Breeds of Goats
Dr. Beth Walker
MSU
Meat Goat Institute Class
What is a meat goat?
.
Specially – A breed that has been designed for maximum meat production and
efficiency of gain and weight per day of age.
Pyramid of Segments for the Meat Goat Business
Angora
With the loss of the Mohair incentive program, many producers have crossed
their Angoras, to Meat Breeds.
Mature weights @200 lbs for Males, 125lbs for females
Issues found in ___________ were not found in Angoras
Angora
Angoras does were crossed with Boer bucks
Crosses make excellent show prospects
Good ____________
Dairy
Many times goat judges will judge dairy breeds and meat goat breeds
Some meat goats are dairy influenced
Dairy cross does make excellent ____________
Anglo Nubian
__________________, useful for meat, milk and hide production.
It is not a heavy milk producer but has a high average butter fat content
(between four and five percent).
_______________ breeding season
_______________
Makes a good cross on boers
Alpine
The Alpine is noted for its coloration; fading shades of white into black with
white facial stripes on black.
The true characteristic of the breed is medium to shorthair.
Females weigh _____________
Males weigh _________________
Saanen
Originated in ____________________, in the Saanen Valley.
Saanen does are _________________ milk producers and usually yield 3-4
percent milk fat.
Medium to large in size (weighing approximately 145 lbs/65kg) with rugged
bone and plenty of vigor.
Oberhasli
Swiss dairy goat
Medium size, vigorous and alert in appearance.
Its color is chamois (bay) or black.
Toggenburg
________________ dairy breed
Originated in ________________________
Does weigh +120
LaMacha
The LaMancha face is straight with the ears being the distinctive breed
characteristic.
There are two types of LaMancha ears. In does one type of ear has no
advantage over the other.
"____________________" - maximum length of one inch but preferably nonexistent and with very little or no cartilage.
____________________" is described as follows: an approximate maximum
length of two inches
Breed - ????
Kinder
____________________ X ____________________
Moderate frame noted for milk and meat
Fertility
Goat – Breeding
Goats = 30 pr of chromosomes
 60 chromosomes
Genotype
Phenotype = Environment + Genotype
When selection “superior” animals, avoid the confounding
effects of a superior environment
Desirable Traits
.
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Ease of kidding
Feed efficiency

Heat resistance

Prolificacy

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Hardiness, disposition, fencing, maintenance
Wrinkles
Hoof
Attitude
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Undesirable Traits
Jaw defects

Cryptorchidism (simple recessive gene)
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Hernia
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Skeletal defects

Udder deformities
Sire vs. Dam Traits
Dam
Age of ___________
Conception rate
____________________
Mothering ability
Kidding percentage
____________________
Vigorous
kids
Sire
_________________
_____________________
_________________________
__________________________
Qualitative Traits
Controlled by a few genes
Generally not traits of economic importance
Not influenced by environment
Examples:
______________________
________________________
Quantitative traits
Influenced
by many genes at different locations
Affected by environment
Includes most of economically important traits
Examples:
Quantitative traits
Growth and carcass
Birth weight - __________ h2
Pre-wean growth - __________ h2
Post-wean growth - _____________ h2
Carcass - _________________ h2
Heritabilities
Reproductive traits –
Growth traits Milk production Carcass traits
Fiber traits –
When selecting “superior” animals, avoid confounding effects associated
with superior environments
Heritability of Reproductive Traits
Heritability of Growth Traits
Heritability of
Carcass Traits
Should you ignore lowly heritable traits
Traits less than ______________ heritable
Still able to increase prolificacy
Lifetime production highly variable
Important to select for multiple births
Short interval for goats & sheep
Example: 1
ΔG = Genetic Change
ΔG = heritability x selection differential
ΔG = .5 x 0.15 (heritability of litter size) = 0.075 or 7.5% increase in litter size
per generation if selecting both sires and dams who were multiples
If only selecting sire or dam = _______________ increase in litter size per
generation
Example: 1
Present Kidding % = __________%
Select does from herd with 200%
Selection differential = 50% or 0.5
Avg performance of selected animals
Avg performance of the general population from which the animals were selected
Why crossbreed?
Heterosis or hybrid vigor
Breed complimentarity
Used when dealing with lowly heritable traits
Tends to cover up undesirable traits
Why Crossbreed
Hybrid Vigor
Superiority of crossbred offspring
Offspring is better than the average of its two parents
An increase in the performance of hybrids over that of purebreds, most
noticeably in traits like fertility and survivability
Individual Heterosis
Advantage of crossbred lamb/kid
Carcass traits - 0
Birth weight –
Weaning wt. –
Survival to weaning - 9.8%
Lambs/ewe exposed - 15.2%
Wt of lamb weaned/ewe - 17.8%
Maternal Heterosis
Advantage of Crossbred Doe
Fertility –
Kids born/doe exposed –
Kids reared/doe exposed Wt of kids weaned/doe -
Breed complimentarity
The improved production efficiency that results from crossbreeding systems
that let strengths of the sire breed offset weaknesses of the dam breed and
strengths of the dam breed counter weaknesses of the sire breed.
What is Crossbreeding
Terminal
Rotational crosses
Roto-Terminal
Stopped
Terminal Crossbreeding
Rotational Crossing
Roto-Terminal
When to Crossbreed
To increase ______________
When using terminal sires
Rotational to maintain ________________ for reproduction and growth
Bottom half of fine wool / coarse haired flocks
Breed complimentarity
Nubian (dairy) x Meat (Boer)
Pygmy x Alpine
Angora X Meat (Boer)
Spanish X Meat (Boer)
Spanish X Angora = Spangora
Spangora X Boer = Nice kids
+ Correlations
_____________________ & prolificacy
Birth weight & _______________________
______________________ & feed efficiency
Grease fleece wt & ___________________
- Correlations
Reproductive rate & ______________________
Reproduction & ____________________________
__________________________ & wool/hair production
This explains why wool/hair breeds are not your meat breeds
Genetic Defects
Dwarfism
______________________ Lamb
Jaw defects
_______________________
Rectal ______________________
Uterine ____________________________
Entropion - ___________________________
Spina bifida
Buck Replacement
Larger herds can produce own replacements with little concern of inbreeding
Use males at 4 males to 100 females
Buck kids should have fewer nannies
If close mating should occur, offspring will usually get culled on performance
Breeding should not be work for a male
How much is that buck in the pasture?
Buck – largest genetic influence
Goals of operation?
Current = .6 lbs per day x 100 days = 60lbs
60lbs X 150 head X 1.41lb = $12,690.00
Goal = .8 lbs per day X 100 days = 80 lbs
80lbs X 150 head X 1.21 lb = 15,000
New buck is worth $2,310.00
Culling
Will vary according to production goals
3 Strikes You’re Out?
Attitude
Mothering
Structure
Teats
Injuries
Quality of offspring
Disease Resistance