Selecting good breeding stock is probably the most important part of raising goats. Whether you’re deciding which buckling to breed your doelings to next season or selecting your next generation of breeding does, it’s essential to make your decisions based on the factors that will affect whether or not your herd will continue to prosper.
When you’re deciding which kids to keep as seed stock, it’s tempting to look for the ones that look the best right after weaning – but that isn’t always the best indicator. One kid may be the prettiest or the biggest – but she’s a single. Is it better to keep a doe that is a little bit bigger but doesn’t have the genetics for raising twins? Two medium sized kids will almost always wean more meat than one big kid. When selecting seed stock, one of the biggest factors to look at is whether or not the animal has the genetics to do what you want to do – raise kids!
Next you should look at the abilities of the parents. If you look back in your records and see that the dam always raises twins, but she’s just barely surviving the parasite load, you’ll have to make a judgment call. For me, parasite resistance and mothering are two sides of the same coin. Is it better to keep the doe who raises more kids or has kids that will stay healthy? For seed stock, you need something that will continue to perform in rough conditions. It doesn’t do any good to have a doe that has twins if the parasites force her to abort them every other season. That still averages out to singles!
Once you get mothering and parasites locked down, the rest is up to you. If you like goats with polka dots, then feel free to breed for that – just never let aesthetics like color trick you into keeping a goat that doesn’t have what it takes to improve the herd.
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