Most of what I practice now in the breeding of my dairy goats I learned from the breeding of gamefowls. When a rooster and a hen, or in the case of dairy goats, produce outstanding offspring, you have to take note of this genetic jackpot and safeguard both parents.

For as long as they are still productive, you will continue to produce outstanding milkers.

Your only problem is the fact that goats and chicken, like human beings, have a productive phase in their lifetime and will ultimately die. goats could be productive up to the age of 8 to 10 years. This is where the understanding of simple genetics matters most.

I will no longer befuddle you with the gregor mendell theories on genetics. (but if you want to understand the more complicated genetic process, you could go to the internet and search “line breeding goats.” you will get a lot of inputs.) simple na lang gagawin natin.

How do you reproduce your outstanding buck and dam which give you prolific milkers?

We use a form of inbreeding which is called line breeding.

The female offspring of the genetic jackpot is bred back to the sire while the male offspring is bred back to the mother.

The father x daughter and son x mother mating is designed to copy the genetic design of the original parents. but you don’t stop with the first backcross.

In the first mating of father x daughter and son x mother, you will produce offsprings that theoritically will carry 3/4 of the genetics of either parents.

The next step is again to breed the father x granddaughter/daughter (or what we call the double daughter) and the double son x mother/grandmother.

What you will produce here will be offsprings that will separately carry 7/8 of the genetics of each of the parents.

For some, that level is sufficient to produce what could be considered as replicas of the original parents.

but there are purists who would like to go one level higher. they go to a third backcross, mating back the triple daughter to the original sire and the triple son to the original dam to produce animals which would carry 15/16 of the genetic components of the original parents.

with the breeding materials carrying 15/16 of the genetic components of both parents, you can go back to what you did initially to produce the outstanding milkers – crossbreed the 15/16s from sire and dam sides.

“puede pala ‘yan sa kambing?” a flabbergasted retired general cesar cabalquinto, a new goat raising convert, asked me.

in animals yes but among human beings, it is a social taboo. it is called incest.

the only danger in this method of inbreeding is, according to geneticists, it could highlight not only the good traits but also the bad traits.

i tried doing this to my boers and i noticed that somehow some of them came out small.

what you do is when the bad traits are manifested by specific goats, you must cull, as in convert them to kinilaw at adobong kambing.

but this is the best method to perpetuate a line of outstanding milkers.

you could also breed half-brother to half-sister, cousin to cousin, nephew to aunt, uncle to niece, but the full brother-full sister mating is discouraged, except when there is no other way to perpetuate the bloodline.

in my farm now, what i do is i breed back to hidalgo clark, my outstanding spotted buck from oklahoma, his daughters because i have validated that his daughters are prolific producers. one of his daughters, green gardens barchetta recently gave birth to a buckling which is a double-son of hidalgo clark.

before my very eyes, i saw barchetta produce 2.5 liters of milk from just her right udder. the left udder was where her kid was getting the milk.

i am also breeding back alexis, alexa’s first born buck, to alexa because i want to perpetuate her milking prowess.

when i would have many hidalgo clark double daughters or triple daughters, i will breed them to the double or triple sons of alexa to produce a herd of prolific milkers.

i am doing the same thing with brown bomber and the california anglo nubians from kastdemur’s, lakeshore and elkhorn.

the same is also being done with my la manchas.

a few years from now, braveheart farms will have at least three distinct families of outstanding dairy goats. this can only be done if you have a simple understanding of genetics.

so to go back to our first post on the breeding of the dairy goats, always be on the lookout for the best milk producer in your herd.

this is where the tattooing of the ears for anglo nubians and tail webs for la mancha is very critical. in gamefowls, we punch holes in the feet webs or clip the right or left covers of the nose to identify the bloodlines.

you must be able to identify the sire and the dam. kaya hindi puede sa genetic reproduction ang herd mating because you will not be able to identify which buck or rooster produced the outstanding offspring.

now, let me repeat the caveat: i am not a veterinarian or an animal science graduate. i am just another goat and gamefowl breeder who loves to experiment and discover.

