Nigora

The first known Nigora came before the breed did. A doe named Cocoa Puff of Skyview, born in the late 1980s, was sold as a Pygora and rejected by the Pygora Breeders Association for her dairy-goat markings; her owners traced her to Nigerian Dwarf and Angora breeding. She lived to 15.

The first official breeding program began in 1994. The American Nigora Goat Breeders Association was officially established on April 15, 2007. Its founding members wrote the breed standard on July 3, 2009, and it has been revised twice, in 2013 and 2023. The association adopted the name American Nigora Goat in 2013 to distinguish its animals from Nigoras recognized by other organizations.

The breed is still being built. The association records animals of the first to fifth generations, which must be at least a quarter each Nigerian Dwarf and Angora and may carry up to a quarter of other approved breeds, and it will open a full registry once there are enough sixth-generation goats.

Small to medium: 19 to 29 inches for both sexes, in any color. The cross is Nigerian Dwarf bucks onto does of the mohair breeds, chiefly Angoras.

The fleece falls into the same three types the Pygora registry uses: Type A, long lustrous mohair after the Angora side; Type B, called cashgora, a medium blend of mohair and a cashmere-type undercoat; Type C, shorter and cashmere-like.

The standard asks for a calm, naturally amiable, laid-back goat that shows neither aggression nor excessive fear once properly socialized, and the association calls Nigoras particularly manageable for children and seniors. Alabama Cooperative Extension describes them as sweet-natured and says they thrive in pairs.

Horns are the owner's decision. The standard accepts horned, naturally polled and disbudded goats alike; in Goat Journal's account, fiber breeders tend to leave horns on while dairy keepers tend to disbud.

Fibre and a little milk from the same animal. The Angora side gives a spinnable fleece; the Nigerian Dwarf side means the does can also be milked, and the milk carries high butterfat.

They are small and tractable, sized for a holding that would not carry a standard fiber flock and a dairy string both.

Shearing, on a schedule set by the fleece. A Type A goat will most likely need shearing twice a year, like an Angora; an A/B or B type once. Lighter B and C fleeces can be brushed out in spring as the goats molt, and in a hot climate you may need to shear more often.

Beyond shearing, Goat Journal's account is that Nigora care is like any goat's. That means a companion, since Alabama Cooperative Extension says they thrive in pairs; secure fencing; a balanced, free-choice loose goat mineral, which Mississippi State University Extension recommends over blocks; and regular parasite control and hoof trimming, both on Alabama's list of routine care.

The trade is that doing two things means excelling at neither. The fleece is smaller than an Angora's and the milk is less than a dairy breed's, and as with the Pygora the fleece type you get is not guaranteed.

Two registries have standards for the breed: the American Nigora Goat Breeders Association, which wrote the 2009 standard, and the later Nigora Goat Breeders Society, active by 2014. Ask which book the animals are in, what fleece the parents grew, and see a fleece sample or a shearing record before you price the fiber into the purchase.

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