Australian Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goat Breeders

28/03/2024

Unfortunately it’s very accurate lol.

27/03/2024

Very useful illustrations to help with understanding different birthing presentations and intervention required.

By request - here is a full album of the goat birth presentation images. These pictures will help you visualize what you may be feeling in a birth malpresentation. We do not use a snare when assisting.These illustrations originally appeared in Dairy Goat Journal - now Goat Journal - in an article by Linda Carlson. Please do not share these images without crediting the source.The article is here:
https://countrysidenetwork.com/topics/livestock-topics/goats-livestock-topics/what-to-do-in-a-kidding-emergency/?utm_source=LTWG&utm_medium=FB&utm_campaign=Apr2019

These are available in Printable Goat Note format to online subscribers of Goat Journal magazine.

06/02/2024

Elephant ear and Taro plants are poisonous for goats and can cause both acute and chronic poisoning due to high oxalate levels. These can bind calcium supplies in the goat's body.

30/01/2024

For those interested in assessing and monitoring their goats milk production below are the results of a recent milk production test undertaken at Dandalee Park. It’s called a 24 hour test and basically measures individual does production over 24 hours. A monitor is used to identify each goat, measure and take samples and authenticate the process. Samples are sent away for independent analysis. If does achieve above predetermined benchmarks of quantity and milk quality they can apply for milk awards through DGSA. These awards are permanent and linked to their registrations. Subsequent generations can build on to the awards of their direct parentage. Historical milk records are a valuable tool to assist guiding future breeding programs as well as providing real production data to promote your goats. Below is a table showing Dandalee Park does and their respective achievements and awards in our November 2023 test. I hope you find it informative and strongly encourage you to consider participating in this scheme. Additional information is available from you State’s Herd Recording Officers.

25/01/2024

An oldie but a goodie!!! SD First Fleet Felix EX92, still looking good at 7 1/2 yrs of age. Arguably Australia’s most successful Nigerian Dwarf sire to date. He achieve the first very prestigious DGSA Sire of Distinction (SD) for his breed requiring over 8 daughters to achieve their respective individual *Q* one day milk production awards. It’s estimated he has around 20 awarded daughters to date. He also sired countless show champion sons and daughters across Australia as well as achieving Excellent 92 himself in Classification. Dandalee Park are very grateful to own this remarkable boy and benefit from the his legacy. We firmly believe very careful, calculated, well researched sire selection is critical to the breeds development in Australia. We see too many bucks kept entire without the quality and proven performance of their mothers, and other close female relatives that warrant their use as future sires. With so many Nigerians now being bred we strongly encourage other breeders to “shop around” , look for proven superior dairy attributes when selecting Nigerians to join their respective herds. This is the only way the breed can improve and progress in future. Happy Nigerian breeding for 2024.

12/01/2024

Currently Nigerian Dwarfs can be registered with a number of breed societies. Dandalee Park register with the Dairy Goat Society of Australia (DGSA) which uses an upgrading Appendix system for all breeds including Nigerians. Other Miniature societies use different systems based on percentage of Nigerian breeding. This percentage system assumes 100% for Nigerians imported to Australia as embryos as well as semen from USA Nigerian bucks. Non Nigerian does are 0% and offspring the average of the parents percentages. Some goats are dual registered and /or transferred from a breeder in one society to a buyer in another.

The table attached shows how the DGSA Appendix system interprets percentage based registrations.

Also the DGSA gives each goat registered with it a unique Registration Number. This number contains a lot of useful information including breed, gender, appendix, polled/disbudde or horned. I’ve included a useful extract from DGSA Herd book explaining how to interpret this information from the a goat’s registration number.

I hope you find the attached information useful.

11/01/2024

Another very hot day here at Dandalee Park. Weaned some of this seasons Nigerian doe kids off bottles. Needless to say they aren’t very happy about it.

30/11/2023

One very useful tool available to dairy goat breeders is classification (aka Linear appraisal). It is an independent assessment service provided by Holstein Australia. It scores individual does in milk and bucks (over 12 months of age) against predetermined standards. It also identifies herd weaknesses and strengths. We had our milkers and bucks classified yesterday. We are very proud of the progress we have made in improving our herd as represented in the scores achieved.