do not be afraid to experiment. i assure you, however you do it, when you breed a goat to another goat what will come out will certainly be another goat, not a satyr.

manny piñol

some people think that because we use the word “bloodline” when referring to a family of chicken or goats, the genetic buildup of our animals is in their blood.

my uncle took this word literally. when he noticed that his fighting cock could not fly very high during the sparring bouts, he decided to catch a swift and high-flying bird called “marakbak.”

he then took a syringe and drew blood from under the bird’s wings and injected this to the vein of his low-flying rooster. the following morning his rooster was dead.

there are two factors which could influence a child – hereditary and environmental. when the child looks like his father, that is hereditary influence; when he looks like the guy next door, that is environmental influence. that’s a joke, of course. he he he!

seriously, did you even wonder why ilocanos are dark-skinned, the maranaos are fair-skinned and the igorots are stocky? or why the japanese have almond eyes, the chinese are chinky and the indian’s deep-eyed?

my view is that because of the thousands of years of intermarriage among members of a clan or tribe, these nationalities have developed a genetic strain that sets them apart from other people.

when they marry among themselves, the offsprings will have predictable looks and traits.

but what would happen if you pair a long-limbed and fast-running ethiopian to the enormous samoan? honestly, i cannot predict the outcome.

the lesson here is that if you breed goats that belong to a strain of good milkers, you will certainly produce an offspring that will be a good milker too.

but even if you use an imported buck from a high milking line to cross with mongrel does, you will never be able to tell whether the offsprings will also be good milkers.

once in a while though, you hit a jackpot.

about 20 years ago, the philippine cockfighting community watched in awe as a flock of white roosters from zamboanga, popularly known as the zamboanga white, dominated the cockpits all over the country.

the white roosters were on top of all the other breeds for about five years and then they started losing.

this was the same story with the mitra roosters. they were hot for a while but soon they disappeared.

but there is a breed of fighting chickens which has consistently won over the years in the hands of different breeders. the line is called lemon 84 and this started from a lemon-hackled rooster that american breeder duke hulsey brought to the philippines.

until today, the lemon 84 line is still being used by big-time rooster breeders in major competitions and they still keep on winning.

the fleeting glory enjoyed by the zamboanga whites and the mitra asils was a perfect example of a genetic jackpot, a slam dunk of sorts. the only problem was the breeders did not know how to perpetuate the line. when the original breeding materials died, they lost the bloodline.

on the other hand, the lemon 84 breed is a perfect example of another genetic jackpot whose breeders were able to preserve the bloodline to the point that the lemon 84s of today still look like the original lemon 84 of 40 years ago.

how did the breeders of the lemon 84 preserve and perpetuate the bloodline and how can this be replicated in the perpetuation of outstanding lines of milking goats?

we will have the answers in our next installment when will talk about genetics from a layman’s perspective and in the process educate our goatraisers of how to preserve outstanding goat lines.

manny pinol

Hi everybody. this is our third installment on the lesson “breeding the dairy goat.”

let me repeat what i said earlier: i am not a veterinarian or an animal science graduate. (i hold a master’s degree in rural economic development and i am pursuing a doctorate degree in the same field now.)

but i am an avid student of animal breeding and genetics and i have the luxury of being able to perform actual experiments on both gamefowls and goats.

the breeding of an outstanding dairy goat is a hit and miss exercise. it is the same with the breeding of gamefowls or fighting roosters. the difficulty in breeding fighting roosters and milking goats is that aside from their appearance, or phenotype, you will still have to determine whether they have inherited the genetic attributes of their parents in fighting or milk production, or genotype. the problem with the genotype is it is not visible.

i may breed a grey rooster, which won six times in a derby, to a hen and produce grey stags or breed my spotted doe, sd alexa which produces up to 3.5 liters a day and get a spotted doeling. the looks are there.

but the question is: will the grey stag fight like his father and win as many times? or will the spotted doeling produce as much milk as her dam?

you will never know the answer until you fight the grey stag or you milk the spotted doeling.

it is so unlike the breeding of meat goats where the only factor to determine a successful breeding is the size of the offspring. the outcome is immediately visible and you can discontinue the breeding if the kids are not healthy or not as big as the parents.

