We are interested in raising goats for children's project and milk. Would the nigerian dwarf goat be a good breed to start with? Also,where could you purchase this breed close to southern Illinois?

-- mark vaughn (dormark3@midwest.net), February 18, 2000

Answers

we have a nigerian and a pygora and the pygora is better with kids [you should see the nigerian pick on our pitbull]nigerians are not that much shorter then some of the dairy breeds,stockyer to. they are nice goats but strong, they dont eat as much as some dairy goats but my sugestion would be to look at the diferent dairy breeds near you, alpins are smaller but there are even some large gential nubians so just go looking around bring kids so they can pratice with different goats and i am sure you will find one they can handle and love. 4H shows would be a great place to start as they have many goat typs together at shows and you can see them being handled by kids.

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), February 21, 2000.

Mark and kids, I always give the response of what breed to get by what breeds are around your area. You can get a copy of the American Dairy Goat Association registry of Ill. and visit local breeders in your neighborhood, we are everywhere. I raise Nubains and LaMancha's and I highly recommend LaMancha's, not only are they smaller, but they are quieter, eat less feed and there are lots of dairy shows around where you would be welcomed with open arms, we need you to sanction our shows. It's harder with Nubians because there are so many and soo much competition. Vicki McGaugh

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), February 21, 2000.

I have Nigerians and an Oberhasli, and I live in a neighborhood with a lot of small children. They are uniformly intimidated by my very gentle Ober, but they love the Nigerians. And if you buy quality stock, they are considerably smaller than regular dairy goats. They range from 18 to 22 inches at the shoulder, with 22 inches being unusually large. My does have weighed about 50 to 60 pounds as adults. Compare that to 120 for a smallish Ober, or 180 and up for a good-sized Nubian. My goats have been very sweet with the kids, and never offered to butt any of them. I've known Alpines with a somewhat more aggressive take on life. The only caveat I have is, again, be sure you get good quality stock. They can really produce and look very feminine and dairy, not stocky, if you get good ones. If you don't want to get good ones, you might as well get pygmies. And for milk, get one that has been milked regularly unless you're an experienced milker. Also a second-freshener will probably be more rewarding as to quantity of milk. So there's my two cents. Email me if you have any questions.

-- Laura Jensen (lrjensen@nwlink.com), February 23, 2000.

Laura,Our doe nigerian is purebred and very high Quilty she has won or placed 2 at all 4h shows and we have been told by many a judge that she is one of the best looking they have seen in a long time[ even though at 2 11/2 years she hasnt been bred yet]. I think before you make a dicision on a goat you should see what is avalible near you and the diferent choises, Our nigerian is good around kids to, but our pygora is better[ has to do with personalities ]Nigerians can be hard to find and if there are different choices in the area they should look at them to ,A GOOD goat of any BREED is better then a mediacore one. and you cant make a informed decision until you see all breeds available.

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), February 23, 2000.