# Is our ND too small to breed?



## LuvMyNigies (Sep 14, 2013)

We have an adorable Nigerian Dwarf that is 15 months old. She is fat as a little piggy and healthy, but she seems extra small in stature (at least in comparison to our other Nigerians and others we've seen). We were thinking about breeding her for spring kids, but were a little concerned because of her size. She is only about 30 lbs., 15" from the ground to her shoulders, 30" from her tail to her head. Does any one know if it sounds like she is too small to breed or is that okay for a Dwarf goat? Thanks for any input you can give.


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## LuvMyNigies (Sep 14, 2013)

PS That is her in our avatar picture when she was just a few months old. Here is one from when she was three months old and another picture of her (the second one) from yesterday (it's dark now so I can't get any more recent pics till tomorrow.) She is absolutely the sweetest goat and loves to snuggle like a little puppy!


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## nigies4ever (Sep 19, 2012)

...


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## ciwheeles (Apr 5, 2013)

Nope, that is too small or at least for ND's it is. The minimum weight should be at least 40. I'm not sure how big Pygmies get, but 30lbs is awful small for a 15 month old ND.. My yearlings from last Oct. are 50-55lbs  I would try to see if you can't at least just try to work her up to 10 more pounds. Maybe run a fecal and add some fattening stuff to her diet. Like alfalfa.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Definitely too small.


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## Zzpygmies (Oct 31, 2014)

Can you take a picture of her next to another of your does for a size comparison? Also how did you get her weight ? Cause her recent picture looks like some of my 45# does. How much did her mom weigh? 


The problem with breeding small does, is that you tend to have singles ( not always) but this is what I have found in my herd... And singles tend to be bigger than twins, so the kiddings tend to be more difficult. And with a small doe, this can be scary..


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

I agree with ZZ....she looks bigger than what you think in that last pic. When was the last time you measured and weighed? Her age says she should be big enough to breed, but if you're right on the weight....she's not. I don't weigh mine but look at them compared to my adult ND that are a good size. A pic of her next to one of yours might help.


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## 8566 (Jul 18, 2012)

I do not go by weight at all but by height, width and condition of doe. I have it in the back of my mind that I'd rather have the doe spend her energy growing herself vs kids.

There are some lines that are slow to mature and with those girls I don't breed them till they are two and they typically kid when they are 2.5 years old. I find no rush in developing a show goat if the conformation is there. However, at the same time I cull does who are < 19" at 3+ years of age due to udder capacity and udder depth concerns..

So on your doe, personally I would wait. I don't think you mentioned minerals. If not already, determine if you need to give some sel/e/copper and worming. And a fat goat is not a healthy goat. I do have mine carry more weight in the winter months but come spring everyone trims up.

HTH,

(almost forgot - the smallest doe I have kidded out was 17.5" tall. She did great because she was a wide doe and had good hip to pin length)


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## LuvMyNigies (Sep 14, 2013)

Thanks for all the tips. She is good on worming and has had access to the mineral block, but we're going to beef up those other nutrients to see if that helps and try to get her ready to breed next spring. Also, the lady that we bought her from said that she was a Nigerian Dwarf, but we've had several people tell us she looks like a pygmy and we've seen picture on here of pygmies that look just like her. If she had some pygmy in her would that change the size issue? or is it the same for Pygmies as for Nigerian Dwarfs? Thanks again.


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## Zzpygmies (Oct 31, 2014)

Your girl looks like a healthy weight in her picture. I would check her pelvic capacity, see if she can pass kids easily. 

I have a lot of small does that kid no problems, and I've culled large does that have lots of problems. With these small breeds I think it's more about ability to carry and kid VS weight and height

but if your worried about it, then wait. There is no sense in rushing it. Worse thing you can do is second guess yourself and end up with a c-section or dead doe. If you don't think she's ready them wait.

Good luck


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

LuvMyNigies said:


> Also, the lady that we bought her from said that she was a Nigerian Dwarf, but we've had several people tell us she looks like a pygmy and we've seen picture on here of pygmies that look just like her. If she had some pygmy in her would that change the size issue? or is it the same for Pygmies as for Nigerian Dwarfs? Thanks again.


Unless you have papers, she is most likely a mix. It's amazing how many mixes of these two are out there. From what I can find, the pygmy and ND are really about the same size. I had read (somewhere....) that pygmies were bigger, but both breed standards have them about the same.

LilBleats, breed standards say that the "ideal" height for does is 17" to 19"....so why would you cull under 19"? Just curious. I think all mine are from 19 to 21 inches so mine are over that height, but was wondering...


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

I was initially going to ask if your sure she is nd or could she be pygmy cause her build looks more pygmy than nd to me. I am no expert of course but based of pics of pygmies and what my nd's look like, I think she looks pygmy


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