so to the prospective dairy goat farmer, a word of advice: do not be awed by the information that this goat or that goat came from australia or america. that is not an assurance that it will milk.

i have seen many impressive australian anglo nubians. and also american dairy goats. perfect appearance, roman nose and pendulous ears. but i was told they do not produce as much milk. so, what’s the point breeding them?

dairy goat and gamefowl breeding is just like gold mining. when you start with proven breeding materials,it is just the same as seeing and following a gold vein. all you have to do is dig and pray that the vein leads you to the mother lode.

in gamefowl breeding, we call that jackpot a “nick.” don’t ask me where the word came from. i don’t have any idea. it happens when the mating of a rooster and a specific hen produces offsprings which are winners.

do not expect to hit that jackpot when you breed a labuyo (philippine wild rooster) to a kabir hen or when you breed a pair of mongrel goats.

when acquiring your breeding materials, do not be afraid to ask the breeder: what is the milk production record of the dam and what is the genetic background of the buck? if both have outstanding track records in milk production, your chances of hitting the jackpot are greater.

so lesson No. 3, even when acquiring breeding materials of your dairy goats from a proven line, always ask for the specific performance of the parents of the stocks you are acquiring.

with that, and with a little luck, the mother lode of gold is just five months away.

manny pinol

In the U.s., the most popular variety of milk for consumption is cow’s milk. This of type milk is popular among Americans of all ages. Nevertheless, if you are going to compare it with the rest of the people of the world, you will realize that in terms of global popularity, goat milk outshines cow milk by a large margin.

Unlike cow’s milk, goat’s milk is much easier to digest as it contains smaller fat globules. Furthermore, the good cholesterol and Vitamin A that can be found in goat milk are readily absorbed by the body and brain than cow milk, meaning it could be used almost instantly. Other advantages of goat milk over cow milk include: its alkaline reaction which is similar to a mother’s milk not like cow milk which has an acidic reaction; goat milk is better suited to asthmatics and people with allergies as it does not cause mucus build-up; it also contains more natural germicidal properties as it is richer in chlorine, fluorine and silicon; and goat milk aids in preventing constipation considering that it is beneficial to the intestinal tract.

Taking all these benefits into account it is no wonder that goat milk is one of the primary reasons why a lot of farmers are into raising goats than any other livestock in the world; and it is growing in popularity in the U.S. and here in the Philippines. The American Dairy Goat Association recognizes six types of goat breeds as dairy goats or those that produce good quality goat milk.

Here are dairy goat information for your appreciation:

1) Nubian goat – breed has different colors with long, floppy ears, convex nose, and large structure. The breed is known to be more stubborn compared to other dairy goat breed and their unique noise sounds like the goats are complaining. Its milk has higher butter fat and protein content than other dairy goats.

2) Alpine goat – breed can have different colors except all white and light brown with white markings. It has a straight face, standing ears, and medium body built. It is a common dairy goat breed because of the amount of milk it is able to produce.

3) La Mancha – breed can be of any color. One of its distinct characteristics is that it has almost unnoticeable ear. It is relatively small but very sturdy and still able to produce milk while undergoing a great deal of hardship. Its milk is high in butterfat.

4) Oberhasli – breed is chamois colored. It is medium built, energetic and active, and has a straight face. It is a Swiss dairy goat.

5) Toggenburg – breed varies in color from light fawn to dark chocolate. It is medium built, sturdy, energetic, and active. It is know to be the oldest dairy goat breed and noted for its highly developed udder and high level of milk production.

6) Saanen – breed is usually pure white in color. Its size is medium to heavy built, with straight or dished face. Its does are heavy milk producers and yield best in much cooler environment.

The many dairy goat breeds provide the goat raiser with a lot of choices; thus, making it easier for him to find out the most suitable breed of dairy goat depending on his requirement and farm environment. Given the right dairy goat, the goat raiser will then profit in the many benefits of goat milk. Pioneering dairy goat producers in the Philippines successfully breed and produce profitable volume for the local market.

