“Cameroon goats are affectionate like dogs”

Once we came to friends on a farm, and they were presented with an ordinary Belarusian goat, and I liked how the goat just walks around the territory. And then buyers came to us for hay and said that their neighbor was selling a goat. We went to see – it turned out that these are Nubian goats, they are about the size of a calf. I decided that I didn’t need these, but my husband suggested that since there are such large ones, it means that there are small ones. We began to search the Internet for a dwarf goat breed and came across Cameroonians. 

In the photo: Cameroon goats

When I started reading about Cameroonian goats, I was very interested in them. We did not find goats for sale in Belarus, but we found them in Moscow, and we found a person who buys and sells a variety of animals, from a hedgehog to an elephant, all over the world. At that time, there was a black boy on sale, and we were lucky to get a goat as well, which was completely exclusive. So we got Penelope and Amadeo – a red goat and a black goat.

In the photo: Cameroonian goat Amadeo

We don’t come up with names on purpose, they come with time. Just once you see that it is Penelope. For example, we have a cat that has remained a Cat – not a single name has stuck to it.

And a week after the arrival of Amadeo and Penelope, we received a call and were informed that a small black Cameroonian goat had been brought from the Izhevsk Zoo. And when we saw her huge eyes in the photo, we decided that, although we did not plan another goat, we would take it. So we also have Chloe.

In the photo: Cameroonian goats Eva and Chloe

When we got kids, we immediately fell in love with them, because they are like little puppies. They are affectionate, good-natured, jump on their hands, on their shoulders, sleep on the arms with pleasure. In Europe, Cameroonian goats are kept at home, although I can’t imagine it. They are smart, but not to such an extent – for example, I failed to teach them to go to the toilet in one place.

In the photo: Cameroon goat

There are no neighbors and gardens on our farm. Garden and goats are incompatible concepts, these animals eat all plants. Our goats walk freely both in winter and in summer. They have houses in the stable, each goat has its own, because animals, no matter what they say, value private property very much. At night, they each go into their own house, and we close them there, but they see and hear each other. It’s safer and easier, and in their house they completely relax. In addition, they should spend the night in winter at positive temperatures. Our horses are exactly the same.

In the photo: Cameroon goats

Since all the animals appeared with us at about the same time, they are not exactly friendly, but do not interfere with each other.

We are sometimes asked if you are afraid that the goats will leave. No, we are not afraid, they do not go anywhere outside the farm. And if the dog barks (“Danger!”), the goats immediately run to the stable.

Cameroon goats do not require special hair care. At the beginning of May they shed, I combed them out with an ordinary human brush, probably a couple of times a month to help shed. But this is due to the fact that it is simply unpleasant for me to look at the hanging undercoat.

In the spring, we gave the goats supplementary nutrition with calcium, since in winter there is little sun in Belarus and there is not enough vitamin D. In addition, in the spring, goats give birth, and children suck out all the minerals and vitamins.

Cameroonian goats eat about 7 times less than an ordinary village goat, so they give less milk. For example, Penelope gives 1 – 1,5 liters of milk per day during the period of active lactation (2 – 3 months after the birth of the kids). Everywhere they write that lactation lasts 5 months, but we get 8 months. The milk of Cameroon goats has no smell. From milk I make cheese – something like cottage cheese or cheese, and from whey you can make Norwegian cheese. Milk also makes delicious yogurt.

In the photo: Cameroonian goat and horse

Cameroon goats know their names, immediately remember their place, they are very loyal. When we go for a walk around the farm with dogs, goats accompany us. But if you treat them with drying, and then forget the drying, the goat may butt.

In the photo: Cameroon goat

Penelope guards the territory. When strangers come, she raises her hair on end and can even butt her – not much, but the bruise remains. And when one day a candidate for deputies came to us, Amadeo drove him to the road. In addition, they can chew on clothes, so I warn guests to wear outfits that are not too pathetic.

Photo of Cameroonian goats and other animals from the personal archive of Elena Korshak