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What is the
Objective for your Boer Goat Herd?
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If you
take a trip and don't know where you are going,
how will
you know when you get there?
You must clearly understand why you are raising your
animals. Look at our article about the different
Categories of the Boer Goat industry. You may be focusing on several
different categories but you must evaluate specific animals against only one
category. One animal cannot have two primary objectives. If your primary focus
for certain animals is on show quality, they cannot also have a primary focus on
breeding quality. Many South African breeders have told us "A winning show
animal is not always the best breeding animal". You can always have a
secondary objective for animals but you have to know what is the primary
objective to help identify what features are more important than other features.
I have had one of the best known US breeders and judge
tell me "You can't break down an animal into individual
features for evaluation. You have to look at the overall animal".
Yet after saying this, he will review the winners at a show by discussing the
strengths and weaknesses of each animals individual features." This
breeder/judge is subconsciously looking at these individual features and
summarizing them in his mind. You have to realize that different features have
different importance in different categories. It is also important to understand
that different features will distract or complement primary features.
We break down the features into different categories that
can have different weights associated with them for helping evaluate the
animals. The features for these categories will be identified with more detail
later.
Categories for Evaluation
- Capacity for Producing Meat and Hides- All boer
goats eventually have an objective of producing goat meat if the industry is
to grow and be meaningful. They cannot be ONLY a show animal unless they are
put into a pet category. The reason for showing is a marketing approach
of comparing different animals. Therefore it is a critical category to
evaluate the opportunity of an animal to carry a large amount of meat by a
specific age. This includes the total weaning weight of kids from a doe rather
than just one single heavy kid. This is our primary category. If they don't
show the capacity of producing a large amount of meat, we will reject the
animal for our herd.
- Capability for Long Productive Life - Once we
find an animal with a good capacity for producing meat, we want them to be
able to survive and be able to make an efficient living for a long time in
order to get the maximum output from our investment in it.
- Ability to Breed/Raise Kids Efficiently - After
finding an animal that has the capacity for producing large amounts of meat
and has the capability for making an efficient living for a long time, we want
to ensure that the animal has the ability to breed properly and raise the kids
with minimum help.
- Show Quality - If we can get all of the
capability of the other categories and have an animal with show qualities,
that will be a big plus and be considered a premium animal.
Our farm has the following objectives:
- Top quality breeding animals that
MAY qualify for
showing. We focus more on ensuring the animals can produce quality kids
than having all of the cosmetic features that do not add value in producing
meaty, fast growing, healthy kids. Our does must be able to wean kids at
3 months old with a combined weight around the weight of the doe. For
example, if a doe weighs 140 lbs., she should have a total kids weight of
around 140 lbs at 3 months old. A 140 lb. doe weaning 140 lbs of kids is 100%
efficient
(140 kids wt./140 doe wt.) We will give first time mothers a
break since they are more likely to have a single kid but the single should
have a weaning weight around 1/2 the mother's weight...50% = 70lb./140lb. We
focus on meaty rear-end, long, wide and deep body with heavy bone structure.
- Top quality show wethers with good breeding percentage
does as a secondary. We focus on percentage does that will produce buck kids
that fit the criteria for top show wethers. If a doe produces top show
wethers, the doe kids will be considered for adding to our herd or selling as
a premium percentage doe. We expect show wethers to be 60 to 80 lbs at 3
months weaning and around 100 lbs at 6 months old. We focus on meaty rear-end,
long, wide and deep body with heavy bone structure.