Every goat raiser needs to have proper recording system from the start in order to enter the goat raising venture the right way. Goat Farm Supply is now ready to serve you in your goat raising venture basic gadget needs. Available online and can be ship anywhere in the Philippines for FREE. Goat Farm Supply is an official sponsor of FGASPAPI website which you are accessing right now. FGASPAPI.com website is online for almost three years now and will continually provide you informations about goat raising venture in the Philippines.

Raising goats in the Philippines for meat does not need to be a very painful or expensive process… if you know how — that is. Although goat meat farming can entail a lot of your time, the profits from this venture are indeed noteworthy. In order to successfully launch your goat farm, here are a couple of things you need to do first.

1. Develop a forage area in your farm that is large enough to sustain the number of goats you plan to raise. Common rule of the thumb is for every twenty five goats you have, you need one hectare of forage area to sustain there feed requirements.

2. Choose goat breeds that you can take care of with minimal fuss. Most novice goat farmers immediately choose animals which they think will have higher meat yield and are imported. That choice could be favorable — if you can make your farming practice work, that is. But the truth is: when it comes to raising goats for meat though, your first area of concern is the type of breed you can raise.

Boers (also known as South African Boer goats) and Anglo nubian goats are the most favored meat producing breeds in the country. These animals have larger bodies and not prone to become fat even on an intensive diet. Goats like these also grow up very quickly, which means that their meat can be harvested in a short amount of span only. These animals are indeed noted to have the highest amount of harvestable meat per animal. However, Boers, Saanen and Anglo nubians would also need extensive care and a very specific kind of diet.

On the other hand, there are some people who favor raising Philippine native goats instead. Unlike Boers and Anglo nubian goats, these animals have adapted to the tropical weather in our country, diet or temperature. Although not as heavily built as the Boers or the Anglo nubian, the Philippine native goats do have a high reproduction rate; and that is always a plus factor when it comes to raising goats for meat.

If you are not particularly sure as to what breed you ought to get, you can start with a high breed Anglo nubian or boer buck and breed it to your native goats to improve there offspring.

Mulberry improved feed quality significantly. Nearly 34 percent higher milk yield was recorded when mulberry was provided once a day. Crude protein content in leaves varies from as low as 15% to 28% depending on the variety, age of the leaves and growing conditions. In general, crude protein values can be considered similar to most legume forages.

Fibre fractions are low in mulberry leaves compared to other foliages. A striking feature of mulberry leaves is the mineral content, with ash values up to 25%. Typical calcium contents are around 1.8-2.4% and phosphorus 0.14-0.24%. Espinoza et al. (1999) found potassium values of 1.90-2.87% in leaves and 1.33-1.53% in young stems, and magnesium contents of 0.47-0.63% for leaves and 0.26-0.35% for young stems. Preferred type variety of mullberry is the MORUS NIGRA.

Goats of any breed or crossbreed are eventually slaughtered for human consumption. With the exception of the South African Boer goat imported via New Zealand in early 1993, there are no true meat goats breeds in the U.S. However, there are few breeds that stand out as more specialized for meat production. These are the Spanish, Myotonic, Nubian and Pygmy goats.

A clear indication that the meat goat industry is expanding is shown by the 13% increase in the number of goats sold through NC auction markets, from 27,874 in 1995 to 31,503 in 1996. Few crossbred animals having Boer genetics have yet been sold for meat. However, this is going to change in the near future because many producers have purchased purebred or ½ blood Boer bucks in 1996 due to the dramatic decrease in price of those animals. Boer genetics are finally becoming affordable and higher quality carcasses will soon be seen on the market.

Boer

The Boer goat of South Africa owes its name to the Dutch word “boer” meaning farm . The origin of Boer goats its vague and probably rooted in indigenous goats kept by Hottentot and migrating Bantu tribes, with a possible infusion of Indian and European bloodlines. The present-day improved Boer goat emerged in the 20th century, when South African farmers started breeding for a meat type goat with good conformation, high growth rate and fertility, short white hair and red markings on the head and neck. The South African Boer Goat Breeder’s Association was founded in 1959 to establish breed standards for the emerging breed. Since 1970 the Boer goat has been incorporated into the South African National Mutton Sheep and Goat Performance and Progeny Testing Program, which makes the Boer goat the only known goat breed routinely involved in performance and progeny tests for meat production. There are approximately 5,000,000 Boer goats in Africa, of which 1,600,000 are of the improved type.

