Articles
I would like to thank Coni for allowing me to reprint her article here. I value and respect her opinion.
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Re: Meat Goats/Fullblood Boers
Last weekend, I was at a goat conference in Lexington, NE. There was a question posed: How much value is there in the rack on a goat?
The Spanish goat, and the average goat that goes through the auction has so little rack that the meat goes into the ground or trimming cut.
If you look at the modern market show wether, you will see that most of those goats have a rack that is cuttable. The market wether producer has selected breeding animals with a muscle over that ribcage that will stand up off of the ribs in a definite rack. Goats with a carcass like that bring top prices at the auction, and win shows in the show ring. They have a rack like a lamb.
A fullblood Boer with a rack like that won Grand Champion buck at ABGA Nationals. He was very long, he was very thick, and he was very muscular. He was deep bodied, not fat, and very masculine, with a big bold head. So, now I ask you, what is wrong with a goat that is a beautiful fullblood Boer with a carcass like that?
We need to keep in mind that we sell bucks to commercial producers, and if they can sell their kids from that buck for top prices, they will be back for more bucks in the future.
I have put hands on thousands of goats, and some of those 'old fashioned' full blood Boers had no rack. The American rancher has developed a carcass animal out of their genetics that would win in a carcass contest every time. Not to knock old genetics, I have lots of those old genetics, with CODI blood lines, and the goats I have do have a muscle over the top of that ribcage (rack). It is not just old fashioned vs. modern.
Many of those original goats that came out of quarantine from New Zealand had genetic problems from line breeding too long. They did not start with enough different bloodlines to avoid it. We saw animals with a bad mouths, ewe necks, poor legs, and pasterns, sloppy top lines, and a pinched heart girth.
The pinched heart girth is visible just behind the elbow. The skeleton is pinched in there, and the organs are pushed back into the abdominal cavity; thus, many of the early Boer Goats has a big belly. This was not from body capacity, it was from that pinch in the heart girth.
The long smooth goat is not a tube goat if there is depth from front to back. Look at a doe that is correct: she should have a feminine wedge, not look tubular. A buck should have a masculine appearance, with depth of body, and length of body, not a shallow body. I do like some wrinkles, but do not like excessive wrinkling. In Texas, those wrinkles if excessive can harbor insect pests, and cause problems. I have also seen fungus be chronic in some of the old bucks in those folds.
I think that when some people think a goat is a tube goat, they do not recognize that the goat merely does not have a belly.
Someone on this list said last week that ALL pasture goats had bellies. That is not true. Goats on poor forage may have a belly, but goats can be fat and not have a belly. A belly is often from consumption of poor quality hay or forage, filling up the digestive tract with non digestible vegetation. I do not own a goat with that huge belly.
MY commercial does are all % Boer X Cashmere, and they are very vigorous, have natural worm immunity, and they do not have bellies. They are big, robust, smooth, and not tube goats either.
The appearance of a TUBE may be because the goat in question has a round ribcage with muscle over the top of that ribcage (a rack) one of the most valuable cuts of meat. (if it is there). I do not breed a buck that does not
have that muscle over the top of the ribs.
I do think that the Boer goat can produce the best carcass animal out there, and is very valuable to the meat market. Again, if we want to sell them to the commercial breeder, we need to concentrate on the sound, healthy buck with lots of muscle.
By the way, a lot of my fullblood kids become market wethers. Not every buck born is or should be used as a stud goat.
I think we just have some confusion over semantics.
Coni Ross
A Doe's Revenge
Author unknown
Doe's Secret Code of Honor
3- For every bell, beeper, camera or whistle they attach to you, kidding must be delayed by at least one day for each item. If they use an audio monitor, one good yell per hour will keep things interesting.
4- If you hear the words, "She's nowhere near ready. She'll be fine while we're away for the weekend," Wait until they load the car, then begin pushing! 5- Owner stress must be at an all time high! If you are in the care of someone else, ten to fifteen phone calls a day is a sign you're getting close.
6- When you hear the words "I can't take it anymore!" wait at least three more days.
7 - You must keep this waiting game interesting. False alarms are mandatory! Little teasers such as looking at your stomach, pushing your food around in the bucket and then walking away from it, and nesting, are always good for a rise. Be creative and find new things to do to keep the adrenaline pumping in those who wait.
8- The honor of all goats is now in your hands. Use this time to avenge all of your barn mates, think about your friend who had to wear that silly costume in front of those people. Hang onto that baby for another day. OH, they made him do tricks too! Three more days seems fair. Late feedings, the dreaded diet, bad haircuts, those awful wormings can also be avenged at this time.
