down my body. So now it was time for Nigerian Dwarfs. Went to buy my first one and brought him home to bottle feed. He drank contentedly (slowly, very slowly) and slept alot. He wasn’t acting anything like the lambs or goats I had bottle fed. Took him to vet and he was anemic and had an upper respiratory infection. First question vet asked was “Was he a singleton?” I didn’t even know that term. He was a quad and had not been able to get enough milk. Now reading your article today I realize that I bought him from someone who only raises to sell. None of her dams are milked. Just.Never.Occurred.To.Me.To.Look.For.That. I have since purchased 6 more and am waiting for them to be weaned and will be bringing them home. I am going to go read the websites to see if they even talk about “milking”. Cannot believe I didn’t even think of it as my number one reason for getting ND was to milk and make cheese and soap! Oh.My.Word! I will love everyone and give them the best life ever but there is a very real possibility I will have to wait for kidding season next year to purchase actual ND’s bred for milking. Incredibly expensive mistake. Still glad you wrote the article and now I know. I love all my animals, but as they grow old (and from here on out) I will only look for NG milkers and will warn people who eventually buy from me that my goats ARE for milking, I am not running a goat mill farm. I apologize this post was so long. Just shocked I didn’t think of this…..
So sorry to hear about your experience! I hope the six kids are coming from a farm where they do milk.
Well, just figured out second mistake I made. I’ve traveled 4-6 hrs from me for some goats but the ND’s I found closer to home (which sounded great). Now having gone to look at the two websites, I see where they have been sharing a sire. Near as I can tell the two generations back (on the ones I’m purchasing) don’t share same dams and sires but I did see where some being sold on both websites are sharing a sire, so not sure how far back I will be able to see. But definitely need to go out much further to purchase. Hadn’t thought of all that. Both sites show dams udders however reading sites they both “show” goats and enjoy raising them….nothing about milking. I’m still too new to know what “good/great udders” are of if they are great milkers. Did find someone in the state next to me who literally writes “her dam has udders that are like butter to milk”…..so guessing they do milk and udders are important to them. May see if I can make appt. with them to go visit and try to understand what I am looking for and possibly get on a list for next years kids. I sure hope somebody learns from my mistakes…..
If they show goats older than a year, then they have to milk them because they have to be shown in milk — assuming these are ADGA or AGS sanctioned shows.
If they say that a goat has an udder that’s like butter to milk, that’s a very good thing, and they are milking too. So it sounds like you found some better options! Yay!
BTW Deborah, just want to say thank you for all the time you put into your website and the information you put out. I read every one of your emails and go read the articles. I’ve also purchased items from you. I’ve never written until now but wanted you to know I go to your website for my other goats health and to check to see if something is normal or not, or if you recommend it….ie: copper.
You’re welcome! I’m glad you find the information helpful!