Anybody raising Pigmy goats for dairy?

We are looking at starting our goat milk set up with a pigmy goat. Due to their size, this would allow us to be milk self sufficient the fastest as we build our property up. Very encouraged by this individual’s encounter from https://morningchores.com/milk-animals/

“Their demeanors are so great, and they are also so easy to handle because of their small stature.
However, don’t let their small stature fool you. Our Pygmy delivered 3 babies her first time kidding.
Plus, she gave us an ample amount of milk and was easier to milk because of her demeanor.
On average a Pygmy goat can produce around a quart of milk per day, but what I love most about goats is that their milk is easier to digest and you don’t have to worry about over milking.
They actually have a way of withholding the milk their babies need. That was a huge relief. You’ll just need to be sure that you don’t milk a goat within 2 months of her kidding (if you are freshening her milk supply) in order for her to store up needed nutrients for the kids.”

We’d really appreciate any info on raising them for dairy. Thank you!

I have Nigerian Dwarf goats.  I find them difficult to milk …due to their small size and my larger hand size.  Other than that, they are much easier to work with than regular size goats.

Hi, Monika! Welcome to permies!
I wish you well on your goat endeavors! That said, I also hope you do much more research, before acquiring any, lol. I thought I knew what I needed to know, but in reality, I had no clue just how much I didn't know. I, personally, wouldn't recommend pygmy for dairy - it's even classed not as a dairy, but a meat goat. There is much more to it than quantity... As John mentioned, ease of milking is truly a big deal. So is milk quality - at least as important, imho. In the goat world, my research led me to understand that by far, the richest, sweetest milk comes from the Nigerian Dwarf, which also tend to produce a bit more than the pygmies. The most prolific producers are the larger dairy breeds, of course - and they tend to be MUCH easier to milk, especially with an electric milker, and you can actually use an electric milker, if you prefer. The smaller the teats, though, the more difficult it is to attach the cups. Hubs bought me an electric milker- and it's useless for my beloved goaties. I have noticed that the smaller breeds tend to be hardier, at least in my area, which can be very harsh.

Beyond that, it's a great idea to think about what you want from them, beyond milk. They're browsers, not grazers. That means goats look up, to find their food, not down, and they aren't particularly fond of grass. There's VERY good reason for this. It helps protect their bodies from parasite overload. We all - including goats - play host to more parasites than most of us even want to think about. That's not a problem, at all, and is a very good thing - as long as the parasites stay in balance. An imbalance in goats will kill them faster than you can possibly imagine, and the fact that they're pretty animals means they will hide it - and they're pros at this - until it's too late. We found out just how fast this can happen, without their humans even realizing something is VERY wrong, with our attempt at raising Nubians. We should have stuck to the ones we already had and knew - Nigora.

Other things you might be interested in, with your goats could be...
* Brush clearing - this is an area where they shine!
* Packing, I hear, can be a ton of fun, and I'm collecting gear for mine, to give me some exercise (hiking our ravines and woods is great!), and help give them a purpose, something to look forward to, and (hopefully) keep the sweet little boogers worn out, and too tired to get into trouble - another area where they truly shine!
* Pets/ companions with benefits; like milk, some of the best fertilizer you can imagine, weed-eating, comic relief
* Income source - with their brush clearing ability, they're in high demand in some areas, as a rental. Much cheaper than hiring humans - but do take care to inspect the area(s) where they'll be 'working' for dangers, including poisonous plants, sharp debris, etc
* Fiber - not the kind you eat for gut health - the kind you use to clothed yourself - and MUCH more, and goat fiber is truly luxurious!

Before you do those things, though, know that there's a very reality-based joke among goatherds: 'If you can build a fence that will hold water, you can build a fence that will hold goats.' I wish I could tell you that's a gross exaggeration... but, it's far too close to the truth. Some goats are more like the late escape artist, Houdini, than others. I believe my Kola to be a direct descendent.

I did everything inside out. I did *some* research. I talked to *some* goatherds. One lovely lady, who had become a dear friend, turned out to be in search of homes for the last 3 of her herd - a buck, a doe, and their doeling. I sent her a deposit. Then realized, I'd best get my rear in gear, and turn the extra(?!?!?) 2 car garage into a barn, post haste! So, I did! I used pallets to create stalls & gates, and that has worked out beautifully. Then I got the goats, THEN started on the fencing. Little did I know, there was no way I'd be able to pound tposts into our ground. It's all clay and rocks. The first several months, my goats were tethered - bad idea. It's so dangerous, and I've tried so many different way to do it... I finally heard about cattle panels - and goat panels(these will even keep the tiny kids in, but may not be tall enough to keep the brown ones in).

The next fall, I started planning for breeding season. For most goats, this happens on an annual basis, and is determined by when the does go into estrus/heat. For a few breeds, their cycles are more like humans, and come monthly - this is how Nigoras and Nigerian Dwarfs are, so you can choose when you want kids. Unless, of course, they get loose, and...ehhh... enjoy a secret tryst. Thankfully, I've not had that happen, yet. Excuse me, while I go knock on wood! The goat gestation period runs 145 - 155 days, depending on breed & bloodline, and the individual.  I'd STRONGLY recommend researching goat husbandry long before your goats are due. Like... before you get any of them.

