Ponker
Loving the herd life
I have five Nigerian Dairy does, a buck and a wether. My one doe in milk is a first freshener, she's giving about a cup of milk twice a day. The milk is rich and delicious. My girls are all different personalities. Moon is friendly and crawls into my lap to lay down, Amelia is flighty and does not like to be touched. Daisy, the old girl of the group at five years old, is friendly but standoffish, Bella is a definite pest! into everything and pushy. Dalilah is my friend, she likes rubs and scratches but isn't one to climb into my lap, thank heavens.
The boys, Houdini the buck is super friendly and runs over to see me and talks to me all the time. Sandy, the wether is also friendly and vocal.
I chose the Nigerians because they're small and have limited milk for our small family of two. These seven goats were purchased as a group. If I were to do it over again, I'd only purchase two goats, an endangered heritage breed goat that produces milk. Milking these small goats is difficult because distance between the stand and the teat is measures in inches. Then working with the small teats themselves can be frustrating. If you have large hands or a bad back, bending under these goats can be difficult. I'm going to modify my stand again to see if I can make milking more user friendly. At the moment, I milk standing over my goat's back as she stands on the milk stand. I reach around and milk her backwards. it is the most mutually comfortable position we've found.
I'm interested in the Golden Guernsey's as well. It's been on the edge of my brain to sell this Nigerian herd. I bought the best goats I could afford but the market for triple registered Nigerian Dairy Goats is thin here. I'd advise getting two and see if they're the goat for you. If you decide that they're not, you're not sunk in deep with a hefty monitary investment.
The boys, Houdini the buck is super friendly and runs over to see me and talks to me all the time. Sandy, the wether is also friendly and vocal.
I chose the Nigerians because they're small and have limited milk for our small family of two. These seven goats were purchased as a group. If I were to do it over again, I'd only purchase two goats, an endangered heritage breed goat that produces milk. Milking these small goats is difficult because distance between the stand and the teat is measures in inches. Then working with the small teats themselves can be frustrating. If you have large hands or a bad back, bending under these goats can be difficult. I'm going to modify my stand again to see if I can make milking more user friendly. At the moment, I milk standing over my goat's back as she stands on the milk stand. I reach around and milk her backwards. it is the most mutually comfortable position we've found.
I'm interested in the Golden Guernsey's as well. It's been on the edge of my brain to sell this Nigerian herd. I bought the best goats I could afford but the market for triple registered Nigerian Dairy Goats is thin here. I'd advise getting two and see if they're the goat for you. If you decide that they're not, you're not sunk in deep with a hefty monitary investment.