New Zealand and Australian companies have imported the Boer goat into their respective countries for improving their own meat goat industries. In April of 1993, the quarantine restrictions for the New Zealand Boer goats expired and animals became available for importation into the U.S. The Australian Boer goats will be released in October 1995. In June 1993, the North American Boer Goat Association was founded, breed standards were established and registry of animals was begun. According to New Zealand researchers, the plane of nutrition plays a greater role than the light/dark cycle for Boer goats to breed out of season.

Male Female
Live weight (lbs) Avg Max Avg Max
Yearlings 100 180 80 135
Adults 250 290 140 200

Spanish

The Spanish goat came originally from Spain via Mexico to the USA. It is now a meat type goat found primarily on or around the Edwards Plateau of Central Texas. The Spanish goat has the ability to breed out of season and is an excellent range animal because of its small udder and teats. In addition, Spanish goats are usually characterized as being very hardy, able to survive and thrive under adverse agroclimatic conditions with only limited management inputs. Within the general group of “Spanish goats” there are those that are purely Spanish, whereas others represent an amalgam of all genotypes introduced to the area. There have been obvious infusions of dairy and Angora blood in many Spanish herds but no organized attempt has ever been made to use them for milk or mohair production. The term “wood” (Florida), “brush” or “briar” (North Carolina, South Carolina), “hill” (Virginia), and “scrub” (Midwest Pennsylvania) goat tends to be used in the Southeast and elsewhere. Until recently, these goats were kept mainly for clearing brush and other undesirable plant species from pasture lands. In recent years, the escalating demand for goat meat and the expanding interest in cashmere production have focused attention on the Spanish goat. Current estimates of the Spanish goat population is around 500,000 heads. Several Spanish goat producers in Texas have been intensively selecting for increased meat production for the past several years. From information obtained from these producers, these “selected” Spanish goats appear to greatly outperform the ordinary Spanish goat used primarily for pasture maintenance.

Myotonic

The Myotonic goat has several aliases including “Tennessee Stiff-Leg”, “Tennessee Wooden-leg”, “Nervous Goat”, “Fall-Down Goat” and “Fainting Goat”. The Myotonic goat is a very meaty and muscular animal. This goat breeds out of season, and in many herds it is usual for does to kid twice a year. Number of kids vary from single to four. The Myotonic goat suffers from a recessive trait called myotonia. When frightened, it experiences extreme muscle stiffness causing extension of hind limbs and neck. In this startled state, if unbalanced, the animal will topple over like a statue or will stand immobile until the attack, usually lasting only 10-20 seconds, passes. According to a Texas neurologist, this type of involuntary isometric muscle contraction could build a more tender muscle than a muscle developed by strenuous use. Little known about the earliest history of this breed except that in the early 1880′s a man appeared in Marshall County, Tennessee with a cow, three does and a buck of a unique strain. These four goats suffered from myotonic spells and were purchased by a Dr. Mayberry who propagated the breed. The population of Myotonic goats is informally estimated to be around 3,000 to 5,000 heads, with herds found primarily in Tennessee and Texas.

Nubian

The Nubian goat, also called Anglo-Nubian, is considered a dual- purpose goat breed used for milk and meat production. This breed was developed in England and is a composite of dairy goat breeds from India, Europe and Africa. Brought into the USA at the beginning of this century, the Nubian has become the most popular US dairy goat breed, with over 100,000 registered breeding stock.

Pygmy

The Pygmy is a dwarf, heavily muscled and short legged goat from Nigeria in West Africa. The Pygmy found its way to the Caribbean and North America as a by-product of the slave trade in the 18th century. In West Africa, the Pygmy is used almost exclusively for meat production. The pygmy is well adapted to humid climates, it usually breeds all year and twinning is frequent. In the USA, the Pygmy has so far been raised mainly as a pet and over 30,000 animals are currently registered with the National Pygmy Goat Association. The Piedmont Pygmy Goat club has three sanctioned shows a year, the NC Fair Pygmy Goat Show and two other shows held at the Agricultural Barn in Greensboro in spring and fall.

