Namoi Mini Goats owner Pia Walker explains her business with Nigerian Dwarf Goats

Pia Walker owns Namoi Mini Goats - where she breeds and sells Nigerian Dwarf Goats on her 2.5 acre farm, and uses their milk for drinking and creating soaps.

She started off with three of the small animals at the end of 2019, and the herd has since grown to six does and two bucks.

"As a child, it was my dream to have my own petting zoo," Ms Walker said.

"I've always loved goats since I was a little girl, always been obsessed, and then when I moved out here I thought 'finally I can buy goats, I'm on a farm now'."

Her dwarf goats grow to 45-60cm tall. Ms Walker's smallest pet, Bob, is about 46cm, and the tallest is Blossom, who is about 57cm tall.

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The Curlewis creatures are 50-87.5 per cent purebred, but the more purebred the goats, the smaller they are.

"When I was looking at buying goats, I was looking at dairy breeds, and I chose the Nigerian dwarf because they are a miniature variety so extra cute, easy to handle," she said.

"Even though they're quite small, they still produce 1.5L of milk everyday, which is more than we need and drink."

As a result, she now puts the milk to good use by making soaps by hand.

The goats are easy to milk, Ms Walker said, people just need a "good stand to put them on, being small".

"The milk has a high butter fat content, the highest of all the dairy breeds of goat which means the milk is really rich and creamy," she told the NVI.

"I sell the soaps at the markets just as a hobby to get rid of the milk."

But she has big aspirations for the future.

"I'd love to get into cheese making, and would love a little dairy here as well, so people can come and visit the dairy and see the goats but I think I'm a while away from that," she admitted.

For now, she enjoys looking after her goats, and explaining why they make such great pets.

"They're lovely, very friendly. Just like dogs, they follow me everywhere I go," Ms Walker said.

"They're easy to handle and because they're small, they're not going to barge you over like a bigger goat would so they're good for kids."

Be warned, though. The mini goats love to jump, meaning great fencing is important.

"We have really good fencing to keep them in their paddock. If they do get out, they go straight to my fruit trees and demolish them, so make sure you have really good fencing or they will run up corner postings and can clear a high fence easily," Ms Walker said.

"They're pretty chill here, because they're so friendly and get well fed, they don't try and jump the fences but if they were to get out they go to the back door and yell at me until I come out."

She always sells her goats in pairs so they have a friend when they go off to their new home.

She only sells the bucks, but down the track "when we have a good herd size we'll start selling the girls for mini milkers who want some goat milk at home".

Locals can find out more information by visiting the Namoi Mini Goats Facebook page.

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