Nigerian Height
Maximum height for does at maturity: 22.5"
Maximum height for bucks at maturity: 23.5"
Heights are routinely checked at:
If a Nigerian Dwarf exceeds the maximum height at any age they are:
In Linear appraisal the Stature score is based on height.
20" is scored at 20.
For each inch over or under 20, add or subtract 5.
17" - 5
18" - 10
19" - 15
20" - 20
21" - 25
22" - 30
23" - 35
Maximum height for bucks at maturity: 23.5"
Heights are routinely checked at:
- official shows (as required by the judge)
- Linear Appraisal (all)
- DHIA milk test(verification test
- One Day Milking Competitions
If a Nigerian Dwarf exceeds the maximum height at any age they are:
- disqualified from shows
- cannot score Excellent in General Appearance in Linear Appraisal
- cannot be ranked in Top Ten for production
In Linear appraisal the Stature score is based on height.
20" is scored at 20.
For each inch over or under 20, add or subtract 5.
17" - 5
18" - 10
19" - 15
20" - 20
21" - 25
22" - 30
23" - 35
Gryphon Tor's Perspective on Nigerian Heights
A side note about Nigerian heights:
Nigerians, like all goats, are measured at the withers. The Nigerian Dwarf maximum height are 22.5" for does and 23.5" for bucks.
Although it seems to have failed to gather enough support across Nigerian breeders or from ADGA, we support the aims of the Nigerian Dwarf Height proposal proposed by the Nigerian Dwarf Society: (http://ndproposal.webs.com/):
The goal of the proposal is to bring the acceptable percentage for height differences between male and female Nigerian Dwarves into line with the proportions allotted to other dairy breeds. The height difference allowed between genders in Nigerians is only 4%, while that allowed for other dairy breeds is more than twice as much, at approximately 9.9%.
Of additional interest is that while the overall heights for the breed allowed by the NDGA the breed are lower, they accept a gender height difference of 8.7%.
We hope that the same rationale for gender-based height differences can be brought to the Nigerian Dwarf breed standard within ADGA. We at Gryphon Tor support the proposal, based as it is on analysis of statistics gleaned from classification scores, which demonstrate natural phenotype expression within the breed. Gryphon Tor would be equally agreeable to lowering the maximum doe heights (going forward, not expelling currently registered stock) or raising buck heights.
I have been reading the discussion regarding whether breeders are forming a descriptive or prescriptive approach to the Nigerian Dwarf breed standard. While descriptive is certainly best suited to the management of feral populations or breeds for conservation purposes (to more closely emulate what natural selection has already produced, rather than our inevitable and innate selective biases), as purebred breeders, we have already chosen to adopt a prescriptive path for the Nigerian Dwarf, selecting for the traits associated with all other dairy breeds registered with ADGA. The show scorecard is identical for a Saanen as it is for a Nigerian Dwarf, for instance (aside from the breed specifics, of course).
It can be successfully argued (and aptly demonstrated with archival photographs) that the show-winning, top-producing Nigerian Dwarves of today have already changed significantly over those first entered in the registries a decade or two ago. This is a good thing. It means that we are evolving the breed in a prescriptive manner that makes sense for the good of the animals, production and longevity - we should continue to do so, including consideration of proposed changes such as the one before us now.
What is not clear is the criteria or rationale used in establishing the heights and gender variation in the original ADGA breed standard by the founding Nigerian breeders. I admit that I have not yet seen a definitive statement or document regarding processes used, but would love to gain more understanding.
The NDGA standard is also at variance with that of ADGA; while it features a wider tolerance of gender-based height difference, it also insists on smaller goats overall (with does at a maximum of 19" rather than ADGA's 22.5"). Still, proportionately, it is closer to what the proposal aims for in terms of gender variation, at 8.7%, rather than the 4% we presently have in the ADGA standard.
So let us be less concerned with descriptive vs. prescriptive (as there will be some overlap here), but rather that which is genetically rational in terms of the expectations we set for the breed. The basis of the proposal is that a difference of approximately 9.9% in height between does and bucks is considered normal for all other dairy breeds. Is it then rational to expect to suppress natural genetic expression more than is necessary to preserve the overall height desired for this breed?
In truth, should overheight bucks be considered ineligible for registration, let us consider that if we are committed to pursuing the breed standard to the letter, all historically overheight bucks should (or must) be summarily removed from the herdbook. This would make their offspring retroactively ineligible as well, and there is no argument that such an action would constitute a grave and far-reaching disservice to the breed as a whole.
It is also reasonable to assume that this may go into the line of thinking brought forward by those supporting the proposal: if the acknowledged regular use of overheight bucks has not resulted in a large number of overheight does over the years, perhaps these bucks actually fall into a normal differential based on gender.
Many breeders have reported that their bucks, currently considered oversize, have thrown few, if any, oversized does over the years. I don't know if it is possible to conduct an unbiased study of this anecdotal assertion. People have effectively hidden their taller bucks over the years and many have passed away without being measured, and some overheight does have likely passed into backyard farms and oblivion without being recorded as such as well. That said, we've seen many breeders openly identify overheight males and list the many offspring they've produced that conform to breed standard.
