Caprine Acres Nigerian Dwarf Goats

Welcome to our Nigerian Pages

We first discovered Nigerian Dwarves while trying to bring different blood in with our mini alpines. I discovered that I loved their personality and their size. Nigerian milk is sweet and rich due to their higher butterfat content. They are extremely cost effective animals to own because their intake is so much less than a standard sized animal. Their output is, however, a little smaller also. I find that I can keep 3 Nigerians to 1 Alpine. The milk from 3 nigerians usually makes up for the milk of 1 full sized animal, so it really makes it more cost effective to be able to keep higher numbers of them. We usually try and keep our numbers to 22-30 does (Alpines and Nigerians). We do keep a larger herd of Nigerians due to the cost effectiveness. We started showing our herd almost 3 years ago, starting with buying cheaper less quality animals. We soon learned that it costs the same to feed cheap animals as it does to feed quality animals. With this in mind I had decided to get into showing, it was tons of fun! So after being bitten by the show bug, I was really frustrated with standing at the end of the line with my so/so goats, and decided to purchase show quality stock. I experimented with a lot of lines, and decided to keep a small quantity of my original stock and build on that using Critter Croft and Kaapio Acres lines. Both Elizabeth at Critter Croft and Deena at Kaapio Acres have been very generous in helping me find animals that will show well. I am extremely happy with the animals I have purchased from them and I have increased the value of my herd dramatically. We have added gradually, but last show season did very well with these animals and now are standing mid if not the front of the line in our classes. I am extremely fond of the Kaapio Acres Hot Habanero line, owning a few bucks from this line and also a few does. I also fell in love with the Brush Creek Smokin Gun animals, now I own a few of those also. Feel free to look around and see what the girls are doing around here

I have been asked quite regularly what our testing objectives are and this is my philosophy on testing and what our prevention methods are. I started out doing CAE prevention and bottle feeding all my kids. After two years of that and one human kid later, it is not feasible to fit into my schedule. I also believe that you have to have a margin for human error, and with CAE prevention there is NONE. If you don't get even one drop of milk pasteurized at the correct temperature, you have possibly infected all of your kids you are bottle feeding. I just don't want to take that chance. Last year we allowed everyone to dam raise, and just tested for CAE before kidding season. This worked very well for us and I found my girls would produce more milk with this method. I will probably follow this method from now on unless my schedule changes and I win the lottery. I do not test for CL or Johnes due to the inaccuracies in the results, and it is just not cost effective to waste money on those tests. When selling animals I am willing to blood test animals for new owners at their cost before they leave. I am willing to discuss my opinions on this if you would like to chat about them. I will however test if I see a problem or suspect something. When I first started in goats I did do a random Johnes fecal test on one doe from each group purchased from and they were negative. I have not had a problem since and have not tested since. I currently only purchase animals from herds that I trust as being clean and know that work hard to keep a clean herd.

We do participate in Linear Appraisal every year, so even our non show quality stock can be measured up and we can be made aware of where improvements are needed. Linear Appraisal is an excellent tool for learning your goats and I highly recommend it even if only for a breeding tool. We have participated in linear for 2 years now, and I have learned so much. I make it a point to set in on others appraisals to learn, because you never retain all the information and it helps to hear it over and over again. Linear is also a good selling point along with milk production and show records. We currently do not participate in milk testing, but hope to in the future. It usually all depends on the funds available. This year we were unable to participate due to lack of funds. I recently quit my job to be home with my children due to not making any money after daycare and gas. I am sure alot of you understand :) So now I live my enjoyable life with the boys, and get to pay more attention to goats. I am loving life and farm!

We generally sell quite a few kids in the spring, only keeping the best of what we feel we have. $250 is bottom line for kids that we believe to be breeding stock, but not show quality and starting at $350 on up for good show quality stock. I realize this isn’t always feasible for the 4Her, but you always pay more for quality no matter what you purchase. The fairs are getting way more competitive than they used to be, that’s for sure. There are a lot of people who want animals with blue eyes and pretty colors, but please remember that it doesn’t make the goat. What’s that famous saying in horses, you can’t ride color? This is the same philosophy in goats, color gets you no where. The goats earn their show awards based on confirmation, mammary systems, and their breed characteristics. We do however have goats with great color, blue eyes, and good characteristics to meet all of these wants. Occasionally I will have animals to place in pet homes, mainly wethers, and they will be on the sale page when available.

I invite you to call and schedule a time to come visit, whether you purchase an animal or not. We start kidding season in the early spring, most times in February, so if you are looking for a good project then you need to contact us early. Generally by May I don’t have any animals to offer, but may have an occasional milker or older kid for sale.

I will be running a spring sale this year, buy 2 doelings get the 3rd half price! Or I will also offer buy 3 doelings at full price and get a buck free! We will have many doe kids for sale as I can't keep them all and it looks like we will be having a wonderful kid crop this year! This offer will run until May 1st, 2012.