Nigerian's can be good milk goats!

A mature Nubian doe should stand at least 30 inches at the withers and weigh over 135 pounds. Breed standards vary for Nigerians, but generally a doe shouldn't be over 22" tall and the weight should be around 75lbs.

So Niggies are about 1/2 the size of a Nubian. The butterfat of their milk generally runs in the 6-10% range (btw 10% is the current standard for commercial half & half). And as you can see they can give almost as much as a Nubian, although I would say most are probably more in the 3-4lbs range.

I think they would be a great addition to any homestead, especially for those of us on smaller acreage. Plus some urban areas - such as Seattle - now allow you to have up to two does (or wethers) in the city.

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Wags Ranch Nigerians


"The Constitution says to promote the general welfare, not to provide welfare!" ~ Lt. Col Allen West

Wow, those are some pretty goats! Dang, and milk, too....
I am starting to wish there were some around here!

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http://mmsmiracle.com/EnjoyBetterHealth

Her dam is Jobi Margo who is out of a long line of National top 10 milkers. Her Granddam WGF Millie was in the National top ten milker award for 4 consecutive years from 1999 - 2003. Her sire is Jobi Morgan who also has 3 top ten milkers on his sire & dam's side.

Jobi farm is in Texas, Joanne Jelke is the breeder and breeds a lot of Nigerians as replacements for dairys there.

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Wags Ranch Nigerians


"The Constitution says to promote the general welfare, not to provide welfare!" ~ Lt. Col Allen West

My NDs are from milking and show lines as well. I bought a couple of them because my son liked the breed (I had the Nubians and Kinders) but it took a little while to find someone who really bred for the things we wanted. Well, the NDs are so cool I think they'll quickly be taking over the barn. My goats come from Ellen Dill www.dillsalittlegoatfarm.com and her lines are mostly from PromisedLand. If you want NDs that can milk check out Ellen's website.

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Back to basics as much as possible

After thinking about it a long while and asking around, I have decided to breed my grade Saanen doe to a Nigerian buck. Smaller goats, almost as much milk, and more butterfat... why not?

I visited a local breeder, Castle Rock Farm. As soon as I got there I almost died of cuteness overload as a herd of tiny goats came running toward me with their tiny toylike bleats. All of them were sweet, gentle, and downright... cuddly. She had a couple of doelings for sale and if I had the money I'm just about certain I'd have come home with one. Probably the one that was crawling into DH's lap and trying to eat his shirt.

I can't wait for mini-Saanens.

SARA K ; I'm new on this Site , From I dig !! But I milk a Sannen every AM .... Love Cold Goats Milk ... But I think I would sell the House before I would sell my "Milcher's" !!! Why do you have to move ? My inquiery mind ? .... I'm trying to learn to make Butter with no success Any suggestions , Anyone , Please ? ....... Thankyou ........ ALAN B ....

For some more pictures and info on great Niggie milkers check out Pholia Farm located in southern Oregon. They are a 100% Nigerian dairy - specializing in cheese making and they milk a couple dozen or more goats year round.

They also have info milking procedures and on building a milk stand out of PVC pipe in their milking section.

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Wags Ranch Nigerians


"The Constitution says to promote the general welfare, not to provide welfare!" ~ Lt. Col Allen West

Oh-oh, you're in trouble now because there are ND's around you!!!
Lois

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Nigerian Dwarf goats and Spanish Mastiff livestock guards
www.fallcreekfarm.net
http://spanishmastiffs.blogspot.com/

I want Nigis so badly.....my husband has been told that goat milk is nasty and tastes goaty. I have never tried it myself but want 3-4 nigis next year as soon as we get fencing in. I just hope my hubby will get on board and I can handle the milking.

All milk "can" taste really gross. I've tasted some really disgusting cows and goats milk. Things like the odor of the milking area, if a buck is in rut and close to the does, milking practices etc can all show in the flavor of the milk.....this holds true for all milking animals.

