# how big is the smallest adult pygmy you've seen?



## minibarn (Jul 20, 2010)

i was at a hobby farm recently where i bought 2 nice young does. the lady was selling them because she wanted to breed smaller pygmies. she showed me 2 tiny little does that she claimed were 8-9 months old and they were about the size of my 3 month old. i commented 'they're dehorned' and she said 'oh,no. they have very small horns under the fur.' i didn't get a real close look then but later i wondered whether they're really as old as she says. is it safe to breed such tiny does? she's hoping to find a tiny buck. what's the smallest pygmies you've seen?


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

those tiny pygmies are what give the pygmy breed its bad reputation for hard kiddings and deaths during birth. I personally would never breed anything as tiny as you are saying. Especially if they arent growing horns normally that means they have some kind of stunted growth which inpregnanting a young stunted doe will only further complicate things and can lead to death of the mother and or kids. 

As to the smallest I have seen, well most pygmies I have seen are actually quite large to most standards but I would put the smallest at 18 inches at the withers. I had one who was 19 at the withers, cute stocky thing - she was 4 years old


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## SDK (Jun 26, 2008)

my sister had a purebred pygmy that was 16 inches at the withers.. of course when she bred her we lost the babies and she needed an emergency c-section.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

My buck Hank is not registered and he is 18"....Heidi is his daughter, her dam was a nigi/pygmy and Heidi is also 18".....Hank is 6 years and 7 months old and Heidi is 2 years and 9 months old. The smallest I have seen were at 15 inches, which I agree with Stacey, breeding for anything smaller than breed standards as far as NPGA goes is what causes problems with the breed and what also gives the breed a bad rep. I like seeing those stocky box like goats, as long as their build compliments their height.


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

From what you described, the main reason for being as small as they are is due to stunted growth, she probably has a horrible cocci problem with her herd. The smallest pygmy i've seen was 15 inches, and is strictly a pet.


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## minibarn (Jul 20, 2010)

she only had the 2 small goats and the 2 does i bought. they were penned separately, the small from the large. i think she had just recently bought the 2 small ones so they must have been stunted wherever they came from. the 2 i got seem very healthy so far. :thumb:


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