# Pygmy or ND?



## Mantis71 (Jan 18, 2015)

OK so ever so quick-witted me finally started noticing the differences between pygmies and niggies and was eyeballing my girls...   

My white girl (BettyLou) I bought as a ND with disclosure that she may have 1/5 or less pygmy in there.  Love her to pieces, she's awesome.  When I went to pick her up I noticed another doe that had been for sale but promised to someone else and I wanted her SOO bad! She was smaller and a little rounder with this tiny dishy face...::swoon::  I worked out a deal with the owner (now a friend lol) that she'd find me a young doe that fit the bill of what i was looking for.  

And she did!  I have little Edith now.  And she's tiny, and round and cobbier with a little dishy face and perky ears... and the black stripe down her back...  errr... I'm describing a pygmy aren't I....

Someone please take a peek and tell me I'm not crazy lol    Is this a pygmy girl?  She DID find me the doe I wanted... apparently she knew what I was looking for hahaha 

Here's Edie...  am I in love with pygmies????


----------



## Mantis71 (Jan 18, 2015)

I'm looking at a brown agouti pygmy aren't I...  lolol


----------



## Hens and Roos (Jan 18, 2015)

not sure but she is a cutie!


----------



## Mantis71 (Jan 18, 2015)

thanks Hens & Roos


----------



## SA Farm (Jan 18, 2015)

A picture from the side would help - stature has a lot to do with how to tell the difference


----------



## Southern by choice (Jan 18, 2015)

I would hope @frustratedearthmother  chimes in....  I don't know about Pygmy's  but she does! 

Edie is a pretty girl!


----------



## frustratedearthmother (Jan 18, 2015)

She's a cute girl!  I'd need to see a picture showing the leg markings to get a better idea.  She looks like she might be a dark caramel.  With that color pattern you would need to see black legs with a body colored stripe on the front of the cannon bone. 

Brown agouti's are kind of my specialty and I can say for certain that she is not brown agouti.  She would not have the multi-colored facial markings or the black stripe down her back. Those are more consistent with the caramel pattern.

Hey, I wouldn't blame you a bit for being in love with pygmies!   Good luck with her - she is precious!

The link below shows wonderful examples of accepted pygmy patterns.




http://www.npga-pygmy.com/resources/conformation/color_samples.asp


----------



## Southern by choice (Jan 18, 2015)

LOL I knew she'd know!


----------



## Southern by choice (Jan 18, 2015)

Just went to the site! How absolutely adorable. Gosh I am loving the look of the Pygmy!


----------



## Mantis71 (Jan 18, 2015)

well she most definitely does have a black stripe down her back lol I can tell you that.  Here's the only pic I could find of her from the side, and one of her tiny lil dishy face from the side. I'll try and take a better one tomorrow when it's not raining.  She looks a little more square and tubby in person.  She's going on 9 months old.


----------



## Mantis71 (Jan 18, 2015)

I notice she's got a much shorter and thicker neck than my ND, and a much shorter face. She does have the stripey thing going on with the legs...  lol 

What's your verdict Frustratedearthmother?  (btw I love that name haha)


----------



## Southern by choice (Jan 18, 2015)

My friend has Pygmy/Nigerian crosses... they are BLUE!
They are soooo pretty!
Wish I had a Blue goat!


----------



## Mantis71 (Jan 18, 2015)

blink blink    BLUE???  :::swooooon::::


----------



## frustratedearthmother (Jan 18, 2015)

Thanks Mantis - my husband inadvertently gave me this handle, lol.

No doubt Ms. Edie is a cutie-patooty!  The thing that gives me pause about her coloring is that in a caramel patterned pygmy the black leg markings should be on the back of her legs and the light color on the front.  Admittedly, I can't see the front of her legs very well but it looks like the color pattern on her legs is opposite of the pygmy pattern. 

She is small, she is cobby, she is short-necked and has that cute little dish face.  My guess:  high percentage pygmy - maybe not quite pure.  But no matter - she looks healthy and happy and if she brings a smile to your face who cares if she's pure?  

Now - I have GOT to see one of those blue goats!


----------



## Mantis71 (Jan 18, 2015)

thanks! that's kind of what I thought    (guess I better read up on pygmies now haha)

Do pygmies ever come out mismarked? (and not shown or faulted at show if they were registered?)

She most definitely brings a smile to my face


----------



## Mantis71 (Jan 18, 2015)

I second that!  we need blue goat pics!!!! lol


----------



## frustratedearthmother (Jan 18, 2015)

Mis-marks are definitely a possibility.  Usually in pygmies the mis-marks are extra white markings.  A pygmy is "allowed" to have a certain amount of white on the body.  Allowable white marks are in the form of a belly band, or partial belly band or white that is located between the shoulders and hips. 

White markings on the legs are frowned upon...but...I showed a doe to a Permanent Grand Champion status and she had a small amount of white on a front foot.  She was such a nice doe that the judges would let it pass.  Depending on the degree of extra white you might not even be allowed to register the goat.  If it is allowed to be registered and it's excessive it may be so much that you'd  never place with the goat. 

I have a very nice brown agouti doe that has a white back leg.  If I were still showing, I'd not bother taking her in the ring, but I will breed her to a buck with no white and I expect some nice kids from her.


----------



## Southern by choice (Jan 18, 2015)

frustratedearthmother said:


> White markings on the legs are frowned upon...but...I showed a doe to a Permanent Grand Champion status and she had a small amount of white on a front foot.  She was such a nice doe that the judges would let it pass.  Depending on the degree of extra white you might not even be allowed to register the goat.  If it is allowed to be registered and it's excessive it may be so much that you'd  never place with the goat.



As I was reading that I was thinking how in the dog show world that would be fixed by "Clairol"  Some people would do anything to win!


----------



## frustratedearthmother (Jan 18, 2015)

Oh yes - it goes on in goat shows too.  I knew one couple who would use black spray paint on a black goat with a white toe.  It does seem a bit unfair though...

I asked a judge about it once and she told me..."It's a competitors job to present their goat in the best way possible - and it's my job to catch 'em"!


----------



## Mantis71 (Jan 18, 2015)

She looks like a miniature reindeer to me  lol 

Can you register pygmy does as NOA? Would it be possible for me to do that and then breed her to a full registered buck (maybe all black?), getting 50% registered babies and start a papered herd from there?


----------



## frustratedearthmother (Jan 19, 2015)

Many years ago they had a 'hardship' clause to register pygmies.  I can't remember all the requirements...inspected by an NPGA approved inspector, they had to have kids that could also be inspected...maybe some other requirements too.  It's been too many years for my ol' brain to remember.  But, I think they shut that down sometime back so I'm pretty sure it's not an option anymore.


----------