Kiko

The Kiko was developed over two decades of intensive selection from New Zealand feral goatstock. The Kiko is thought to be a vigorous, hardy, large frame, and early maturing animal that doesn’t need pampering.

PRODUCTION TRAITS

Four key traits to be considered for genetic improvement in goats used primarily for meat production are the following: 1) adaptability to environmental and production conditions, 2) reproductive rate, 3) gross rate and 4) carcass characteristics. Of these four production traits, only carcass characteristics are not readily measurable on the farm. With good record keeping and a set of scales, the meat goat producer can collect the information needed to measurably increase the productivity of his/her meat goat enterprise.

Adaptability

This trait is the most important of all the reproduction traits. The profitability of any meat goat enterprise may be greatly diminished if an animal’s ability to survive and reproduce is impaired by the production environment. The goat has proven to be perhaps the most adaptable of all the domesticated livestock. Indeed, the goat survives worldwide in a wide range of environmental conditions. However, when taken out of one environment and placed into another, domesticated livestock may not always realize its production potential. Therefore, we might expect Spanish goats to perform differently in the Carolinas and Virginia than they do on the arid Edwards Plateau of Texas. Similarly, Boer goats might perform differently in South African then they do in North American. In addition, different degrees of adaptability exist between breeds. For example, we might expect Spanish goats to be inherently better adapted to extensive, browsing conditions than Tennessee Stiff-leg goats.

Adaptability is a lowly heritable trait because natural selection has already reduced the genetic variability. Therefore, adaptability will respond slowly to selection.

Reproductive Rate

In animals kept primarily for meat production, reproductive rate is the single most important factor contributing to the efficiency of production. Reproductive traits of interest in meat goat enterprise would be conception rate, kidding rate, and ability to breed out of season.

In general, goats have a high reproductive rate with conception rate not being a problem. Several studies have demonstrated that although twins and triplets have no lower birth and weaning weights have slower growth rates, they produce more total weight of kid per doe per year. Therefore, prolificacy, defined as the number of kids born per doe, is an important reproduction trait. Goats that have evolved in the temperature zones of the world tend to be seasonal breeders, with females coming into estrus in the fall and anestrus occurring in late spring. This breeding pattern does not always coincide with the optimal marketing period of weaned kids. On the other hand, goats from tropical regions are non-seasonal breeders and kid all year-round. Therefore, incorporating this trait of non-seasonality into a meat goat enterprise would be advantageous.

Growth rate

Growth rate can be effectively divided into two periods: pre-weaning average daily gain and post-weaning average daily gain. A high pre-weaning average daily gain not only reflects the genetic potentiall of the growing animal, but also the mothering ability of the doe. In some production systems, kids are sold at weaning and therefore pre-weaning average daily gain is an important production trait to consider. In other production systems kids are sold as yearlings or as older animals and post-weaning average daily gain becomes an important production factor.

Carcass characteristics

Carcass characteristics of interest are dressing percentage, anatomical distribution of muscle and the ratios of lean:fat:bone. Generally, the dressing percentage of goats is around 50%. As an animal grows, the percentage of fat in the carcass tends to increase, the percentage of bone tends to decrease whereas the percentage of lean muscle stays about the same. The portions of the carcass with the largest muscle mass are the leg and shoulder. However, percentage wise, these portions tend to decrease as the animal grows.

NOTE: Portions of the material printed here was originally published in the “Meat Goat Production and Marketing Handbook”.

There’s a lot of hoopla surrounding meat goats. The South African Boer goat has almost single-handedly transformed the “lowly” meat goat industry into a force to be reckoned with. It’s now fashionable to raise goats, especially if they have red heads.

