Unique Hobby Farm Animals: Pygmy Goats

These goats are friendly general-purpose breeds for small farms.

Reader Contribution by Michael Feldmann
Updated on August 10, 2023
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by Adobestock/slowmotiongli

Among the unique hobby farm animals, pygmy goats are a friendly breed that makes an excellent pet for a constant supply of fresh milk.

Despite their small size, pygmies can give 1 or 2 quarts of milk per day. Their milk is of exceptional quality and value. Being not bigger than a small dog, these goats require minimum shelter and care.

Their small size and good nature make them attractive dairy goats; and they require less space and feed than ordinary goats, and are suitable for smaller farms in urban and suburban settings. They are also often kept as pets just for the pleasure of companionship. They are good foragers, which makes their milk very nutritious and tasty. Their milk has a very high butterfat content, which makes them preferred for the production of soaps, creams, and other high-fat goat milk products.

Pygmy goats are quite tame and very friendly so they can be let out of their pen for eating: grass, shrubs, weeds, herbs, and leaves. They are easy goats to raise and have a tame and pleasant character. Pygmy goats are active and entertaining and if they are constructed some obstacles in their pen, they could provide hours of entertainment.

History and Origin of Pygmy Goats

The pygmy goats are an American breed of achondroplastic goats. It is small, compact and stockily built. Like the Nigerian dwarf, it comes from the West African dwarf group of West Africa. Around 1930 to 1960, this type of animals was imported into the United States for zoos and researches; some were later kept as companion animals and established as a breed in 1975. It can also be known as a pygmy or an African pygmy. This is a completely different and separate breed from the British Pygmy breed.

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