Tiny Colors Farm
Nigerian Dwarf Goats - Located in Ramona, California, in beautiful North San Diego County. Dairy, Companion, Brush-Clearing and Show Winners!
Links, Information, Etc.
General Goat Care Information / Articles
One good place to start is the Organization page at the ADGA site, which contains several links to goat care and industry participation organizations.
Another notable site for good information on general goat care as well as fun pages for cheese making, history and trivia, and other uses for goats and their production is the Saanendoah site, started and run by Joyce Lazzaro. I have found this site to be absolutely a MUST READ for everything from health care / herd management to history and all points in between. Definitely visit here often and read all the pages. And for those of you interested specifically in Saanen goats, there is a great link on this site as well.
Also invaluable for goat care and herd management information as well as a good resource for yogurt- and cheese-making advice is the Fias Co Farm site, noted again for good humor, great information and a very easy-to-use format. I use these two sites ALL THE TIME and refer every new client of mine to these as great places to keep learning and to enjoy.
Several good articles on the Nigerian Dwarf Goat can be found at the NDGA website on their About Nigerian Dwarf Goats page. The link on their home page is broken but this link will take you directly to the page that details the breed characteristics and other information pertaining specifically to the Nigerian breed.
Another good source for information on the development and registration of new breeds is The Miniature Goat Club website, giving you the opportunity to use Nigerians and your favorite large breed dairy goats (or, in the case of miniature meat goat development, the Pygmy goat crossed with other large-breed or full-size meat goat breeds) to participate in the development of the purebred miniature goats now being produced by breeders throughout North American and around the world.
Where To Find 'Em!
Here's where I hope to have a rather comprehensive list of breeder links. I'm going to START with my good friend Therese's email, of course. She does not necessarily have purebred goats and certainly only a few of her goats even have registration papers but each and every goat is loved and all of the babies are sold well before they are born because they are always well-behaved, healthy and the buyers often wait months just to add a few of Therese's goats to their herds. These goats are sold as pets and brush-clearing goats for the back-country areas of San Diego County and beyond as well as to become family milking goats for people throughout our entire Southern California area. Since brush-clearing is a very important job out here we usually have a great many people interested in having horned goats in their "brushing" herds so if you want to acquire a goat that keeps the horns on be sure to let us know when you contact us so we don't disbud a goat that would have been perfect for your herd. While there is a debate as to whether or not horns are safer for the goats, by and large they do help the goats stay healthy out in the brush and are a great deterrant to human theft as well; who wants to chase down a herd of full-sized goats when each is well-armed with a set of beautiful horns? We have sold everything from the largest Saanen down to the Nigerian and Pygmy goats as brushing goats and have a great many repeat customers every year so don't delay as we usually sell out even before the babies are born. Therese also sells raw milk for animal consumption as well as poultry (including chickens, turkeys, guinea, etc.) and eggs.
Another preferred site of mine is that run by Norm and Donna Geiser of Desertwinds Nigerians. Donna is very involved in the development of miniature dairy breeds as well as producing some of the best Nigerian Dwarf goats around. She and Norm have a "stable" of wonderful bucks and some very pretty does, try to get to as many shows as they can and are always ready to help with information, advice and referrals.
My first Nigerian buck (and several of my does and most of what I know about Nigerians) came from Tina French of Take Heart Farm in Temecula, CA. Tina's site is a treasure trove for those looking for pretty goats with perfect manners and top-notch udders and conformation. Tina has a few babies and the occasional doe for sale every year. Her website also includes information and links related to her interest in Fiber production and use including links to fiber she has available for sale. UPDATE: Tina has added a new line, Faint Heart Tenessee Fainting Goats! Be sure to check those out on her site and also those lovely shawls she is now producing from her own fiber and that of other small fiber producers. A very good link on Tina's site is to Kathy Walter's Sufficient Grace Farm, also a good resource for fiber and the occasional Nigerian for sale.
If you are looking for Nubian goats that are built for milk AND for meat, one good place to start is the farm of Jena Williams of Urban Acres in Poway, CA. Jena also has Nigerians and Boers / Boer crosses and has stud service available for the following breeds: Nubian, Nigerian Dwarf,and Boer as well as babies for sale in those breeds as well as La Mancha and Alpine crosses. My personal favorite is her old-fashioned-type Nubian buck but she has a wide variety to suit many purposes and even has the occasional Kikko and Toggenberg for sale.
If there are any breeders that would like to be added to my list of links, please email me and let me know your website address, any pertinent information (breeds / services offered, other information available on your site, etc.) and where you're located and I'd be happy to add you.
Other (Non-Goat) goodies
One of the places you simply MUST visit is Tina French's lovely store of home-made products. She has some very gorgeous shawls at Shawls From The Heart, two of her daughters make the cutest little Trulie's Treasures and Kalie's Korral, so don't miss checking out the Take Heart Farm store. I myself can't wait to get one of her shawls, I just have to decide what colors I want so she can grow, shear, process and color the fiber for me and then spin and weave the shawl! Yep, from critter to creation, these are truly home-made and all the love and care that goes into a business like hers. Thanks, Tina, for sharing your craft with us.
- Many Patterns available in a wide variety of colors. Drop Tina a line about what you are looking for and be prepared to fall in love with her shawls.
Another of my favorite links for goat-related goodies is Donna's Desertwinds Soaps. While you're on her site be sure to check out her mineral feeders for sale and read through her just-updated herbal pages. Better go potty first as she's got some very funny stuff scattered throughout her website!