The system has four categories each scored seperately - rump, mammary system, feet & legs and dairy strength plus awards an overall score (all out of 100). Above 90 is classed as excellent and we are thrilled to have 6 goats achieve this yesterday.

Within the categories many of our young herd achieved very promising results including Glimmer achieving the very high score of 93 for mammary, Lyndee 92 and verity 91.

I’d encourage other breeders to seriously consider Classification in the future. Below are the overall results. I hope you find them of interest.

28/11/2023

Had the opportunity to measure all my Nigerians for height. Thought it would be useful to have this information on hand. It can then be taken into account - along with many other tools such as pedigree, conformation weaknesses, herd recording performance etc - to help guide future mating decisions. Whilst being over (or under height) are only classified as faults in DGSA breed standard as we are aiming for perfection we need to monitor and address where it’s an issue. Hope you find this information useful.

16/02/2023

Buck Selection

One of the most important decision in a Nigerian Dwarf (or any) breeding program is what Buck to use over your does. Often this will involve a significant financial commitment and will determine the future success of your breeding program. As a breeder for over 40 years I have a few words of advice that have worked for me and could be useful to others, particularly newer, less experienced enthusiasts.

1. Start by determining your breeding goals so you have goals in mind. Eg. increased production, better conformation, better udders or teat size …… prioritise these as you nothing you breed is ever perfect. You need to address important traits as priority.

2. Determine your herds weaknesses that ideally you need to improve. For novices there are a number of tools available including feedback from experienced mentors/judges, milk production data available if you participate in herd recording, your own experience handling and milking your goats. Classification reports are another very useful resource. They are prepared by an independent assessor (through Holstein Australia). The give assessment on a variety of traits and summarise strengths and weaknesses of individual animals as well as the herd overall. A copy of a both an individual doe and buck report are attached for your information.

3. Identify a suitable buck that will compliment your herd towards attaining your predetermined, priority breeding goal(s). Again classification reports can assist however my recommendation is the most important focus should be on examining the prospective bucks close female relatives - his mother, grandmother, sisters and daughters (if possible). You want to find consistent quality and strength in the area you are endeavouring to improve. His show success is of little value if he Carrie’s the same weaknesses you want to correct. Often shows are very small and success may be simply through little competition. As a dairy breed - dairy attributes are only evident in lactating females - so examine them and their milking achievements, awards and traits extensively. If his female relatives aren’t available ask why? If his mother wasn’t good enough to retain, milk and continue on for her breeder, her son is probably not either! With imported semen, examine photos of his female relatives.

4. Don’t be unrealistic and expect one buck to achieve multie, different improvements over varying does. At Dandalee Park we make mating decisions on an individual basis using the most suitable bucks for each doe available. With the variety of bloodlines and semen available it pays to do some homework and shop around to get the best matches.

5. Last priority is to examine the buck himself. This is mainly done to check basic type and soundness. Breeding bucks should be sound and in good health. Check basic information also like CAE, Johnes free status (goes without question).

6. Assess your progress constantly and without emotion or biased. After all - sometimes results aren’t as anticipated, priorities change over time and new challenges etc present themselves. Be flexible and prepared to adapt as required. tools to help assess progress are plentiful and include Classification reports of offspring, herd recording to monitor production and feedback from trusted mentors etc

Lastly enjoy the challenge, take pride and celebrate your achievements!!! I hope this advice, though broad and basic is of assistance. Best of luck.

22/05/2021

08/04/2021

Off to exhibit my goats at the WA state titles this Saturday at Waroona Showgrounds. If your interested in meeting them or seeing lots of dairy goats and meeting breeders come have a look. Judging from 9am. Cya there

13/07/2020

29/05/2020

Hi everyone. Thanks for liking this page. However In order to allow everyone to contribute posts a GROUP by same name has now been created “Australian Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goat Breeders”. Please join and invite others who you feel may enjoy, benefit or contribute to join also!!!

28/05/2020

Welcome to the Australian Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goat Breeders Group. The aim of this group is to allow Australian Nigerian Dwarf enthusiasts a forum to share experiences, knowledge, contacts, achievements and photos that help further this wonderful new dairy goat breed in Australia and help others get maximum enjoyment and success from keeping Nigerians.