Local pygmy goat herd captures the hearts of both family and judges

Margaret and Eric first started their herd of adorable pygmy goats in 2017 and quickly caught the show bug, bringing home winners ribbons and trophies from across the country,

“We got started into pygmy goats in March 2017,” explained Margaret.

“A pygmy cannot be kept on his own as it is a herd animal so we purchased two registered female kid goats.

“We also bought a little pet female kid as well and to ensure she also had a friend we ended up buying another female.”

Margaret, husband Eric, as well as daughter Clara and her fiancé Luke, were smitten with the creatures and began to grow their herd.

”They are instantly addictive as they have great wee personalities, each completely different,” admitted Margaret.

“We were contacted by a breeder who was selling off her herd and we were interested in two slightly older females so my daughter decided to get involved and bought them.”

The family began showing the goats four years ago and proved they had an award winning herd on their hands.

“We attended our first show in Lurgan in 2018 and Dimples won third place in the female class,” continued Margaret.

“We were very excited with this and decided to continue to take part in showing.

“Clara and her fiancée Luke took our pygmy goats to the Antrim Show and Clogher Show where we had great success with Dimples placing first in her Class ad then going onto win Best Female and finally Reserve Championship.

“At Clogher Dimples won again and was first in her class, Champion female and then Best in Show. We now had the show bug!”

The family began breeding their own herd and welcomed the first Connbrook Kids January 2019 - male twins, as well as another female and single male.

“In 2019 our own homebred goats had some success Lurgan again with Connbrook Dave coming first in male kid class followed by Connbrook Ash in second place,” explained Margaret.

“We had a great showing season with our two male kids placing first and second at every show.”

A lot of hard work goes into preparing the goats for show, which started up again this year following a break during the covid pandemic.

“We have 16 pygmy goats at present,” Margaret revealed. “We have bred from a selection of our females, we have sold a few as it is impossible to keep them all even though you would love to.

“There is a lot of work involved in keeping these wee escape artists as they will find any wee hole in the fence and can easily jump over fences if they are not high enough.

“They require to have fresh water, goat pellets once a day and free range to hay as they only graze on grass but do not live on it.

“They need the company of their own kind and have their own friendships within the herd.

“They love to climb and jump and run around so require space to do so.

“They hate the rain so require shelter, we prefer to lock them up at night as they seem to feel more secure and content.

“They are very loving and most like to be stroked and given a good scratch, they will even sit on your knee.

“They all know their names and respond when called, especially for their supper.

“My husband Eric and myself do the daily caring of them - feeding and watering. I do the cleaning out and Clara and Luke take on the task of clipping their feet and keeping up to date with worming and vaccinations.

“It’s great to have everyone involved, especially on show days Eric for transport and sometimes even in the show ring, and the three of us for all the show prep.

“We hope to continue to improve our wee herd through good breeding and continue to show.”