Miniature Goats

Success Guide For Raising Healthy Goats

Miniature Goats

Miniature goats are smaller than full-size goats and hence produce less milk or meat. Miniature goats eat less, require less space, and have scaled-down housing needs that make them ideal for cold climates, where they spend a lot of time indoors. The two main miniature breeds are African Pygmy and Nigerian Dwarf goats.

African Pygmy

Pygmies are blocky, deep, wide, and their faces are dished. The most common colour is agouti, meaning they have two-tone hairs that give the coat a salt-and-pepper look. The Pygmy has the muscular build of a meat breed. Mature female does weigh 35 to 60 pounds, and mature male bucks weigh 45 to 70 pounds.

Nigerian Dwarf

Nigerian Dwarf goats are a miniature dairy breed. These goats are smaller and finer-boned than a Pygmy goat. They have longer legs and a longer neck, with shorter finer hair. Nigerian Dwarfs are lean and angular, with faces that are flat to slightly dished. Mature female does weigh 30 to 50 pounds, and mature male bucks weigh 35 to 60 pounds.

Colours

Dwarf goats come in all colours.

Milk Yields

A female Dwarf yields about 300 quarts, or 600 pounds, of milk per year, which is one-third the amount you would get from a regular-sized goat. Despite their much stockier build, a Pygmy female doe produces about the same amount of milk as a Nigerian Dwarf.

The milk from miniature goats tastes sweeter than other goat milk, because it is higher in fat.

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Photographic credits:

Copyright Felicity McCullough

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Updated 5 March 2022 ©

External links:
American Dairy Goat Association
American Goat Society
Dairy Goat Society of Australia
DEFRA UK
National Pygmy Goat Association
Pygmy Goat Club
Welfare of Goats During Transport