Last month, our Pets Farm team welcomed two hairy new arrivals to the family. Pygmy goats Bob and Betsy arrived at the end of August and joined the rest of the goat gang this week, after a month of quarantine. Bob and Betsy are both black and white in colour, and have much longer hair than our other goats, so they should be easy to spot.
As the name suggests, pygmy goats are smaller than other breeds of goats. They only grow to be about 20 inches high, whereas regular goats grow to between 40-50 inches. They also weigh much less, coming in at 60 pounds max. Like other goats, they have cloven hooves and are excellent climbers. They love to jump on rocks and logs, and you can often spot them springing around in Pets Farm.
They are known for being very smart, curious, and social animals. As such, pygmy goats prefer to live in groups, with group numbers ranging from 5 to 20 individuals. Male pygmy goats often butt heads as a way of establishing dominance within the group’s hierarchy. Males are referred to as billy goats, females are called nanny goats, and babies are called kids. An easy way to tell males and females apart is by looking for a beard: males grow long beards whereas females usually do not.
Make sure to pop down to Pets Farm to meet the new arrivals next time you are in the park!