What is a Nigerian Dwarf Goat?
Melinda Wilson, DVM
International Dairy Goat Registry
IDGR-IFBR.com
Editor’s Note: Periodically, we will bring you articles on
the history of the Nigerian Dwarf and miniature dairy
goat breeds. Our first article is a brief look at the early
days of the West African Dwarf goats in the United States
and how the Nigerian Dwarf breed arose from that gene
pool, leading to the opening of the first herdbook with
the International Dairy Goat Registry.
The Nigerian Dwarf Goat is one of three
breeds of goats originating from West Africa
collectively referred to as West African Dwarves (WAD) or Fouta djallon in their native homelands. The
WAD are achondroplasic dwarf goats, characterized by short legs and broad, short head with a normalsized trunk. The WAD goats include what we recognize today as African Pygmy goats, Nigerian Dwarf
goats and a third, smaller goat type that was never imported to the United States. WAD goats have
traditionally been raised for meat and milk. Earliest known imports from Africa date back to 1905, with
multiple imports occurring since. In more recent years, due to concerns over infectious diseases, imports
from African countries have been halted.
The Nigerian Dwarf breed owes much of its existence to the hard work of Mrs. Bonnie Abrahamson of
North Ogden, Utah. Mrs. Abrahamson, a long time Pygmy breeder, had worked at a California zoo that
had some direct-import miniature goats. During her time raising the miniature goats, she recognized a
distinct difference in type between goats in the herd: standard Pygmy type goats and a smaller, more
colorful type goat. Mrs. Abrahamson, along with Mrs. Pat Freeman of Dutton, Ontario, Mrs. Frances
Ogden of Clinton, Washington, and other miniature-goat enthusiasts, recognized that, despite the shared
African background, these small goats were separate and distinct from the cobby, agouti colored Pygmy
goats. These goats were primarily black and white, with random patterns, and were finer boned than
Pygmy goats. At the same time that Mrs. Abrahamson was pondering over these tiny goats, Mr. and Mrs.
Heabert B. Wood of Alexandria, Indiana had stumbled upon a closed herd of miniature goats of African
descent that were similar in conformation to the goats with which Mrs. Abrahamson was working, aside
from being brown and white in color. Together, these breeders settled on the term “Nigerian Dwarf” to
distingu