There has been a large increase in the number of goats being raised for meat, especially in the Southeast; though, it is difficult to document since agricultural statistical services don’t even have a separate category for meat goats. USDA statistics list dairy and fiber goats, but meat goats fall into their “other” category. Where I live, goats easily outnumber sheep and I’m sure that’s the case in many other locations. Meat goat shows are popping up at many of our county and state fairs. Sheep judges are being asked to place meat goat classes.

Like lamb, the demand for goat meat outpaces the domestic supply. Population demographics have changed and the majority of immigrants now coming to the U.S. have a preference for sheep and goat meat in their diets. Of course, also like lamb, imports are only too eager to fill the gap. In fact, goat producers face even more difficult challenges from imports than sheep people. Goat meat imports are incredibly cheap; often the only cost another country has is rounding up its feral goats. Meat purveyors in my area can purchased whole goat carcasses or cut -up goat meat for less than $2 per pound. Goat producers are not organized enough to get trade relief like the sheep industry. Moreover, while the lamb industry can play the “quality” card – American lamb is generally thought to be the best in the world – “a goat is a goat is a goat.” Thus far, taste panel tests have not shown a preference for goat meat from superior genetics, such as the Boer.

Strong demand also does not denote a strong market. The infrastructure is lacking in the goat business. The middlemen are the ones making most of the money. There is no grading system for live goats or goat carcasses. USDA is currently working to remedy this situation. Meat goats are generally not weighed at livestock auctions. The lack of weights and uniform standards makes it difficult for producers to follow the markets and know where the best place and/or when the best time is to sell their goats.

ASI admitted goat producers into its membership about a year ago. I think the Maryland Sheep Breeders should do the same; in fact, recruit them. I’m sure some sheep people are asking themselves if they should raise meat goats, either as a companion enterprise to sheep or as 4-H projects. Many rural persons who would have previously opted to raise sheep or cattle are giving meat goats serious consideration.

Raising meat goats is quite similar to raising sheep for meat. An enterprise budget would reveal approximately the same profit (or loss) potential. The same resources are required, the same amount of labor is needed. But there are some differences between the animals that you should know before getting started.

Some facts and (personal) observations about goats:

• Goats demand more attention than sheep. They are friendlier and probably make better pets.
• Goats do not like to get wet and will seek shelter in the rain.
• Goats like to climb and jump and require higher fences and gates in confinement areas.
• Goats prefer to browse. They will get on their hind legs to eat.
• Goats do not herd or flow through handling equipment as well as sheep.
• Goats can be contained in properly constructed high-tensile, electric fences.
• Male goats have an offensive odor, especially during the mating season.
• Male goats are very aggressive and can be difficult to manage.
• Goats are seasonal breeders, just like sheep.
• Female goats have a longer estrus cycle than ewes, a 21-day average.
• Female goats have a slightly longer gestation period than ewes.
• Female goats show more visible signs of heat (estrus).
• Goats are easier to artificially breed than sheep, due to a less complicated cervix.
• Goats tend to be more prolific than sheep and generally give birth to more twins and triplets.
• Goats seem to be more susceptible to parasites in grazing situations.
• Young goats seem to be more susceptible to coccidiosis.
• The demand for goat meat is almost entirely ethnic or religiously based.
• Moslems prefer sheep meat for their major holidays and eat goat meat on much more of a year-round basis.
• There is a strong demand for mature male goats for meat, mostly from Caribbean Islanders.
• Hispanics prefer to eat young goat, which they call “cabrito.”
• Goat carcasses look very similar to sheep carcasses when they are hanging on the rail.
• Goat kids are sold at lighter weights than market lambs.
• Meat goat kids bring a higher price per pound than lambs.
• Goats deposit less fat externally and more fat internally (around the organs) than sheep.
• Intact males are preferred to castrates in the market place.
• Goats are just as susceptible to predators as other livestock.
• Goats do not grow as fast as sheep or utilize feed as efficiently.
• Goats are picky eaters and do more sorting of feed ingredients.
• Unlike sheep, goats seem to tolerate copper in their diets and can be fed supplements containing copper, including broiler litter.
• Most goats (both sexes) are naturally horned. Natural polledness is associated with an intersex condition in goats.

This article appeared in the December 2000 issue of the American Sheep Industry News.