Is our pygmy goat kid unusually small for her age?

Question

We adopted the runt from a litter of three because the nanny rejected her. We estimate she was at or just below one pound at birth. We have already been told that is highly unusual for her to have even survived. She will be one month old tommorrow and is still less than half the size of her siblings (about nine inches at the shoulder) I'm wondering if she could some kind of record. I've done some research and have not found anything as to record birth weight or size. We already know she is our little miracle. ( I named her newt for minute as in small not the time unit and decided to spell it newt) Can anyone educate us.

Answer 1

That isn't really uncommon at all.  I raise Pygmies & Nigerian Dwarfs, and usually if there are 3 or 4 kids there will be one that is extremely small at birth, and very often that one will need to be bottlefed.  We had one here that was under a pound at birth and it took us a good 2 minutes to even get him to take a breath on his own, but now (a year later) he is as healthy as any other goat.  Both of his brothers were more than double his size at birth.  Your little girl may eventually catch up or she may always be small. Congrats on your tiny little cutie!  There just aren't many things in the world cuter & sweeter than miniature goat kid.

Answer 2

Pygmy, had one loved it.  Just enjoy

Answer 3

There is almost always a very small one when multiple births are concerned.  One of my friend's goats had quads this year, and one doe was the tiniest thing I've ever seen, but eventually they start catching up with their siblings.  There's only so much room in utero for everyone to share, and someone's going to get crowded.

Don't know what the "record" for a pygmy is and you won't know how big she'll get until she's around 1 year old.  She may surprise you and be the same size as her other siblings; however, most likely she will remain on the small side.

I've got a "micro" doe in our herd who is about 40 pounds full grown at age 2.  She's due any day right now, and does that small make most breeders a nervous wreck.  The smaller the animal, the closer they meet breed conformation, but the higher the risk of mortality and complications, too.  You might not want to use the little one in your breeding program.  C-sections on goats get expensive.

As far as records for her current size, there's alot of variation within the breed, but if you're really curious, you might want to consider contacting the NPGA and sending them some pictures.  If nothing else, you've got some bragging rights for saving such a tiny kid!