A Quick Guide to Goat Breeds

Altogether there are over three hundred different goat breeds and the history of goats goes back to 10,000 years ago. Goats are one of the most versatile of all animals when it comes to use by humans. We use goats for milk, meat, fiber, as pack animals, to clear our lawns, and many people keep goats as pets.

Like cows, goats are ruminants--they eat vegetation and chew a cud. While many people think that a ruminant has four stomachs, that is not really true. They have one stomach that is divided into four compartments. Goats and other ruminants tend to eat grass and weeds that would be left untouched by other animals.

Let's take a look at the most popular goat breeds that are used for dairy, meat and fiber production:

The most popular dairy goat is the Nubian. It is a large goat with long ears that originated in England. They produce on average three thousand pounds of milk each year and it has a butterfat content of 4.8 percent. They have short, lustrous coats that can come in any pattern or color.

The LaMancha is a dairy goat that had its origins in the United States. They also have a short, sleek coat that can be any color or pattern. Small ears are the rule among LaManchas, with two-inch ears known as elf ears, or tinier ones, less than an inch, known as gopher ears. Of the milk goat breeds, the LaMancha are among those of variable milk production, anywhere from one to three thousand pounds a year. Their butter fat content averages around four percent.

Among the classic meat goat breeds is the Boer. They can be recognized by their colors, red, black and white. Most are white with either a red or black head. They are quite muscular, and the bucks can have loose rolls of skin. They tend to be long-eared and are both strong and friendly. The Boer originated in South Africa, although "Boer" means "farmer" in Dutch.

Another, and one of the most interesting meat goat breeds is the Tennessee Fainting Goat. These goats have a genetic condition known as "myotonia congenital," and when they are surprised or frightened, their muscles lock up, which causes them to fall onto the ground. That's where the allusion to fainting comes in. They can be white, tan, brown, red or black and have varying sizes and types of ears.

Angoras are the most well known of all the fiber goat breeds. They originated in Turkey, though they are now popular throughout the United States and in South Africa. They are a small, white goat with an incredibly wooly coat. The coat, which is known as mohair, grows up to six to seven inches long. One Angora goat can produce as much as twelve pounds of mohair each year.