9- If you have fulfilled all of the above and are still not sure when to have the kids, listen to the weather forecast on the radio that has been so generously provided by those who wait. Severe storm warning is what you're waiting for. In the heart of he storm jump into action! The power could go out and you could have the last laugh. You have a good chance of those who wait missing the whole thing while searching for a flashlight that works! 10- Make the most of your interrupted nights. Beg for food each time someone comes into the barn to check you. Your barn mates will love you as the extra goodies fall their way too.
Remember, this code of honor was designed to remind man of how truly special
goats are. Do your best to reward those who wait with a beautiful doeling to carry on the Doe Code of Honor for the next generation of those who wait!
1- No kid shall be born until total chaos has been reached by all involved. Your owner's house must be a wreck, their family hungry and desperate for clean clothes, and their social life nonexistent.
2- "Midwives" must reach the babbling fool status before you kid out. Bloodshot eyes, tangled hair and the inability to form a sentence mean the time is getting close.
So, I'll try to tell you some things I've noticed about young bucks from fifteen years of raising and selling them. I don't know it all and others can offer more insights, but this might help out the first time owner of a young buck a little bit.
Some young bucks go to their new home and take off like firecrackers, no problems, only thing holding them back is they might be too short at four - six months of age to reach mature does.
But, for the many other young bucks who have "problems" it's usually caused by unreal expectations of their inexperienced owners. A young buck, even if he is up to a year old, that is suddenly taken from the only home he's known and tossed into a herd of large mature does, whom many are in heat, well, folks, it scares that poor young guy to death. These mature does are expecting him to immediately breed every single one of them right that instance and repeatedly. And, if he doesn't, they ride him! Why, he's flabbergasted. Here he's not at home and all these big strangers are after him! Heavens!
The pressure! He's never done this before and the expectations are high to immediately get to work right now, both from the does and from the owner. Who, by the way is calling him names, sounding disgusted, and calling his beloved previous owner, Connie, terrible names too.
And, too often, the first time young buck owner has waited until the last minute to get a buck and is under a time pressure that these girls have to be bred today if they are going to have kids to sell in such and such a month. The breeding has to be done today and finished by the end of the week!
Well, you might as well sit back and chill out. That young buck has to get comfortable, use to his surroundings a bit, understand that the goats crowding him aren't coming in for the kill, but for something else entirely. If you have a time table to keep and planned on getting a young inexperienced buck, plan well in advance to get him there and get him comfortable and get his confidence built
up. He's never done this before. Maybe "sacrifice" a doe or two early to him to experiment on. She'll kid sooner then anyone else, but at least he'll be ready to service the other girls with more experience and less wasted motion.
Recently I had a fellow call complaining about a young buck he had just purchased. It seemed the fellow had taken this young buck directly from his beloved home and had thrown him out into a herd of 70 does, all wanting him. The young buck froze up, terrified. Well, culture shock would be a good word and also unreal expectations. Even an older experienced buck couldn't have gotton 70 does bred in two days.
Another unreal expectation is that a buck can breed indefinitely, without stopping for rest or to build that sperm back up again. A first time owners frequently complaint is he's just ignoring them. Think, sometimes these bucks breed at night, and not under your inquiring eyes. Sometimes they need a breather before they start again. Catch their breaths, get a drink, something to eat, a nap, something to restore them and then they will be more then willing to
get back to work.
Also a buck needs to be reasonably healthy to breed. He has to have been wormed, fed well, looked after to do his job. He will run himself into the ground breeding, once he catches on. You have to take care of him. If he acts sluggish, take his temp. A buck with a temp will not feel like breeding and will be sterile for a least a month after he has gotton over his illness. After that, if properly cared for, he's good as new and ready to work.
So, buy your inexperienced buck plenty of time in advance of when you need him to breed. Put him on the other side of the fence of the beauties you want him to breed. Let him look at them, lust over them, and then when it's time to put him in, he'll be willing to learn.
My own beloved older buck, Nico, as a youngster, took three heat cycles before he caught on how to breed. He would be terribly embarrassed if he knew I told you this, but he sure has made up for it since. He was one of the worse young bucks I've ever seen to finally catch on and what a pro he is today.
So, I hope these insights will help the new first time young buck owner. And, cut that young buck a little slack.
Connie Reynolds - Autumn Farm
Ravenswood, WV
http://www.autumnfarmboers.com
Quality not Quantity.
Ruth Hicklen (256) 423-3999 hm, cell (256) 278-8759
28601 Bethel Rd Toney AL 35773-8319
Ardmore AL/TN line. Ardmore>Toney>Huntsville AL area
Limestone County, NW Alabama
Home of Coni T458 = Renegade son of Ennobled Warrior