Newbie here! I need help find a reputable breeder!

[Lovemygoaties]

Hi everyone! I'm a newbie here and am loving all the great advice from experienced people!! We currently have dogs, cats, hens, and our amazing rooster Bandit! However, I am really excited to start a small goat herd with nigerian dwarf goats. My mother-in-law has COPD and can't drink store bought milk. I'm hoping to be able to get enough milk from the goaties to supply our four growing boys plus my mom and dad. I was told I need to be sure to get quality goats if I'm going to milk them but I'm having trouble finding a breeder of the Nigerian Dwarf Goats in Missouri. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

 

[Latestarter]

First off, greetings and welcome to BYH! Glad you joined up. Your first stop should probably be the various goat societies for their member listings.
https://adga.org/ http://www.americangoatsociety.com/ http://www.andda.org/

I just did a quick Googel search for Nigerian Dwarf Goats Missouri and came up with quite a few different breeder sites. Now is actually a good time to start looking for goats as it's kidding season for most and you may be able to buy a goat "in milk" and not have to wait through gestation and kidding for a milk goat (like till next year). You may be able to buy mom/kid pairs as well. The kid will need some of mom's milk but you can collect the rest. Just so you know, I don't know how many goats you're thinking of getting but a Nigie only typically produces about a quart to 1/2 gallon a day... Some really "milky" Nigies might get to almost a gallon (with 4+ milkings per day), but they are really small goats! So to feed Mom/dad-in-law and yourself/spouse as well as 4 growing boys, you'll need more than 1 or 2 goats in milk and it takes time to milk them as well.

Have you looked at/considered perhaps minis instead? They are a cross between a full sized goat and a Nigie so fall somewhere in the middle size wise, but have the milk advantages of the full sized goat (more than a Nigie) with the better economy (lower feed costs) of the Nigie.

For your first go-round with goats, you could look at Craigs List as well and see if anyone has Nigies or milk goats advertised. At least it would get you started. Anyway, Browse through the threads and make yourself at home! Good luck with your shopping and I hope you'll share some pics when you get your girls!

 

[animalmom]

If you are a member of ADGA you can search the membership by state. If you are not a member that's ok. If you would give us an idea of where you are looking that would be helpful (like St. Louis area, Kansas City area or something like that). There are 123 ADGA members in Missouri and that's a tad much for me to post here.

If you want to see member with websites that would shorten the list a bit, and please keep in mind that I can not vouch for any member.

You can also try "googling", or what ever you use to query the internet, "Nigerian Dwarf Goats Missouri" and see what pops us.

Personally, I would be apprehensive with anything on your local Craig's list... just me but the local one here has lots of goats... but you have to ask a lot of questions to get answers you understand and I think going with a good breeder is the better route. Ask if the dams and sires are tested for CAE, and CL. You want to buy from a clean herd.

However you find your goaties I know you are going to enjoy them! I have Nigerians and I am very partial.

@Latestarter also has given you some good advise.

Don't feel that you HAVE TO buy from someone you are talking to. If you are getting evasive answers then walk away, quickly. Keep asking questions until you understand what you are being told. A good breeder will take the time to make sure you understand. A good breeder wants you to be successful... and happy. A happy owner has happy goats and happy goats in milk will milk better.

Keep asking us questions! We all started out buying our first stock at some point in time. You don't have to buy registered, you do need to buy healthy.

Good luck. We love, love, love new folks as much as we love seeing pictures.

 

[NH homesteader]

Yes LS minis are awesome!

I second, don't buy from Craigslist. Ihave had nothing but issues with the animals I've found there and have learned my lesson, that it's better to spend more $ up front buying from a breeder!

 

[Mini Horses]

Welcome from VA.

Health & handling of your goats is very important. As to CL, while you must be cautious, there are some listings which have great animals!!! Our concern with YOU for CL is that you are new to goats and may not recognize what others might see as a red flag in the add or at the farm, etc. BUT same applies to some of the "listed breeders" in the registry....it's good to have a newbie ask first. It would be even better if you had a mentor to go with you.

As to milk...why did you want NDs? Some of the full sized goats easily give 1 gal plus a day, you'd only need two. Everyone has a preference -- it's all good -- size, looks, animal butterfat in milk, ease of milking, etc.

 

[Lovemygoaties]

Thanks everyone for all the helpful answers!! I live near the st louis area so am looking in that area. I was looking at the Nigerians simply because my I have 4 boys ranging from 7-12 and I wanted them to get to help with the milking. I also thought as a newbie to goats, it might be easier for me to handle getting started if they were a little smaller. We live on 20 acres but the area we are fencing for the goats isn't huge.

 

[animalmom]

Here's what I pulled off the ADGA website for your general area. I can not vouch for these farms as I do not know any of these folks, but it might help your search. You certainly can say you got the information from another ADGA member should you be asked. These are all Nigerian Dwarf folks. If you want any other breed you can let me know.

