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One of the prime opportunities in the meat goat industry right now is that of Percentage Boers. In my opinion, there are some great things that can be accomplished through the Percentage goats that you can’t get through the Fullbloods or the Commercials. As the Fullbloods are becoming more numerous and readily available the price has come down substantially on the average. However, the Good Fullbloods are still quite pricey. If you want to show good Fullbloods, you will need a thick wallet. Percentage Boers on the other hand can be purchased relatively cheap in comparison and they can make for equal fun in the show ring. In addition, there are a host of other benefits including easier care, more hardiness, faster gains, and the great surprises at kidding time! Percentage Boers can be put together from virtually any combination you can think of. All of the Dairy breeds cross well. We have had first hand experience with crossing our Sannens and they make great crosses, although don’t expect much color. We have also had Nubian, Alpine and of course Carrie’s favorite cross the LaMancha. She is trying to see if she can breed a purebred animal without ears and by George, she is just about to accomplish that task! She is down to 1/64th and still no ears! The key to the Dairy crosses is to get large strong healthy does to start with and you will find good success. Other crosses we have tried have included both the Spanish and Angora breeds. The Spanish cross is the primary cross on commercial goats in Texas and this cross is working well. The Spanish goat is a very smart goat as well as being very hardy. Since this cross usually is accomplished by breeding a Fullblood Boer buck on Spanish or Spanish Boer does, the kids will learn from their mothers the traits of grazing and they soon become very hardy like their mothers. They will also have the great phenotype of the Boer sire, making them very popular. Problems associated with this cross include harder to herd and move through corrals and they are difficult to move through kidding jugs unless you have worked extensively with them. The Angora cross is my personal favorite for our conditions. The Angora Boer cross is a true hybrid animal as the Angora has a dramatically different genetic makeup than any of our other goats in the US which lays the foundation for this hybrid vigor. I also like this cross as they hair up during the winter months which allows them to take any weather that comes to our northern Utah area, and then they will shed in the Spring to a slick hair coat for the summer months. The shedding part is based on the cross being 75% Boer. The 50% crosses will eventually shed, but it takes them most of the summer to get it done. Further, they never do get that pretty shiny coat like the 3/4 Boer crosses, unless you shear them. Another cross that seems to be popular is the Kiko-Boer cross. We have not tried this cross, but we have visited with several folks who have and they speak highly of the hybrid vigor and fast gains, on the downside they indicate they are very breechy. We have learned one lesson the hard way regarding percentage does. When it comes to show does, many of the more experienced show folks have figured out that once your does get to the purebred level (15/16), they revert their papers back to 50% and take another run at the percentage show ring rather than moving on to the fullblood shows. This has substantially increased the competition level in the percentage shows. One of the most enjoyable parts of raising percentages is kidding time. When you kid out fullbloods you have a pretty good idea of what the kids will look like at every birth. When you kid percentage does, it is like opening presents, as you never know what is waiting for you when you open the door to the kidding barn. If you use LaMancha genetics, you increase this phenomenon, as you also have no idea if the kids will even have ears! |
Send mail to carrie@chalkcreekboers.com with
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