My main question is about how noisy they are going to be. Does anyone know where I can find Nigerian Dwarves or Pigmy goats in AZ?

-- M Krajewski (asrai@home.com), March 18, 2002

Answers

Hi, I am currently raising and breeding Nigerian Dwarf goats, mine are not noisy at all. Very quiet.....Once in a while a bottle fed baby will call when they hear your voice.

-- Barbara (vozarbi@sensible-net.com), March 18, 2002.

I am new to goats so take what I say with a grain of salt:

I have three N. Dwarfs. two wethers and one older doe. never a peep from the wethers. the doe is the biggest loudmouth on the place. a real screamer. I'll end it there and avoid the obvious M-F comments that spring to mind. A couple of links:

http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/goats/NIGNDWRF/reg.htm

http://andda.hypermart.net/

lots more links out there if you use your search engine of choice. they are nice little goats.

(warning: set PopUp Killer to DESTROY when visiting these links)

-- B. Lackie Zone3 (cwrench@hotmail.com), March 18, 2002.

We have Nigerians in addition to Kinder and Nubians and our Nigerians are all very quiet goats (LOL anything is quiet comparet to some of our Nubies ). There are several breeders I know of in AZ but if you go to Goat Kingdom you can find listings of goat breeders to get you started.

BTW: ANDDA has a new website: http://www.andda.org/

-- Trisha-MN (coldguinea@netscape.net), March 19, 2002.

We have two shows in our area that have Nigerians in another ring. Most Nigerians are not milked, they are shown with full udders by taking their babies away from them. The babies sit in pens screaming at the top of their lungs waiting for their moms until after the class. Think high pitched squeaking violin fingernails on the blackboard screaming :) My Nubian gals are loud, but nothing holds a candle to these kids screaming! I couldn't even imagine what weaning week is like at their farms! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), March 19, 2002.

I have Nigerians which I DO milk once a day, and we separate the kids at night. Mostly, they're fine. We arrange it so the mothers can see their babies, but not nurse, and everyone's happy until the morning, when the babies are hungry. They cry a bit while I milk, but afterward everyone is calm and quiet again. I have had a couple of Nigerians who were a bit loud, but I sold them because I live in the middle of the city and can't have them bothering the neighbors.

By the way, if you want REALLY quiet, you might check out Oberhaslis. My Ober doe is almost totally quiet. Sometimes, but not always, she will answer with a soft, closed-mouth Ma-a-a when I call to her. When she is in heat, she will cry some, which is handy, but she is still not loud. And that pretty much covers her conversation abilities.

-- Laura Jensen (lauraj@seedlaw.com), March 19, 2002.

Contact Sandie Neal at canterburyfarm@yahoo.com. Also http://asdga.hypermart.net/ for info on goat clubs in AZ and the AZ State Dairy Goat Assn. Someone can help you with your goat questions.

-- Narita (hsnrs@att.net), March 19, 2002.

I heard they are escape artists.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), March 19, 2002.