Breeding Hardy Boer Meat Goats

Breeders of Kiko, Savanna, Myotonic, and Spanish meat goats all claim their breeds to be hardier than Boer meat goats. They use hardiness, resistance to internal parasites (worms in the intestinal tract,) fertility, and mothering ability as their primary selling points when promoting their breeds. There is no doubt that these are the most important characteristics for determining the profitability of commercial meat goats. Do Boers fall short in these four very important traits? The answer is some do. In fact many probably do, but they don't have to!

With the possible exception of Spanish goats, Boers have a much broader and more diverse genetic base than any of the other meat goat breeds. Several thousand full blood Boer goats were imported into the United States, while fewer than sixty animals each were imported for the Kiko and Savanna breeds. Full blood Boer goats were brought into the United States from New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, and Canada. This broad genetic base makes it easier for breeders to change and improve the Boer breed.

Because of the genetic diversity within the Boer bred, breeders who are selecting and breeding Boer goats for the very important traits of hardiness, resistance to internal parasites, fertility, and mothering ability are making faster progress than expected. The Boer breed can, and probably will, surpass the other breeds of meat goats for these traits in the near future. Breeders may even develop lines of Boer goats that never need to be wormed. This is a goal that can be accomplished if Boer breeders work together to do it.

Our experience in breeding full blood Boers has shown us that the heritability of resistance to internal parasites in Boer goats is much greater than we originally thought it would be. We have made great progress in improving our herd for this trait. When we first started breeding Boer goats, we had to worm at least three times per year. Since then we have achieved enough genetic improvement for parasite resistance to worm our doe herd only once per year. Individual Boer goats which require more frequent worming are culled. If one worms too often, one is breeding superior worms, not superior goats.

Goats are more vulnerable to internal parasites than other species of livestock. Internal parasites are a major problem when raising goats in warm wet climates. In these warm wet climates internal parasites are the primary cause of death in goats. Because the Kiko breed of goat originated in New Zealand which has a warm, wet climate many Kiko breeders insist that Kikos are more resistant to internal parasites than Boers. This might be true, but some of the research done trying to prove this is flawed. No person who has a basic understanding of population genetics, biometrics, and the history of these two breeds would even try to prove such a thing. Both of these breeds were developed very recently by crossing very diverse types of goats. Very little line breeding has been done within either breed to fix certain traits. Thus the differences between individual goats within these breeds for resistance to parasites are much greater than the differences between the breeds. It would be impossible to assemble a group of goats for research purposes that truly represented an entire breed of goats. Most of the Kiko breeders in our area are worming their Kikos more often than we worm our full blood Boer goats. We do believe that Kikos are great meat goats, and the breed is playing a very important role in our meat goat industry.

Boer breeders have developed a show goat industry that has made tremendous progress in improving the conformation of the breed for meat production. The competition among show goat breeders is fierce, and the financial stakes are very high. In breeding livestock, to make the fastest progress in improving one trait, one must select only for that trait and completely ignore all other traits. This is exactly what show goat breeders have been doing. They select only for the traits that are measured in the show ring, ignoring all other traits. To make faster improvements in their goats they use embryo transplant programs with kids being raised by surrogate mothers, usually dairy goats. Fertility and mothering ability can not be measured or selected for under these conditions. These show goats are pampered and fed very expensive, high powered, feeds. These conditions are nothing like conditions found in a viable, pasture-based, commercial, meat goat operation. Many show goat breeders worm their goats every 30 days. One could not use goats produced under these conditions for commercial goat meat production. These show goats do have valuable genetics which can be combined with genetics from hardier lines of Boer goats to produce superior meat goats. So there is a valuable niche for the show goat within the Boer breed, but they can not be used for commercial goat meat production without crossing breeding with hardier lines of Boer goats or with other breeds of meat goats.

Financial rewards for breeding meat goats for hardiness are not as high as they are for breeding winning show goats. Boer breeders, who are breeding for hardiness, can not afford to advertise the way the show goat breeders do. Thus it is more difficult for persons wanting to buy hardy Boer goats to find good breeding stock. These traits are also harder to measure in breeding stock. One often has to buy goats, take them home, and test them under pasture conditions to determine how good they are. Then one can cull the ones that aren't good enough. When buying breeding stock be careful not to pay too much for them. The great cattle breeder, Tom Lasater once wrote: "One can not make progress breeding livestock by purchasing expensive animals. One does not have the heart to knock a ten thousand dollar lemon in the head." Remember, culling is the most important tool one can use in breeding livestock.

Ralph is four miles south of Yellville, Arkansas, on Highway 14.
We are two miles west of Ralph on County Road 5040.