Somewhere along the line while considering long-term effects on the Nigerian Dwarf breed, we must also consider that breeding for animals that are too small may lead to difficulties in birthing. The kids themselves seem to develop to a normalized range of sizes for the breed, and in my herd, do not give any real regard for the fact that their dams might be 22" or tiny 18" does with proportionately smaller pelvises... thus, perhaps we need to aim for a balanced range that matches form and function.
I am in favor of the proposal because it merely makes rational, statistical sense to bring the height difference between genders in our breed in line with those allotted to other dairy breeds within ADGA, and in proportion (though larger overall) to what the NDGA already supports.
All things in moderation...
Linda Carlson
Gryphon Tor
Nigerians, like all goats, are measured at the withers. The Nigerian Dwarf maximum height are 22.5" for does and 23.5" for bucks.
Although it seems to have failed to gather enough support across Nigerian breeders or from ADGA, we support the aims of the Nigerian Dwarf Height proposal proposed by the Nigerian Dwarf Society: (http://ndproposal.webs.com/):
The goal of the proposal is to bring the acceptable percentage for height differences between male and female Nigerian Dwarves into line with the proportions allotted to other dairy breeds. The height difference allowed between genders in Nigerians is only 4%, while that allowed for other dairy breeds is more than twice as much, at approximately 9.9%.
Of additional interest is that while the overall heights for the breed allowed by the NDGA the breed are lower, they accept a gender height difference of 8.7%.
We hope that the same rationale for gender-based height differences can be brought to the Nigerian Dwarf breed standard within ADGA. We at Gryphon Tor support the proposal, based as it is on analysis of statistics gleaned from classification scores, which demonstrate natural phenotype expression within the breed. Gryphon Tor would be equally agreeable to lowering the maximum doe heights (going forward, not expelling currently registered stock) or raising buck heights.
I have been reading the discussion regarding whether breeders are forming a descriptive or prescriptive approach to the Nigerian Dwarf breed standard. While descriptive is certainly best suited to the management of feral populations or breeds for conservation purposes (to more closely emulate what natural selection has already produced, rather than our inevitable and innate selective biases), as purebred breeders, we have already chosen to adopt a prescriptive path for the Nigerian Dwarf, selecting for the traits associated with all other dairy breeds registered with ADGA. The show scorecard is identical for a Saanen as it is for a Nigerian Dwarf, for instance (aside from the breed specifics, of course).
It can be successfully argued (and aptly demonstrated with archival photographs) that the show-winning, top-producing Nigerian Dwarves of today have already changed significantly over those first entered in the registries a decade or two ago. This is a good thing. It means that we are evolving the breed in a prescriptive manner that makes sense for the good of the animals, production and longevity - we should continue to do so, including consideration of proposed changes such as the one before us now.
What is not clear is the criteria or rationale used in establishing the heights and gender variation in the original ADGA breed standard by the founding Nigerian breeders. I admit that I have not yet seen a definitive statement or document regarding processes used, but would love to gain more understanding.
The NDGA standard is also at variance with that of ADGA; while it features a wider tolerance of gender-based height difference, it also insists on smaller goats overall (with does at a maximum of 19" rather than ADGA's 22.5"). Still, proportionately, it is closer to what the proposal aims for in terms of gender variation, at 8.7%, rather than the 4% we presently have in the ADGA standard.
So let us be less concerned with descriptive vs. prescriptive (as there will be some overlap here), but rather that which is genetically rational in terms of the expectations we set for the breed. The basis of the proposal is that a difference of approximately 9.9% in height between does and bucks is considered normal for all other dairy breeds. Is it then rational to expect to suppress natural genetic expression more than is necessary to preserve the overall height desired for this breed?
In truth, should overheight bucks be considered ineligible for registration, let us consider that if we are committed to pursuing the breed standard to the letter, all historically overheight bucks should (or must) be summarily removed from the herdbook. This would make their offspring retroactively ineligible as well, and there is no argument that such an action would constitute a grave and far-reaching disservice to the breed as a whole.
It is also reasonable to assume that this may go into the line of thinking brought forward by those supporting the proposal: if the acknowledged regular use of overheight bucks has not resulted in a large number of overheight does over the years, perhaps these bucks actually fall into a normal differential based on gender.
Many breeders have reported that their bucks, currently considered oversize, have thrown few, if any, oversized does over the years. I don't know if it is possible to conduct an unbiased study of this anecdotal assertion. People have effectively hidden their taller bucks over the years and many have passed away without being measured, and some overheight does have likely passed into backyard farms and oblivion without being recorded as such as well. That said, we've seen many breeders openly identify overheight males and list the many offspring they've produced that conform to breed standard.
Somewhere along the line while considering long-term effects on the Nigerian Dwarf breed, we must also consider that breeding for animals that are too small may lead to difficulties in birthing. The kids themselves seem to develop to a normalized range of sizes for the breed, and in my herd, do not give any real regard for the fact that their dams might be 22" or tiny 18" does with proportionately smaller pelvises... thus, perhaps we need to aim for a balanced range that matches form and function.
I am in favor of the proposal because it merely makes rational, statistical sense to bring the height difference between genders in our breed in line with those allotted to other dairy breeds within ADGA, and in proportion (though larger overall) to what the NDGA already supports.
All things in moderation...
Linda Carlson
Gryphon Tor