When we had our cow in my parents barn we hated the milk....we've loved it since we finally moved her here. The barn was awful smelling and just the short milking time that we used the barn for made the milk taste gross, needless to say we got her out of there ASAP!!!

I was never a big fan of goats milk until I owned my own, I'd tasted ND goats milk and was surprised that it tasted creamier than my Jersey milk but really.....it tasted like creamy milk! Try a few different sources that practice clean barn and milking habits and see if he still feels the same way

Sara

Nigerian milk runs 6-10% butterfat so it is very rich and creamy. In fact I had to go back to buying 1% at the store for myself because I was putting on too much weight. My kids however burn it off, so no problem there. I just purchased a cream separator - and if the kids will ever leave me enough I hope to have a chance to try it out soon.

Pholia Farms Nigerians average 17lbs of cheese per 100# of milk compared to 10lbs of hard cheese per 100# of cows milk. They did some DNA testing and discovered that their herd had the gene for the alpha S1 casein - which is the highest yielding protein for cheese production. Unfortunately, the alpha S1 casein is also what most people that are allergic to cows milk are allergic too.

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Wags Ranch Nigerians


"The Constitution says to promote the general welfare, not to provide welfare!" ~ Lt. Col Allen West

Wags, What separator did you get and where did you get it?

I got a Novo cream separator - they only show an 80L capacity one on their site, but I emailed and asked if they had a smaller one and they did have a refurbished 50 liter one that they sold me for a great price.

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Wags Ranch Nigerians


"The Constitution says to promote the general welfare, not to provide welfare!" ~ Lt. Col Allen West

hmm, I wonder if they have any other refurbished ones that size. Do you mind me asking how much you paid?

I don't remember exactly, but I do know it was just under $200 including shipping. The new ones are just under $400 for the 80L with shipping.

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Wags Ranch Nigerians


"The Constitution says to promote the general welfare, not to provide welfare!" ~ Lt. Col Allen West

Jobi, is also Joanna Jelke who ran a commercial dairy for years with large breed goats and ND. Sadly most ND are pets, so small teat size and small udders with less than level lactations abound. Knowing the breed and buying from those who care about production is a must if you plan on hand milking Nigerian Dwarfs. ND and pygmys are the same breed originally, ND are improved over years of selection for dairy character, teat size and milk ability. Pygmy's are improved for meat and much smaller size, why meat goats have more round bone, shorter bone etc...dairy goats longer boned, flatter boned...it's about selection. Like old original nubians, rounder boned, shorter boned, poor rumps, and now our longer boned, flatter boned, more level rumped nubians that are better milkers due to selection. Vicki

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Vicki McGaugh
Nubian Soaps
North of Houston TX
www.etsy.com/shop/nubiansoaps

A 3 decade dairy goat farm homestead that is now a retail/wholesale soap company and construction business.

here I come!
Seriously, one of these days!

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http://mmsmiracle.com/EnjoyBetterHealth

Very interesting info about ND's. I have several of them, but mine are not good milking stock. I've been cross breeding them with my Saanens, in hopes of coming up with a small good milker.

Petaddict, I got a manual cream separator on ebay for under $100 (BIN). It's new in the box. The seller is from Ukraine. The instructions are not printed in English, but the seller emailed me a English translation.

I almost forgot... it came with 2 bowls. One is for cream and the other is for making butter, so it's a duel purpose cream separator/butter churn. I got it because it's hand crank instead of electric (I'm doing everything possible to save on power usage due to the bills going up, up, up.)

I tried to find another one like mine, but she doesn't have any listings up now. Here's one almost like it, but it doesn't have the butter churn included.

ETA: I kept hunting for one like mine and discovered the link above is the same seller I bought from. That seller has manual and electric separators at good prices. I was real happy with the service I got. One thing that I didn't realize until AFTER I bought is that I had to buy oil to full the crank case. I bought a gallon of clear sewing machine oil for $10. Any sewing center should have it or be able to order it.

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Spinner,

I've seen them on Ebay and was wondering how they worked. Have you tried yours yet? I may buy one. I'd love to hear about it. Thanks.