The Boer goat is a new breed of meat goat in the
United States. Breeders know that the Boer has the
potential to do for the meat goat industry what the
European cattle has done for the beef industry. The
tremendous average daily gains (over one half pound a day
is common), conformation, hardiness, disease resistance
and foraging tenacity are all profitable characteristics
for the commercial breeder.
The Boer is a content, non jumping, intelligent and
easily managed animal which provides a totally new
dimension to goat management.
Providing a natural eradication option for brush,
rose, greenbrier, brambles and thorn tree control along
with eating weeds that are left behind by cattle allowing
for the reclamation of land that up until now has been
unsuitable for other livestock.
You will hear the term ŒNew Zealand‚,
ŒLandcorp‚, Moodie‚ (also called the
African Goat Flock), ŒReds‚ and ŒDirect
South African‚ when people are talking about the
Boer goat. The first Boers that were imported into the US
in 1993 were from New Zealand and came from two large
breeding herds, ŒLandcorp‚ and ŒMoodie The
ŒDirect South Africans‚ are goats produced from
embryos harvested in South Africa and implanted into
recipient does in Canada and then brought into the US.
The Reds are just that-Boer goats that are red bodied as
opposed to the standard white body with a red to dark
brown head.
The standard rule is that you can stock ten head of
goats where you have been stocking one cow. Multiple
births are common and a 200% kid crop is achievable in
managed herds.
Visual uniformity exists not only in the color
patterns which the South African Boer goats carry, but
also in the uniform stature and yield grades. The lack of
one or more of these traits in other breeds that have
been used for meat production has held back the
development of the meat goat industry in the US and
abroad. In the seventy plus years that the Boer goat has
been under development in South Africa this breed evolved
by natural selection practices of the breeders under the
often stressful condition of the African environment.
There is no doubt that the ideal meat goat for America is
one which will survive and thrive under any
conditions.
Each breeder should take the opportunity to set their
own ideals, while keeping within the breed standards, and
select for animals suitable for their environment.
TRI-QUEST South African Boer Goats
The following are a few points to keep in mind
as you develop your herd.
-
- HEAD: A strong head with a Roman nose which
makes a continuous curve from the lips and extending
to the nose, forehead and horns. Soft brown eyes, good
width over the nose and between the eyes and a strong
jaw with no over or under bites. Horns should be well
spaced on the head, curving gently backwards over the
neck. Ears should be long, reaching at least to the
nose, and should hang downwards from the head.
Faults: Concave forehead, straight horns,
overshot or undershot jaw, pointed jaw, blue eyes.
- NECK: The neck should be of moderate length
in proportion to the length of the body,well-fleshed
and blended smoothly in to the withers. The shoulders
should be rounded and not sharp. Faults: Neck
too long, too short or too thin, Shoulders too loose;
any structural foreleg, muscle, bone, joint or hoof
deformities or abnormalities.
- FOREQUARTERS: The ideal is a wide chest
with good depth to brisket. The front legs should be
of medium length, in proportion to the depth of the
body, and should be strong and straight-not hollow,
bandy or knock-kneed. When viewed from the front or
the rear the animals must stand BETWEEN its legs. Look
for strong pasterns and well-formed, tight hoofs which
are dark in color. Faults: Concave or sway
back; chest too cylindrical or flat; shoulders.
- BODY: The body should be long and deep with
good spring of ribs. The back should be broad and
fairly straight. Faults: Poor muscling through
the back and loin.
- HINDQUARTERS: The rump should be broad and
slope slightly down to the tail. The tail should
protrude straight up and out from the body. An
emphasis should be placed on the hindquarters because
this is the main value in a meat breed. When viewed
from behind, between the legs, look for a
ŒU‚ shape rather that a ŒV‚ shape
which would exhibit narrowness. Again, the rear legs
should be strong and well-placed and hocks should be
straight. Hockiness will not improve with age and
should be a cull fault, Buttocks and thighs should be
well-fleshed and also look for good width of hind legs
(on a side view). Faults: Short or flat rump;
insufficient or excessive muscling; shanks (knee to
hoof) too long; Œcow or sickle‚ hocked,
bowlegged or knock-kneed‚ weak pastern; hoofs
pointing inward or outward, any structural hind leg
muscle, bone , joint or hoof deformities or
abnormalities
- SKIN: Skin should be loose and supple and
bucks particularly should exhibit good skin folds on
the chest and neck. Pigmentation is important and 100%
is preferable under the tail, but a minimum of 75% is
acceptable. Eyelids and other hairless areas must be
pigmented. Faults: lack of pigmentation.
- HAIR:Short, smooth, glossy soft hair is
indicative of quality. Faults: Hair too long or
too coarse.
- COLORATION: Color is a fancy point and
secondary to conformation. Generally a stud animal
should have a white body and a red head (Varying in
shades from light brown to dark red) with the color
extending back no further than the shoulder blade.
Solid red and its variations are popular in the US and
are acceptable for registration in the American Boer
Goat Association. Faults:: Skin too lightly
pigmented.
- REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS: Does should have well
formed udders and good attachment and no more than two
functional teats per side. A split teat with two
distinctly separated milk ducts and opening with at
least 50% of the body of the teat separated is
permissible. Bucks should have two large well formed
equal sized testes in a single scrotum. The apex of
the scrotum with a split no longer than 2 inches is
acceptable. Faults: Udder and teat
abnormalities or defects, other than those specified
above, small or abnormal testes, scrotal splits larger
than 2 inches.
The overall objective is for a goat to have suitable
size with maximum meat yields, good structural
conformation which meets environmental and production
requirements, high adaptability to environmental
condition and high fertility. Animals should be strong,
vigorous, and symmetrical, with well balanced muscling.
Bucks should be masculine and well proportioned, but not
overly developed in the head, neck and forequarter making
it out of proportion with the rest of the body. Does
should be feminine, yet strong, and have a slightly more
angular chest than bucks. They should be able to breed
easily and have the conformation and constitution to
easily raise fast growing kids.
Overall, the ideal is a rapidly growing, well
proportioned goat of suitable size with the ability to
maximally produce prime cuts of meat to meet consumer
demands. A desirable relationship between the length of
leg and depth of body should be achieved at all ages with
kids and young goats being slightly longer in the
leg.
The demand for goat meat, called chevon or cabrito, is
an established and growing market. The US is currently
importing 1,080,000 pounds of processed chevon from
outside of the US, in addition to the meat that is
currently raised within the US boarders. Buyers have been
contacting Midwest producers with requests for several
hundred head of goats per week, a void that additional
producers could help to fill.
The Boer influence in crossbreeds has increased the
dressing eights from the common 40-45% to an impressive
60-65%.
The proceeding has been a condensed version of the
breed standard for the improved Boer goat as recognized
by the American Boer Goat Association (ABGA).
