Blue Eyes & Polled Genetics. Blue eyes are found most commonly in Nigerian Dwarfs or Nigerian Dwarf crosses. Blue eyes are dominant in goats, so if one parent has blue eyes, then there is a good chance that he can produce blue-eyed babies.
Unlike cattle and sheep, where you can find entire breeds of polled animals, there are no polled breeds of goats. In fact, there are no polled herds of goats. However, as more new people get involved in goat breeding, and they hate the idea of disbudding, polled goats are becoming popular once again.
This is an anatomical condition in which both male and female reproductive organs are present and which renders an animal sterile. So, some animals that were naturally polled were not registered as being polled, and polled animals were disbudded to disguise the fact that they were naturally hornless.
Disbudding is the term used when the “buds” or tiny “horns” are removed. Dehorning is a term used typically for when horns are removed from older goats, but essentially, when you disbud your goat, you are preventing their horns from growing.
A goat that is born naturally hornless is called polled. There is no disbudding or dehorning required for these goats. In place of the horns, there are two rounded bumps or nubs that you can see and feel.
Male goats can breed as young as 7 weeks old. This doesn't mean that they should be bred, but it's definitely possible for him to get his sister and mother pregnant, so it's important to remove bucks from females at 7 weeks old! Male goats (called bucks) can breed pretty much any time.
A sheep–goat hybrid (called a geep in popular media or sometimes a shoat) is the offspring of a sheep and a goat. While sheep and goats seem similar and can be mated, they belong to different genera in the subfamily Caprinae of the family Bovidae. The offspring of a sheep-goat pairing is generally stillborn.
With cautery disbudding, a hot cautery iron (which is somewhat like a very hot curling iron) burns the flesh and the bud cells below the skin. The procedure is carried out on kids usually between three to seven days old and often without any pain relief.
The average gestation period is 151 ±3 days. It is better to breed the female once a year. Some goats can be made to kid twice in 18 months. The goats reach their maximum efficiency at the age of five to seven years.
No you can't disbud him like you would a younger kid. Your options now are to just keep the horns cut back as they grow, or go to the vet and have them cut them out.
Disbudding is less common on meat and fibre goat operations, but meat and fibre goat producers who disbud should follow these same guidelines. At three weeks of age, the developing horn tissue begins to attach to the skull of the goat and a small nub of horn can be seen and felt.
The Nigerian Dwarf is the only dairy breed known to occasionally have blue eyes. Both brown & blue eyed animals are encountered with no preference being given to either eye color. Any pattern, color, or combination of colors is acceptable. Mature Nigerian Dwarf does should be no more than 22 1/2” tall at the withers.
The horn of the goat, however, is entirely different, an extremely sensitive tissue composed of hair, blood vessels and nerves. Anyone who has accidentally driven a splinter under his nail can attest to the pain . . . and that sensation would be multiplied many times in the severing of a mature goat's horn tissue.
Wether goats are also ideal for petting farms, make great family pets, and are excellent additions to any community outreach programs. There are many 4-H projects involving wether goats, including some that teach participants how to train a goat for the show ring and how to train a wether goat as a pack animal.
They also breed easily so if you have enough room you can quickly produce new litters to sell. It's important to note that Nigerian Dwarf goats do need to be milked daily, but with just a bit of work, you can quickly produce rich milk that can be consumed either on its own or in the form of other milk products.
As with all goats, Nigerian Dwarf goats do not require much in the way of care. They can thrive with simple housing, fresh water, and a balanced goat feed. Providing them with plenty of room to graze on good grass and brush also makes for a better herd.
As with all goats, the most important feature of their diet should be free choice good quality hay or forage. However, they don't need the higher protein or calcium levels found in alfalfa or legume hay so should be fed quality grass hay instead.
Occasionally, however, this does not get done, for a variety of reasons. When goats are not disbudded as kids, they usually are de- horned at a later age. Dehorning adult goats should not be performed during fly season unless absolutely necessary because miasis may be a problem.
Protection from PredatorsA goat with horns has a way to protect themselves. Granted, a goat doesn't have much of a chance if it's up against a mountain lion or coyote, horns or no horns. But the horns would give them a chance to fight back. We rely on a livestock dog to help protect our goats.
Polled is dominant, so all you need is one Polled gene for the kid to be Polled. My guess is your goats are both heterozygous polled, so it is quite possible when bred together they wouldn't produce a homozygously polled "female." The homozygous polled males are fine and fertile (though some question just how fertile).
Total milk per day is one quart or 7 gallons a month. If your doe is pregnant, then her milk will continue to dry up and at 10 months you should stop milking. If your doe is not pregnant, she may continue to produce milk for up to 2 years.
Setting Fence HeightA 4- to 5-foot (1.2–1.5 m) fence is satisfactory for most goats. A 3-foot (0.9 m) fence is usually tall enough to contain adult Nigerian Dwarf or miniature goats.
They can, many times, be the same height and weight, but pygmy goats tend to be stockier, and have shorter legs. Pygmy goat's genetics are designed for meat production, so they tend to have a much thicker build in general. Nigerian Dwarf goats have a more slender neck, and thinner, longer legs.
Goats display their dominance by lowering the head and pointing their horns at the subordinate animal. Goats groom themselves by scratching the neck and head with the rear feet, and by licking other parts of their body. They are sociable animals and also like to be petted by humans.
Nigerian Dwarf goats are adaptable to a variety of weather conditions and are a low-maintenance animal. Known to be sociable and friendly, their small size makes them easier to care for than larger goat breeds, because they require less space and less feed.
Sometimes when they're excited about food (or for the girls, in heat) their tail will wag like a puppy's. If they rub their head on you or push their head on you, they're challenging your authority (don't push back or encourage it, pinch their ear and pull them away from you to show them that's not a good thing).
Tips on Potty Training in the Barn:1) Follow your baby goat around often for a week or so. Say, “Go potty” when they potty outside on their own. 3) Pick up the baby goat, put him or her in the box and say “Go potty.” Pumpkin and Cookie did it the first time, which we have on video! And they go to their box regularly.
Ours are pretty vocal (loud), but they're friendly and easy to keep. If your zoning will allow it, and your neighbors are cool, give it a try. They're sweet animals. You might deal with your neighbors to rake their lawn clippings for forage for the goat.
Goats of this breed usually have a butcher weight of approximately 25 to 40 pounds. Male Nigerian dwarf goats are about two feet tall, on average.
