Do any of you have experience with Nigora goats?

I'm in the planning stages of homesteading solo, I'm a big dairy person and I prefer milk with a higher percentage of fat, which is why the Nigerian Dwarves appeal to me as a breed. At the same time, I really want cashmere goats, as along with rabbit angora it's a really great fiber that I can not only use for myself, but process and sell as a luxury good to help support myself. I can't maintain two separate goatherds, so the Nigora goats seem perfect as they're a cross between Angoras and Nigerian Dwarves. I plan to start with two nannies and one billygoat, and breed them as needed to maintain a milk supply, depending on my needs at the time that the kids are born, I might sell them, I might keep a male kid as a fiber-producing wether, I might keep a female for more milk, or I might keep them in anticipation of humanely processing them for meat.


I would just like to hear some anecdotes and experiences with this breed, a lot of what I've read about them is good, that they're small and produce lots of good milk like Nigerian Dwarves and high quality cashmere like Angoras, but I have also read that they're the worst of both worlds, that they produce a very small amount of milk like purebred Angoras, and their fiber is of low quality. Which is it?


Otherwise, I am considering sheep, for their milk, their wool and their but I prefer the personalities of goats, the fact that their diet is better for my location, and I've never tasted sheep's milk.

Cashmere is the fine combings of the goat's undercoat and all goats have it, but in varying quantities.  Angora goats if shorn produce mohair fibre.  Sorry I can't provide any data on the success of crossing Angora with Pygmies, place I worked once we used to do it but weren't milking so I just remember they were tubby little things with rather long hair!  An internet search for Pygora rather than Nigora might give you more info.

Just posted a thread to rehome some nigora bucks/wethers, and your thread popped up. I am fairly new, but here is my experience:
Despite having been around as a homestead animal for awhile, nigoras have not reached the 6 generations needed to be considered a stable breed. I suspect that will change soon, as the association has some determined serious breeders at present. What this means is that the breed is super variable, dependent on the parent lines and selection.  Not all Nigerians are champion milkers, and if the son of a “meh” milker is bred to an angora, you will get nigoras with low milk. On the other hand, if you buy from a breeder that can show you records of good milking, you will likely have does that give at least as much as a nigerian. Mini alpine breeds are allowed as foundation stock, and some breeders are using them to up production. I an to start separating the babies to milk mine soon, so I will have personal experience at that point.
For fiber: the important thing to know is that unlike wool and mohair, nigora fiber has guard hairs, like cashmere. Try and spin without dehairing, and you will have sucky yarn. Dehair, and you will have gorgeous cashmere.

Oh - one more thing: conventional wisdom says don’t keep a buck with does: they taint the milk with buck flavor, and you cannot control when the does are bred. If you follow the conventional wisdom, you will need separate enclosures, and a companion for the buck: either a second buck or a wether.

I am a member of the ANGBA (American Nigora Goat Breeders Association), and raise and breed Nigoras, and at my last estimation, there were roughly 100 of us actively working to build this breed to full recognition of the AGBA, across the USA. Our goal is to develop the breed to be as strong, hardy, and healthy as possible, keeping the bloodlines/genetics clean, while raising the quality of both the milk and fiber to exceptional standards. I'm in close contact with the board (in fact, I was invited to be on it, but had to decline, because of prior commitments, to be reevaluated, by the next 'changing of the guard'). When I began this odessy, it was simply to find a dual purpose fiber/dairy goat, with no intention of deeper involvement, but these amazing little goats won my heart.

I personally am not looking to add to my buck lines, at the moment, because I only just returned home on Sunday, with a new, and lovely addition. If you're seeking to get the most for your bucklings, their bloodlines (and the recording of them) are key, because that is where the breeders make their initial decisions. Try www.angba.org, for more info. If you aren't concerned about that, the next place to look would be at those who are mainly looking for the fiber, or to keep a doe (of pretty much any breed) in kids & milk. Geldings are typically easier to sell, because they're excellent companions for both bucks and does, offer the same lovely fiber, companionship (as pets), and brush-clearing, fertilizer making benefits, without the rut of bucks.