The Nigerian Dwarf was originally imported from West Africa in the mid '70's.
They are a miniature dairy goat, producing a quart of milk two times a day.
 Nigerian Dwarf milk is well known for it's delicious taste. 
 Nigerians have the refined structure of the large breed dairy goats, but only 1/3
 the size.The maximum height for does is 22 1/2 in. and 23 1/2 in. for the bucks. 

A 20 in. goat is much easier for a child to handle, making the Nigerian Dwarf
an ideal candidate for a 4-H project. They are very friendly and personable 
and in our opinion the perfect pet.  Most of ours want to be on our laps like dogs,
this is great except when you have a 4 year old buck that is in rut!! 
Nigerian Dwarfs also require less space than the larger breed goats 
and can be kept in yards and sheds,or even large dog houses.
They come in a wide variety of colors and patterns,
and don't forget some of them have those beautiful blue eyes. 
Nigerian Dwarf goats breed year round and their kids are just too cute! 
Nigerian Dwarf does can have several kids at a time, 3 or 4 kids being common
and sometimes even having 5 or 6. The average weight for a Nigerian dwarf kid
at birth is 2lb., but they grow really quickly.  You must seperate your buck and
doe kids by 8 weeks of age, they have been known to be fertile by this age. 


Goats are herd animals, they depend on the companionship of other goats. 
Goats can not be wet!!  They must have housing, either a barn, shed,
 or large dog house so they can get out of the sun, wind, rain, or snow. 
You must provide them with a fence, never tie a goat!!  
You want to be able to keep your goat in as well as keeping dogs or coyotes
 away from your goats.  Never trust a dog with your goat, unless it is trained for this. 

Goats are ruminants, their diet should consist primarily of hay, which should be dust
 and mold free.  We use an orchard grass/alfalfa mix.  Always provide your goats with
free choice loose minerals.  We use either Golden Blend or Purina. 
Always provide clean fresh water.  We add a dash of apple cider vinegar
to our goats water.  A 16 -18% goat feed should be fed to milking does. 
We use a 14% goat feed that contains ammonium chloride for our kids
and bucks.  Bucks and wethers are prone to developing urinary calculi
and the ammonium chloride helps prevent it, as well as a low protein and low calcium
diet.  Mature non-breeding animals may be maintained on good quality hay. 
Never change the diet suddenly, always introduce new things in small quantities. 
If you change brands of grain, mix them gradually until you get them
over to the new brand.  Goats need to be immunized with CD/T and
should be given BO-SE if you are in a selenium deficient area. 
You should worm your goats 4 times a year and rotate the brands of
wormers you use.  Hooves must be trimmed around every 6 weeks.
  You can use the small garden type pruning shears.