Two or three years ago, I came across a web page discussing the importance of only breeding full-blood Nigerian Dwarf bucks to Nigerian Dwarf does.
It explained the difference in skull sizes between Nigerian Dwarf and Pygmy kids and the more delicate bone structure of Nigerian Dwarf does. It discussed why it was important to not use Pygmy bucks or to use mixes to breed to the finer-boned Nigerian Dwarf does.
They had illustrations of each which really drove home the point of the importance of taking care. I'm very concerned because there are some folks on some of the forums saying to breed Pygmy bucks to ND does and ignore what I have relayed about the kid's skull size - not the goat size - being the potential issue.
I really want to find the page again and have not been able to. So if anyone has seen it or was smart enough to save it (I read it when my husband was ill and didn't think to bookmark it), I would really appreciate getting it.
Thank you.
You need to be a member of Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats to add comments!
Replies
I have not seen that. If you do find it, be sure to share it here. I was told by a former pygmy breeder that it was the broad shoulders that caused so many c-sections in pygmies. Even when pygmies are bred to each other, they have a very high rate of c-sections. My mentor had raised goats for 25 years and quit raising pygmies because of all the birthing challenges. And many years ago I had a vet who had raised pygmies and quit because he got tired of doing so many c-sections. And these are just two examples.