# Goat colors and markings



## Queen Mum

I always see people asking,  

*What color is my goat?*

Or

*How should I describe his/her markings?*

So, I'm starting this thread in the interest of listing links to pages with good color descriptions of markings and colorings.

I'll start.  You add to the list.

You can use Word link above to list your page.  I removed the brackets and put in those curly cue things so you can see what needs to go where.

{url=YourLinkGoesHere}Click me{/url}

So it looks like this:

{url=http://www.americangoatsociety.com/education/ND_suggested_colors_patterns.php}Click me{/url}

And when you leave the brackets  "[  "

This is what you get...
Click me.   These are Nigerian Dwarfs.

Try it.

Here's a typewritten list of goat colors.  You can save this file to your hard drive if you have adobe reader  and print it.  Down at the bottom of the page, if you move your mouse around you will see a little box pop up with a file on it.  click on that little floppy disk icon and save the PDF file.

PDF of goat colors explained 

Here are some from the pygmy goat association.

Pygmy's 

For the Aussie's among us... This is how you describe goat colors.

G'day Mate. 

And no list would be complete without my favorite Alpine Dairy Goats...

Mama,  this is for you! 

So keep on adding to the list folks.


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## hcppam

thanks QM


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## Queen Mum

Here is another one.  Thanks VermillionOaks


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## elevan

I added this thread to the recommended reading section for goats .


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## Queen Mum

Thanks!


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## elevan

Here is a color genetics calculator  to assist in figuring out what colors you may get when you breed different goats together.


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## mama24

Thanks for the link! So I guess my little girl is red roan with red moon spots? My other girl I still don't know what to call her. She is white with a sort of reddish cream head and neck, I think the color would also be considered a roan. She's half Saanen, half Boer, so I guess she got the color from the Boer half, diluted by the Saanen white.


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## beckyburkheart

is color genetics the same for all animals? I know just enough to be dangerous about horse colors ... (and then we have an undocumented apparently rare recessive show up here!)


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## elevan

beckyburkheart said:
			
		

> is color genetics the same for all animals? I know just enough to be dangerous about horse colors ... (and then we have an undocumented apparently rare recessive show up here!)


Most mammals would follow the same.  Birds follow their own.


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## beckyburkheart

ok. cool. .. and i just found a really good pdf link here too.  great information and easily understandable. 

interesting about the white goat, we have a pure white doe who has had a 'palamino' daughter and now a pure white son.  true white horses are rare, and we have the lethal white that's linked (i think) with a bowel disorder. The white buck we have has pink skin so i assumed it was an actual color, but i'm reading it is just a really big spot!


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## jarvisqh

beckyburkheart said:
			
		

> .  true white horses are rare, and we have the lethal white that's linked (i think) with a bowel disorder.


I think ..  
the leathal white is a paint horse thing ..   the foals born solid white almost never live because there bowels arent fully developed .. or something along that line ..  most of the time theyre written off as  dead  because of the money it would take to keep them alive ..  and the most likely wouldnt live through the surgeries and such ..   being why they call it lethal ..?  ( had a friend have one born on his place it lived 3 days..  ..   usually happens when 2 tobianos are bred  who throw alot of white ... or ...    like a medicine cap ..         other horses may have it happen to .. but i believe its a paint thing .. ?    his stud and the mare where both tobs ..       (sorry for the semi off subject rant ..lol .. )     i know qhs cant throw a true white .. there are greys .. that turn white ..  or cremellos and prelinos ..  and the reallllllly light palominos .. ( like our mare janie in the winter) and her 2 foals tumbleweed and  cornbred .. they look white but have a darker yellow underneath .. and black skin ..  so not white lol ..


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## jarvisqh

ive seen alot of people callin goats buckskins ..  that are nowhere near the horse  color ..   the are more duns .. ?  ( its soo hard to not calll the goats by the terms they would be in a horse lol )  still learning the goat thing ..  even caught myself saying i hope okapi FOALS  soon    lol ..


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## beckyburkheart

jarvisqh said:
			
		

> ive seen alot of people callin goats buckskins ..  that are nowhere near the horse  color ..   the are more duns .. ?  ( its soo hard to not calll the goats by the terms they would be in a horse lol )  still learning the goat thing ..  even caught myself saying i hope okapi FOALS  soon    lol ..


LMAO!  Me too ... and yeah, we have a 'buckskin' doe, but you're right, she's prob more of a dun.


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## jarvisqh

thebaby right next to the black /brown mare  is a buckskin ...    (no dorsal stripe )

duns must have a dorsal stripe   where buckskins should not ... they can have the exact same base color tho  ..    hmm horse color genetics are so complicated lol ...        

 yup need to study upon the goat colors...  lol         just had a baby goat born yesterday   no clue what color to call her lol except maybe grey black and white !! haha  but she has other  shades of greys and a almost brown tint as well ..  not to mention  roan hair throughout her body ...  haha


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