Breeds of meat goats available in the United States
The Oklahoma State University publication, "Breeds of Livestock," describes one hundred and one different breeds of goats found worldwide. There are actually many more breeds than this, but in the United States we only have eight breeds of dairy goats and six breeds of meat goats. There are also two breeds of feral (wild) goats and two breeds of goats that are used for fiber (Angora and Cashmere.)
The breeds of meat goats, found in the United States today, are of very recent origin. Development of the Boer and Savanna breeds began in South Africa about sixty years ago. These breeds are probably the oldest of our meat goat breeds. Development of breeds of cattle, hogs, sheep, and dairy goats began about 200 years ago. It takes time to make genetic improvement in livestock. For this reason there is much variation between individual goats within the various breeds of meat goats. This can be good because it enables us to make genetic improvements within these breeds easier and faster. The wide spread use of embryo transplants in goats in the past 20 years has greatly increased the rate of genetic improvement in meat goats.
Back in the late 1950s when Ken was a student of Agriculture at the University of Wisconsin, students would have friendly debates as to which breed of cattle was the best. They would try to get their professors to take sides, but the professors would always give this response: There is more variation within the breeds than between the breeds. You will be most successful with the breed that appeals to You most. When we first began looking at meat goats, we researched all of breeds available then. There are more breeds available now. We chose the Boer breed because it appealed to us most. We are very happy with that decision.
There is very important genetic material in each of the meat goat breeds. Each breed can and needs to contribute to the genetic base of our commercial meat goat herd. If we had the time and the money we would be raising all of the meat goat breeds. but our time and our money is very limited. For that reason we decided that we could accomplish more by limiting ourselves to Boers.
The breeds of meat goats, found in the United States today, are of very recent origin. Development of the Boer and Savanna breeds began in South Africa about sixty years ago. These breeds are probably the oldest of our meat goat breeds. Development of breeds of cattle, hogs, sheep, and dairy goats began about 200 years ago. It takes time to make genetic improvement in livestock. For this reason there is much variation between individual goats within the various breeds of meat goats. This can be good because it enables us to make genetic improvements within these breeds easier and faster. The wide spread use of embryo transplants in goats in the past 20 years has greatly increased the rate of genetic improvement in meat goats.
Back in the late 1950s when Ken was a student of Agriculture at the University of Wisconsin, students would have friendly debates as to which breed of cattle was the best. They would try to get their professors to take sides, but the professors would always give this response: There is more variation within the breeds than between the breeds. You will be most successful with the breed that appeals to You most. When we first began looking at meat goats, we researched all of breeds available then. There are more breeds available now. We chose the Boer breed because it appealed to us most. We are very happy with that decision.
There is very important genetic material in each of the meat goat breeds. Each breed can and needs to contribute to the genetic base of our commercial meat goat herd. If we had the time and the money we would be raising all of the meat goat breeds. but our time and our money is very limited. For that reason we decided that we could accomplish more by limiting ourselves to Boers.
What is a Meat Goat Breed?
Since we are talking about breeds of meat goats, we really need to define what we mean by a breed. The classic definition of a breed of domestic livestock is a group of animals that, through selection and selective breeding, resemble each other and uniformly pass these traits on to their offspring. While this definition would hold true for most breeds of cattle, sheep, hogs and dairy goats, it would not hold true for any of the breeds of meat goats found in the United States today. The meat goat industry has not had time to fix the important traits that we are breeding for. These traits are not uniformly passed on to offspring, but the meat goat industry is making progress in accomplishing this.
A better definition of breeds for the meat goat industry is the one quoted in Oklahoma State University's "Breeds of Livestock" as put forward by Dr. Jay L. Lush in his book The Genetics of Population: "A breed is a group of domestic animals, termed such by common consent of breeders, … a term which arose among breeders of livestock, created one might say, for their own use, and no one is warranted in assigning to this word a scientific definition and in calling the breeders wrong when they deviate from the formulated definition." Common usage within the US meat goat industry would classify each of the following as breeds under Dr. Jay L. Lush's definition even though they would not qualify under the classic definition:
1. Spanish Goats
2. Boer Goats
3. Kiko Goats
4. Savanna Goats
5. Myotonic Goats
6. Pygmy Goats
A better definition of breeds for the meat goat industry is the one quoted in Oklahoma State University's "Breeds of Livestock" as put forward by Dr. Jay L. Lush in his book The Genetics of Population: "A breed is a group of domestic animals, termed such by common consent of breeders, … a term which arose among breeders of livestock, created one might say, for their own use, and no one is warranted in assigning to this word a scientific definition and in calling the breeders wrong when they deviate from the formulated definition." Common usage within the US meat goat industry would classify each of the following as breeds under Dr. Jay L. Lush's definition even though they would not qualify under the classic definition:
1. Spanish Goats
2. Boer Goats
3. Kiko Goats
4. Savanna Goats
5. Myotonic Goats
6. Pygmy Goats
Come Visit Us and See Our Herd
We are located in north central Arkansas, twenty miles south of Missouri.
Ralph is four miles south of Yellville, Arkansas, on Highway 14.
We are two miles west of Ralph on County Road 5040.
Ken and Candy Ziemer
1656 MC 5040, Yellville, Arkansas 72687
(870) 449-6789
Ralph is four miles south of Yellville, Arkansas, on Highway 14.
We are two miles west of Ralph on County Road 5040.
Ken and Candy Ziemer
1656 MC 5040, Yellville, Arkansas 72687
(870) 449-6789
