Hi,
We moved here to a 50 acre farm in Upstate New York, near Herkimer, about 2 years ago. Our daughter is starting a small scale breeding facility raising Quarter horses and part-Arabian horses for the sport of Reining. My family gave me a book on raising goats for Christmas that first year, and while I never thought that I even liked goats, I became intrigued by them and I ended up getting a doe and a wether as pets last year. I love those goats - even though they are naughty sometimes, or maybe because of it. This year I'm in the process of having a small animal barn built to house my little goats as well as a closed off room in it for some future pet chickens.
I already bought a new doeling from a nearby farm and will be bringing her home as soon as the barn is done and I can separate her from the older grown-ups for awile. I think that would be the best thing to do. The new little baby doe is apparently only registered as a Nigerian Dwarf - not as a dairy goat, although her father is registered that way. I'm choosing her for her personality and looks because first and foremost she will be a pet - they do have dairy registered doelings for sale there as well. Her mother is an excellent milk producer and her father is from a good line of milkers, and I'm hoping I might breed her some day for milk. Is there any way to register her with the dairy goat associations? I suspect not from my research, but I thought I would ask.
This is a great group. I'm in the process of learning how to use it.
Replies
Thanks, Deborah! I'm so glad to know this. :)
Wow, thank you so much for that reply! That's very informative and interesting. I thought that it had something to do with too many Nigerian Dwarf/Pygmy mixes. The doe that I have currently is about 20 inches tall, and she looks tiny to me. She is registered with one of the dairy associations, I forget which one right now. I worried about breeding her because of that even though I know that she is of a perfectly acceptable size. I just haven't gotten to the point of being comfortable with breeding yet.
It makes sense that the NDGA would be looked at as a pet registry. I imagine there are a lot of Nigerian Dwarf pets out there. The ones that I have are wonderful and well-loved pets, and may not ever be anything else.
I don't expect it ever to become more lenient. AGS and NDGA used to have reciprocal registration, but AGS stopped doing it probably about 8-10 years ago. ADGA only started registering NDs about 7-8 years ago, and they said from the beginning that they would only register NDs that were currently registered with AGS. NDGA has different breed standards, so it's not that odd that other registries won't accept their goats for registration. Their height standards are 1.5 inch lower for does and .5 inch lower for bucks than the other registries, and on their website they say that 17-19 inches is preferred height for does, which is really not a good idea for dairy goats. IMO, it's nuts. I would never breed for does that small because they are not practical as milkers, and most does that size are not great producers. I have only ever owned one doe that was 19 inches, and I didn't really like milking her. I can't imagine milking a shorter doe.
Aside from the official differences between the registries, a lot of people view NDGA as a pet registry. They were started by people who felt that the AGS height standard was too tall.
It's a funny rule. I imagine that some day it will change. At any rate, I won't be showing, but I thought it would be easier to sell offspring if I decided to breed.
Patty Meyer said:
Wow! I learn something new every day. I wonder, why is that??
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
Welcome to the group, Sue!
Goats that are registered with NDGA cannot be registered with ADGA or AGS. Goats registered with either AGS or ADGA can be registered with all three registries.
Yes, at least her mother is registered through the Nigerian Dwarf Goat Association, and her father is registered with the American Dairy Goat Association. According to information that we have already found and what the owner of the baby's mother found, she cannot be registered with the American Dairy Goat Association. I will follow your advice and try calling.
Sorry, did I just reply to you instead of the group? I'm learning.
Patty Meyer said:
Are you saying she's registered through the Nigerian Dwarf Goat Association? I would think that if that's the case she can be registered through AGS or ADGA. I know that AGS registered goats can be ADGA registered, and vice versa. You could always call ADGA and find out how it's done. They are great for answering questions from confused beginners. I have personal experience with that. :)