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Selecting Show Wethers |
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Selecting Show Wethers |
Select a Show Kid YOU Like
Article from Goat Rancher - July 2000
By Joe Raff
Texas Agricultural Extension Service
This fact sheet was developed for the new
meat goat feeder. It has general information on the different criteria used in
selecting project meat goats. Keep in mind two things:
You will find that everyone has their own ideas about meat goats. The best advice I ever received was, "pick the one you like, sooner or later you'll find a judge that likes them too."
All of the following criteria ties together. In other word, you have to have one, to get the other.
The first item to consider when selecting a meat goat is structure. It is like building a house. Without a strong foundation, the house will crumble and fall eventually.
Structure refers to the way the skeleton of the goat fits together. Feet and legs, rump and shoulders and under the structure umbrella.
The front and hind legs should be placed on the extreme edges of the goat. Another way of looking at this is: draw an imaginary line from the outside of the shoulder to the ground. The front leg should parallel that line.
Like the front legs, draw an imaginary line from the outside of the hock bones to the ground. The hind leg should parallel this line.
The shoulders should blend smoothly into the neck and the point of the shoulders should not protrude outward in anyway. On the other end, the shoulders should blend smoothly into the fore rib.
The top (back & loin) should be relatively level from the top of the shoulder to the hook bones. A slight dip to the top, (behind the shoulders) is generally accepted,. Which brings us to the rump. The rump (like the top), should be square. In other words, the hook bones should be as wide as the pin bones.
Muscling in meat goats is very important. You can identify muscle by looking at the fore arm, handling the muscle behind the shoulder, loin and hind leg. The forearm of the goat should bulge out from the shoulder.
It should have substantial circumference and be expressive (you should be able to see the muscle behind the shoulder, loin and hind leg.)
The hind leg should have a gentle half moon shape from the rear view. The widest part of the hind leg should be the stifle (the center portion of the leg).
From the stifle, the shape should taper inward until it reached the hook. The thicker the better, providing structure, size and balance is not compromised.
Size is important in selecting meat goats. However, opposed to structure and muscling, more is not necessarily better.
What is better? Length. Even though some judges like taller meat goats, you would be hard pressed to find a judge that doesn't like one ones. And, nine times out of ten, if they're long enough, they're tall enough. Keep in mind, the longer the better.
Balance is the last and most difficult criteria to explain because it is very subjective. Balance can also be called several different things like "profile", "show", and even "quality".
It is best for the beginner to think of balance as how all the parts of the meat goat fit together. The key work to remember is "smooth".
From the side view, the meat goat should be "up headed" and proud in his stance. The neck should be long and tie in high into the chest and should blend in smoothly into the top of the shoulders and back. The top line (back, loin and rump) should be most nearly level. Again, remember it is acceptable to have a gentle slope behind the shoulders and from hocks to pins. In addition, the front and hind legs should fit squarely under the body.
This look of symmetry should also be seen from the front and rear view. Remember, all the parts fitting together, "smoothly". Again the best advice for anyone selecting meat goats is, pick one out that you like. You are the one that is going to feed, care, and show it, so you better like it!