Polled Goat Breeding
Polled Goat Breeding
Is It Best to Add Only Polled Goats to a Herd?
How About Breeding Polled Dam to Polled Sire?
I learned the answer at Tiny Hill Farm's Goat Care Class on Goat genetics. Many have decided if they breed polled goats to polled goats, they won't have to disbud kids anymore.
It's a nice theory but a big NO NO!
Polled Goat Genetics:
Polled genes are an example of goat genes that can have both advantages and disadvantages.
The gene for a goat being polled is dominant.
Everything is fine for goats who inherit only one polled allele, but when they have inherited 2 identical alleles, the results are not good. Why?
The kids produced from breeding a polled dam to a polled sire will be as follows:
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1/4 kids will be horned
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1/2 are heterozygous polled,
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1/4 are homozygous polled--will only be good as pets, never breed from these! Why?
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The bucklings will eventually be sterile and the doelings will have PIS (Polled Interesex Syndrome).
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The best course is to NEVER breed a polled goat to a polled goat.
A Word of Caution: Buying a doeling or buckling with 2 polled parents is very unwise unless you castrate the buckling and never breed from the doeling.
Why: Again, remember
Other information may be found discussing colors, patterns, eye color and polling:
- www.nigeriandwarfcolors.com