BUSCH, LORI LIL BIT O'CHARM FARM (314) 799-4635 http://www.lilbitocharmfarm.com lbcfarm@yahoo.com
13724 STATE RD TT
FESTUS MO 63028

HARLOW, DENISE 7097 FRENCH VILLAGE RD (314) 221-9664 http://www.harlowfarms.weebly.com dmharl@yahoo.com
FESTUS MO 63028

M & A FARMS C/O CHRIS STEFFENS hobbyfarmer72@hotmail.com
2783 HUSKEY RD
FESTUS MO 63028

OWEN, JOELLA 12719 PETER MOORE LN (636) 448-5965 http://owenacresgoatsandthings.com owenjoella@yahoo.com
DE SOTO MO 63020

SCHUTTE, LOU ANNE 11933 HILLSBORO VICTORIA ROAD (636) 208-6173 http://www.busybrowsers.com louanneskhemo@aol.com
DE SOTO MO 63020

WILLIAMS, KAREN, TOM, LOGAN & ALLYSUN 6770 HWY YY (314) 402-4511 ch4mpion2002@gmail.com
WASHINGTON MO 63090

LAWSON, HOLLY M 3415 HWY Y (314) 974-2696 rt_laws@hotmail.com
VALLES MINES MO 63087 USA

ROE, JOHNNIE M REAU DEAU DAIRY (770) 402-6189 http://www.reaudeau.org jroe1966@gmail.com
8383 HWY FF
GRUBVILLE MO 63041 USA

WHITE, STEVE & JOY 274 STROTHMANN HILLS LN (314) 708-0500 scubajoy@charter.net
ROBERTSVILLE MO 63072 USA


Hope your search is successful. Please let all of us know how the quest is going, and of course pictures, please and thank you!

 

[Prairie Fleur]

Where in Missouri are you located? I'm from southwest Ks and ended up getting my first Nigerians from the Colorado Springs area.
Since then I've made the 6 hr trip down to Dills a Little Goat Farm in Oklahoma twice for a new herdsire and a new doe. My current herdsire and my new one are both from there. I can't say enough good things about Ellen Dorsey and her animals. Healthy, high production, resistant to parasites and disease her animals are a living gold mine. Several of her does have made the top 10 in ADGA milk producers. Can't thing of the formal name for that at the moment.
Another breeder who had excellent stock from Ks is Alicia Bigelow of Nu-Flower Nigerians and Nubians from Wichita Ks. She works with Dills lines like I do. She's also my mentor in all things goat related. Beautiful outstanding animals there as well. Prices from her are usually lower than Ellens just because the Dills name isn't on the offspring any more.
I realize these aren't in Missouri but I had a hard time finding a breeding in Ks as well. These two I know personally and know them to be honest and very particular about the quality of their animals.
Also I agree with some of the other posters who mentioned mini goats rather than NDs. I focus on breeding quality Nigerians but my very favorite doe to milk is a mini Nubian that I got from Alicia. Her sire is Dills GA Pandemic and her dam was a Nubian doe (can't remember the name), outstanding milking lines top and bottom. She's milking an estimated 3/4 gal a day as a second freshener, huge milkable teats and a beautifully attached udder. She's MUCH easier to hand milk than the Nigerians because of the larger teats AND her production is outstanding. She's only slightly bigger than my Nigerian Dwarfs, and not even half the size of my yearling Nubian doe.
I'm attaching a few udder pics to demonstrate what I'm talking about. Most of my Nigis teats are a little over an inch long tops. My mini Nubians are over double that and much easier to grasp.

 

[Barbara Crouse]

I have mini nubians and I love them. Still milking them after 14 months of last kidding, not a lot of milk, but they are only grained once daily. Get about 3 quarts a week. See them on my facebook page Barbara Crouse. I am able to do all the upkeep on them myself. Good Luck.

 

[Alaskan]

My boys do most of the animal chores, my youngest is 8 and a great milker.

However, even the 8 year old HATES tiny teats!!!

We got rid of a full sized Nubian because her teats, though nice, were not as big as the kids like.

Our full sized Saanen, and Nubian that we now have are MUCH easier to keep contained than our Saanen x Nigerian Dwarf (Mozzy).

Mozzy can easily jump a 5 foot fence. The full size girls are easily held back by a three foot fence. GIANT difference.

Our full Saanen, Feta, is a sweet girl, excellent personality, just big enough teats, but her udder has a small capacity. If we milk her 3 times a day, we get over a gallon, but she just can't hold enough milk. She is NOT from fancy milk lines.

Our Mozzy is from fancy milk lines, and even as a maiden, you can tell that she has great potential. Her back legs are wide set, so I have hopes that she will grow a giant udder.

Uh....I am rambling....

So to wrap up.....

They all cost the same to feed, so pick a recently tested disease free EXCELLENT milk line goat, with a well attached udder and easy to milk teats. If you are buying a doeling look at her mom's udder.

My kids find our mini cross extremely cute, but they also love our full size girl. For my kids it is mostly the goat's personality.

Even though Feta has small capacity, she had her kids with zero problems, she has an excellent temperament, she stands to milk WITH ZERO WIGGLING EVEN WHEN NOT FED (that tight there us as rare as gold), and the kids like her.

I also need to repeat the fencing issue....I am not sure I am ever going to manage to keep Mozzy contained...luckily she never runs off since the 2 big girls can't follow. Giant problem.