Fun With Color Genetics

One of the things I have come to love about goat breeding is color genetics. With our Nigerians I am rarely surprised by colors and patterns in the kids that are born; once you understand the rules of the color pattern genetics and know the genotypes of the goats you are breeding it all becomes quite predictable. The moonspotting gene, however, has a mind of its own! Moonspotting is a dominant trait (like polled or blue eyes) but there is great variation in how it is expressed. This breeding season I began playing around with coat color in our Boer goats. My first babies from my color genetics experiment were born this weekend- what fun! I crossed a mostly black doe with a solid gold moonspotted buck and got two beautiful doelings. One is solid red-gold with a light moonspot over her face and darker moonspots scattered on her sides. The second little girl is solid red as well but is so heavily moonspotted she is nearly one huge moonspot! in pictures she looks white but it is actually a beautiful pearl color.

Our New Herd Sire

The exact buckling I had been hoping for from was born on March 5th. He is out of Prairie Wood Bonita Chica by Itty Bitty Acres Huckleberry. This cross has turned out such great kids that Jennifer has done the same breeding three years in a row. I am super excited to add him to our herd! He is from Thundering Hooves where my favorite doe, Springbok, is from, as well as my darling Nova. I love using black and white bucks so that all the color pattern genotypes in my herd are expressed in the babies. He has blue eyes and is moonspotted as a bonus! I am still working on a name...

Photo courtesy of Thundering Hooves Ranch