Nigerian or Pygmy???

[Ardizzone7]

hi everyone! I'm new to goats and bought a small herd of 5. Doe, Buck and 3 kids. (2 wethers and 1 dueling). I was told they were Pygmy but knew the Buck was Nigerian. However I am unsure about the doe. What do you think? Any guesses? She is pregnant now but looked more thin and angular when we got her.

 

[Ardizzone7]

Here she is.

 

[luvmypets]

I say pygmy. What a cutie!

 

[NH homesteader]

@frustratedearthmother

This is the second Nigie or Pygmy post today. We should play guess the breed, haha.

I'm leaning Pygmy or cross myself, but I can't get the pictures to get bigger and I'm on a cell phone... So I'm not very helpful!

What interesting colors though!

 

[Ardizzone7]

I know. Most of her coat looks Pygmy but her white face is throwing me off. Also her face is longer than a Pygmy. The lady I got them from wasn't any help. When I started saying different goat terms she gave me a blank look lol. I fell in love with them so I bought them anyway. The reason I need to know is that we were thinking of showing the kids in 4H. If she is Pygmy then we have to show them as a meat type goat.

 

[Ardizzone7]

Also she has long hairs down by her hocks on her back legs. Is this breed specific or possibly gender specific? Only my doe and doling have it. The boys do not.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Gotta admit that I've NEVER seen a pygmy with facial markings like that, and I've seen thousands of pygmy goats! White markings on the face are acceptable, and frosting around the nose and ears are required on an agouti animal. BUT, the amount of white she has on her face would be considered a serious mis-mark. The white on the foot is also a mis-mark, but I showed goats with a little white on the toes.

The longer hair on the legs isn't unusual. Some of the does even grow a light beard.

So, does the excessive white marking come from a different breed in her background or simply a genetic hiccup? Who knows..... but that doe looks pygmy to me.

 

[Ardizzone7]

Thank you very much! Well I guess I have a Pygmy then With Nigerian Pygmy cross babies

 

[Ardizzone7]

Gotta admit that I've NEVER seen a pygmy with facial markings like that, and I've seen thousands of pygmy goats! White markings on the face are acceptable, and frosting around the nose and ears are required on an agouti animal. BUT, the amount of white she has on her face would be considered a serious mis-mark. The white on the foot is also a mis-mark, but I showed goats with a little white on the toes.

The longer hair on the legs isn't unusual. Some of the does even grow a light beard.

So, does the excessive white marking come from a different breed in her background or simply a genetic hiccup? Who knows..... but that doe looks pygmy to me.

I have a question, if she truly is Pygmy and we breed her to a Pygmy buck, how likely will the color be off with her kids?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

If I could answer that question I'd be rich! But, breeding her to a properly marked pygmy buck (from a long line of properly marked pygmy goats) "should" give you a higher likelihood that the kids would be correctly marked. I just can't tell you how likely it would be. I've bred properly marked pygmy to properly marked pygmy and would still occasionally get that touch of white where it wasn't supposed to be.

By the way, I failed to mention before that, except for the mismarks, she's a pretty good looking doe!