Instructions
Feed
Feed a young goat its mother's colostrum immediately following its birth. Give the kid up to 24 hours to begin consuming the colostrum, but if it has not developed an appetite within a day or if his mother refuses to let him suckle, you may be forced to milk the mother and bottle feed your young Nigerian. Seek veterinary assistance if you have no familiarity with bottle feeding. Your kid requires mother's milk for three or four months. Then you can begin weaning it by slowly switching to solid foods.
Feed adolescent and adult goats a combination of oats, alfalfa or grass hay and mineral supplements. Like cattle and elk, goats are ruminants. They have four stomachs and no top front teeth. Goats graze for about 20 minutes, then lay down, regurgitate their food, and rechew it. Because they are ruminants, goats need the oat, hay and mineral combination in order to maintain the working order of their stomachs.
Feed the goats and observe how much hay and oats they eat in one grazing before lying down to chew their cuds. Remove the remaining food from the trough. Do not overfeed Nigerians by allowing them to eat from the trough all day or they will bloat. In the next feeding, either add more of what they consumed entirely, or give them less of what they leave scattered in the trough. Feed the goats twice a day, morning and night. They require both salts and baking soda. Always leave these supplemental minerals in plentiful supply. You do not need to observe how much they consume. They will eat the proper amount.
Provide clean, cool water for goats. Goats will drink tepid water if forced to, but this is how they get stomach parasites. The most common source of disease is a poor water source.
Shelter and Care
Provide sufficient shelter and a heat source, if necessary. Nigerians do not like being wet, nor do they like being cold. Therefore, the shelter must be covered. Bed the ground with straw or blankets. Hide a heat lamp or space heater behind some fencing and secure the fencing to the shelter. But if you leave the cord exposed, the goats will chew on it and electrocute themselves.
Trim the goats' hooves. Goats are cloven like cattle and sheep and are susceptible to foot rot and broken cloves. If they do not play in rocky rough terrain that naturally keepstheir cloves trim, you must do it for them.
Inspect your goats at feeding time. Look out for symptoms that resemble human depression. This often indicates illness. If you notice a goat that does not run to the trough when you are ready to feed or stands with its head low or in its flank, take a fecal sample from the animal and take it to the vet for analysis.
Check your goats for ticks and lice. These parasites are not only irritating, but often lead to skin and blood diseases. There are powders and shampoos that you can use as preventative measures. Its never a bad idea to take extra precaution with your goats.
How to Care for & Feed Nigerian Goats
Goats are are highly social herd animals and need constant companionship. They grow very close to their companions, to the point of mourning if separated. As a result, goats make loyal pets for children. Much like a dog, a goat will follow a child around endlessly, playing alongside. Extremely curious, goats have the label, "mischievous," and children with goats often get the same tag. Still, if properly cared for and fed, goats make worthy companions. Nigerian Dwarf goats are no exception. The plus side of a Nigerian Dwarf is their size. Being so small, it is a little more difficult for them to do damage.