Their father listened to their presentation,
asked questions (all of which were thoroughly answered), and really had no choice
but to say yes to this ambitious pursuit.
Their first buck was purchased the next
morning from an out-of-state breeder of
exceptional goats.
For us, goats have become a valuable part
of our lives, from teaching responsibility to
learning about the economics of a business
to an overall character-building endeavor.
Our children are involved in 4-H, and
over the last few years they have raised
many animals. Out in the backyard we
currently have, in their respective areas,
four sheep, eight goats, three pigs, one
horse, three dogs (two are Anatolian
Shepherds who protect the goats, and one is
a Great P yrenees whose job it is to protect
t he sheep) , three rabbits, and two ducks.
The animals that have most captured
our children’s hearts are the goats. Our
children raise Nigerian Dwarf Goats, and
these are the goats that are at the heart of
their newly launched business endeavor.
Nigerians are considered dairy goats and,
in our family’s opinion, might be just the
sweetest, funniest, and most engaging
animals God placed on earth.
Nigerian Dwarf Goats are small in
stature, at a maximum height of 21 inches
at the withers (i.e., the highest point on the
back of a non-upright animal—the ridge
between the shoulder blades) for does
(females) and 23 inches at the withers for
bucks (males). They typically weigh somewhere between 60 and 80 pounds at adulthood and are very easy to care for and
manage. Furthermore, Nigerian Dwarfs
produce up to 2 quarts of sweet milk per
day with a butterfat (6–10%) and protein
content that is higher than that found in
milk from most other dairy goat breeds.
Here are several interesting facts about
goats: ( 1) the caprine, meaning “goat,”
industry is the fastest growing division of
agriculture in the United States; ( 2) goat
meat is the number-one consumed red
meat in the world; ( 3) goat’s milk is
consumed more than the milk of any other
single animal in the world; ( 4) the raising
of goats requires less acreage, and food
per animal, than most other animals
require; ( 5) the animals are easier to
handle than larger animals such as cattle
o r horses; and ( 6) goats are affordable to
y oung people.
O f the dairy goats, there are eight
breeds listed by the American Dairy Goat
Association: Alpine, LaMancha, Nigerian
Dwarf, Nubian, Oberhasli, Saanen, Sable,
and Toggenburg. All have different characteristics (e.g., size, coloring, stature, disposition, milk production) and are selected by
different individuals depending on what
they plan on using them for (e.g., milk
production, show animals, companions, or
some combination).
Then there are the meat goats. These
include the Spanish Meat Goat, Tennessee
Meat Goat, South African Boer Goat, and
the New Zealand Kiko Goat. These goats
have been selected and bred for the meat
they produce.
For those folks who are interested in
fiber, there are fiber goats, such as the
Cashmere, Angora, and Pygora Goats,
which can be sheered for their fleece. These
goats, like the dairy and meat goats, have
their place on the family farm. We know
many people who spin fiber gathered from
goats, sheep, and camels—yes, we have
camels just a couple of miles from our
home, and their wool is collected and
Young Entrepr e neurs 95
Goats
