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Pygmy milk goats

earthnut
16 years ago

I want to get a pygmy goat for milk and cheese, and as a pet. My question is, can you get a goat lactating without breeding? My hunch is no, but if it's a possibility, it'd be great as bucks aren't allowed here (I'm in the city), and I wouldn't have to find one for breeding. How do you find a buck for breeding? I've also heard that you can keep milking a pygmy for up to 2 years once it's started. What are people's experience with keeping a goat lactating? Thanks for answering the questions of a goat newbie!

Comments (4)

  • oberhasli1
    16 years ago

    Wow, brave soul, are you sure you really want to milk a pygmy goat? Have you ever tried this? It might be helpful to find someone with a milking pygmy doe and try it. I'm not trying to be flip but Pygmy teats are REALLY tiny. You also won't be getting much milk, I'm thinking cupfuls at best. Nigerian dwarf goats aren't much bigger than pygmys but are supposed to have bigger udders and are referred to as backyard milkers. You can't get a goat to lactate unless it has been bred. You can buy a goat already in milk that has kidded. Goats can be milked continuously for years if they are pretty heavy milkers to begin with. I milked one of my Oberhasli's continuously for 4 years, and got a gallon a day consistently. But, if a goat is a light milker, when they go into heat during their breeding season, their milk volume decreases and if it gets too low, they start to dry off in anticipation of breeding.

    To find a buck, you can look up the pygmy goat national registry to find one hopefully in your area. Usually the county extension office in your area can put you onto someone who has pygmy goats or maybe nigerians and a buck as well.

    I assume you want a pygmy because a dairy goat wouldn't be allowed in the city. You might want to check out Nigerians or see if anyone in you area has one you can see before you buy.

    Good Luck.

    Bonnie

  • littlecritterkeeper
    16 years ago

    Hi. I raise Nigerians and have one pygmy. We have not bred our pygmy yet but Her mom did not make enough milk for her and her sister. I personally don't think that a pygmy could have enough extra milk. You would need to buy kid milk replacer which could get expensive after a while. My Nigerians give from 2 to 5 letters each a day, which is more than enough. I would consider them if I were you. Generally a registered Nigerian doeling costs $200 to $275 but unregistered does and doelings are almost always priced at $75. Something cool about them is that they can have blue eyes. That usually costs extra thoughÂ.

    Good Luck,
    LittleCritterKeepr

  • nhsuzanne
    16 years ago

    I have Pygmy Goats but have never wanted to milk them. However, I did find this interesting article when I was doing research on the breed. I hope you find this helpful.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Milking Pygmy Goats

  • earthnut
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thanks for your replies! Any goat is allowed here as long as it is miniature. Thing is, I don't need much milk. the 1/2 gal / day at peak mentioned in Suzanne's article would be more than enough for us. It's only my husband and I, and we don't drink a lot of milk. I was actually concerned about having too much milk with other breeds, but I'll look more into Nigerians. I intend to use a lot of it for cheese, but since this is all very new to me, I was wanting to start as small as possible so I wouldn't get totally overwhelmed. Also, the smallness of the teats doesn't worry me much. I have very small hands - it's hard to find gloves that fit!

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