Meet Cocoa Chanel - Nigerian Dwarf

[MissPrissy]

I finally managed to track down one very tiny nigerian dwarf female goat for my 10 year old to show for 4H over the next year.

Cocoa Chanel

We fell in love with her little chocolate brown face and markings.

At 6 months old she is miniscule compared to my herd of saanan/nubian does.

Not to be confused with Coco Chanel

She is learning to show us the diva inside of her with her new fashion accessories straight from the pooch isle at pet smart.

Before anyone remarks on her horns - we do NOT disbudd. Our county 4H allows horned goats to be shown at the fair. The counties around us do not but the one we live in does. Now that is progress, people.

 

[Sebrightmom]

She is beautiful. Congratulations!

 

[helmstead]

You are SO lucky! (re the disbudding) One of the registries I participate in (NMGA) allows horned goats to show, but none of the others. You know my position on this...but I've had to learn to disbud now that I'm raising NDGA/AGS stock. Kills me to do it...makes my stomach turn.

She is beautiful! VERY unusual coloration...love it. I know you will enjoy her!

 

[Chirpy]

She's beautiful! Those little ones do tend to find that 'diva' side.

My Nigerians are who helped my husband realize he loves goats!

Edited to ask: how's it going with her being in with the full size goats? I will be moving mine into together in the future and I've heard some people say the larger goats really bully the little ones around.

 

[MissPrissy]

Kate - I don't know much about nigerians but the minute I saw her I knew she was the one. She has such a striking look to her. One drawback - omg she is buck wild. Gonna take a lot of handling to get her where she needs to be. LOL

She has a dime sized raw place on her ear on the left side. I soaked it with blu-kote. she has had a worming and her first CD&T. I expect she will thrive well here. She has been pasture raised and hasn't ever had a grain ration.

I am a bit hesitant on how to change her diet or if she will get the scowers from being here and eating different. My goats get a grain ration daily - goat feed, sweet feed, beet pulp and a couple of alfalfa cubes plus they forage. No hay right now with plenty to browse. Once the grass and leaves are gone they will go back to hay.

Advise, Kate?

Chirpy - I added two 10 day old bucklings to the herd this past psring. It took about a week for them to accept the boys. I expect by this time next week she will be one of the herd and they will closein around her tiny self just like they did the boys and let her bed down and snuggle with them.

 

[helmstead]

Is the raw spot near the base of the ear? I bet she's got ear mites...look with q tip for grey matter in the ear canal...that's the sign. Vet RX takes care of it in three days.

If you haven't already, start her on ProBios gel daily for a few days. Hand feeding will REALLY tame her down faster, so introduce her to about 1/4 cup of your grain, hand fed, followed by a dose of ProBios one time a day. After a few days, increase that to 1/4 c twice a day...by then you shouldn't need to ProBios anymore. Gradually increase the grain amount every few days until you're up to a cup or so twice a day.

Again, ADORABLE! She looks great for being pasture raised.

 

[MissPrissy]

The raw place is on the back side of her ear near where the skin flap attaches to her skull. Those little horns and wild head won't let me get too close to look inside of her ears yet.

The ProBios - this one? http://www.probios.com/gels.htm#bov1gel

 

[bbRedMom]

Soooo precious! Are you going to breed her?

I'm glad Arkansas doesn't require de-budding. I'd already decided I wasn't going to with the kids coming up, but some people really advocate it. Its the only part of Fiasco Farm's site that bothers me.

You other goats are bee-u-tiful as well.

Has she met the chickens yet?

 

[helmstead]

I usually use the equine version, works just as well and more readily available here. There are other brands of probiotics, too, made specifically for lambs and kids, that I have purchased when I can't find ProBios brand. Never used the bovine one.

Yup, sounds like mites...

 

[MissPrissy]

I'll go this afternoon and get the probios and the vetRX.