So, I have Nigoras - an up-and-coming, new multipurpose, cross-breed, with equal focus on dairy (from the Nigerian Dwarf) and fiber (from the Angora). There are about 75 - 100 of us, across the USA, working toward moving them from being (simply) a recordable 'cross-breed' into being a very healthy, hardy, non-inbred, legitimate, recognized and registerable breed in their own right, with impeccable fiber, and fantastic milk. We're, as a group, about halfway there. This endeavor adds quite a bit of extra cars and work, beyond simple goatherding, lol. But, it will be worth it. I hope you've enjoyed reading my book, lol. And, if I've actually left any questions, please feel free to ask, and I'll help as much as I can. And, I'm not the only goatherd/ shepard here, by any means. Talk to everyone you can. Listen to/ read the horror stories, as much as, if not more than, the sweet, fun ones. There are many of both, but you'll learn substantially more about getting more of the fun stories, by heeding the horrors.

Carla Burke wrote:Hi, Monika! Welcome to permies!
I wish you well on your goat endeavors! That said, I also hope you do much more research, before acquiring any, lol. I thought I knew what I needed to know, but in reality, I had no clue just how much I didn't know. I, personally, wouldn't recommend pygmy for dairy - it's even classed not as a dairy, but a meat goat.  

So much information Carla!! Thank you so much...

We've been trying to read and soak up as much as we can the last year or so, research on the internet is difficult because (,outside of Permies at least), there is massive amounts of conflicting information... That's part of why we fell in love with Permies, sooooo many genuine people have actual experience.

I think what Monika isn't including in her question is that our options over the next year or 2 or 3 with property size and financials could mean we either get this pigmy pair or we end up not getting any goats at all. Some homesteaders not too far from us are downsizing their animals so we'd be getting 2 young pigmy's for $275... and the way we are looking at "worst case scenario" (as in no food in grocery stores) we'd rather have two goats rather than "not two goats"...

I'm by no means saying I know anything about goats or what we're doing or that we're even going to move forward with the purchase (or that the goats are even healthy, haven't even gone to see them yet)

AAAAND... I do haver rather large hands as well, which makes me wonder if I'd even be able to milk them. So many thoughts!

Ahhh! Ok, that gives me more ideas! (I know - scary!)
In your shoes, I'd get them. Probably not so much for their milk, but for the many other possibilities they offer. First, they'll offer you experience - probably loads of it! You'll learn what works and what doesn't. You'll have the opportunity to learn husbandry - while filling your freezer (goat meat is an incredibly healthful and yummy meat), &/or selling off or bartering for dairy goats, and by the time you decide whether you definitely want to get those, you'll have already built your infrastructure to support them. There's also no reason you couldn't mix breeds, using a dairy goat as your main breeding doe/s (generally speaking, they need to be breed, annually, to keep them in milk). If you want year-round milk, 2 does well work better, so that they're bred alternately(another advantage to the Nigerian Dwarf or Nigora), so that one is pregnant, and the other is lactating. You could keep a pygmy buck for breeding purposes, and sell/trade/eat the kids. But, I'll warn you about that, too... selling/ trading them is hard, emotionally, if you tend to get attached. Eating them is even harder. You'll need to get your head fully wrapped around the concept of livestock vs pets, if you go this route, and learn how to be loving with them, (so they thrive) while still working to not get so attached, that you can't follow through, when it's time to decide their fate.

I don't have goats, although two neighbors have, however I'll back up Carla's comment about "pets" vs "farm animals". In the wild, the breeding male will chase off any male offspring, until an offspring comes along who's tough enough to chase Dad off. We often get a problem with old Cougars coming through our area because they lost their territory to a younger male. Unless you've got enough area to keep the males separate, with the occasional exception of brothers, you will get fighting which may hurt the animals themselves, but also innocent bystanders.

Two of my geese offspring this year got named Noel and Bunny - as in Christmas dinner and Easter dinner. That's one of the ways I cope with beautiful birds that just can't stay. Selling males is often difficult also. Yes, some people just want an animal for brush clearance and manure, but usually there are way too many males on the market. If you aren't going to want to eat the fruits of your labors, I'd find someone local who is willing to buy and process the animals before I raised them.

I understand the feelings involved with animals being food-- we have cute, sweet, adorable, delicious rabbits on our homestead, as well as a processing table and huge deep-freezer... My least favorite however, is when we had a skunk get into the chicken coop... there was no time to retrieve anything for the badly injured chickens and I ended up having to finish the deed barehanded.

As long as I feel it's humane I have zero problem with doing what I must to feed the family. I think anyone willing to eat meat should probably process it at some point, so the gratitude and reality of sustenance can be genuinely appreciated.

Chris Vee wrote:I understand the feelings involved with animals being food-- we have cute, sweet, adorable, delicious rabbits on our homestead, as well as a processing table and huge deep-freezer... My least favorite however, is when we had a skunk get into the chicken coop... there was no time to retrieve anything for the badly injured chickens and I ended up having to finish the deed barehanded.

As long as I feel it's humane I have zero problem with doing what I must to feed the family. I think anyone willing to eat meat should probably process it at some point, so the gratitude and reality of sustenance can be genuinely appreciated.

I'm 100% in agreement. But, I must also admit, I had more than my fill of dressing 'em out, growing up. I started hunting with my dad, at 3. By the time I was 16, I'd killed &/or dressed out everything from rabbit(both wild and domestic) and other small game & predators, and fish, to poultry, deer, and steer. If/when I do it, it is purely out of necessity, now. As in, dang-near emergency. In fact, if I bag anything now, including a deer, John dresses it.

We also used to name our critters by their end product, too deter attachment. Steer got names like chuck, and hamburger, for example.

I don’t know why but I actually really enjoy naming livestock after irrelevant foods. i.e.- a rooster named beefsteak; a duck named Brunch, or a rabbit named Bacon