Rural Gardening: Angora Goats From Rescue, 1 by DrDoolotz

DrDoolotz wrote:
The Nigerian dwarf goats are oh-so-cute also, and very cuddly. That is what Opal is. We have two female and one male Nigerian. They are gentle too, although I guess not all of them are - it depends how they were raised.

One thing to consider --if you want an intact male (necessary for the baby goat part!) then you will need to have 2 areas, because once the female is pregnant, and as she nears birth, you have to separate them. Sometimes the male will begin to mount her again when she is close to birthing, and that can be bad for the babies. Also, they sometimes are not nice to the baby goats. Plus, he would mate her again right after her giving birth, which is hard on her to be pregnant all the time. And, he could mate with the little babies as soon as they are mature, which is long before they should be bred (and you would not want to inbreed him to his own babies anyway). And on top of that, intact male goats stink, a lot, because they pee on themselves all the time. It is a habit of male goats to make them attractive to the females. And no, I cannot explain that!! I'm just glad I'm not a goat! So you would need a separate area for him for while she is pregnant and after she has the babies, and for the babies until they are 18 months old, so all around, it would be good to find out if there is a farm in your area that offers a stud service of a male of whatever species you might get. Usually it is $25 a week around here to have your female goat stay at the male goat's place. This is for a max of 3 weeks because that is their cycle length. Then you can take them home and have the babies later and not have the hassle of the intact male and needing a separate pasture and everything. Just my 2 cents!

Here is Opal, one of our Nigerians.