# Goat coloring -  newbie



## cooky (Sep 18, 2013)

So we bought two goats ... supposedly a brother and sister Boer goats. The female is perfectly colored for the Boer's but the boy is not. I've been researching pics and nothing I've come across for Boer goats even faintly resembles him so we're guessing maybe he's a cross of some kind. He's a solid light tan color with a dark stripe down his back and a dark tail and dark feet. Any ideas?


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## Egg_Newton (Sep 18, 2013)

Something like this?





from rebelridgeboergoats.com


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## Rocco (Sep 19, 2013)

cooky said:
			
		

> So we bought two goats ... supposedly a brother and sister Boer goats. The female is perfectly colored for the Boer's but the boy is not. I've been researching pics and nothing I've come across for Boer goats even faintly resembles him so we're guessing maybe he's a cross of some kind. He's a solid light tan color with a dark stripe down his back and a dark tail and dark feet. Any ideas?


Sounds like at least one parent  isn't full blood Boer. We have had "outta the blue" colored kids out of purebred Boers before....they still have the genetic diversity to throw some different colors.


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## cooky (Sep 19, 2013)

Egg_Newton said:
			
		

> Something like this?
> http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/uploads/1894_2011-3-29-dsc_0033.jpg
> from rebelridgeboergoats.com


Yes, but he's not red like this. He's a light tan color. I'll try to post a pic of him tomorrow. Is this a Boer cross?


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## Egg_Newton (Sep 20, 2013)

No she is full blooded I believe. I just did a Google search for rare Boer colors and she is what popped up on a website for rebelridgeboergoats.com


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## Southern by choice (Sep 20, 2013)

There is a difference between "Purebred" and "Full Blood".


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## AshleyFishy (Sep 20, 2013)

Boer goats come in colored head or solid colors. Just the head or whole body can be black, red and don't forget about your modifiers like  cream or dapple. Sounds like your boy got a throw back gene to either spanish, alpine or nubian though. Those breeds are mixed with boer often. And as SbC said there is a difference between full and pure bloods.

Edited to add... my boer buck is 94% and solid white!


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## Rocco (Sep 20, 2013)

Southern by choice said:
			
		

> There is a difference between "Purebred" and "Full Blood".


If that was directed at me, I am well aware of that. That is why I worded it like I did intending the meaning that one probably isn't full blood but possibly purebred... I almost asterisked the purebred part to offer explanation.


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## treeclimber233 (Sep 20, 2013)

ok I will ask.  what is the difference between full blood and purebred.


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## AshleyFishy (Sep 20, 2013)

treeclimber233 said:
			
		

> ok I will ask.  what is the difference between full blood and purebred.


Fullblood is all boer goat in their background.  Pureblood is a very high percentage of boer, think it is like 94% for does and 97% for bucks. Then you have percentage boers which are anything below pureblood but no lower than 50% I think.


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## Southern by choice (Sep 20, 2013)

Rocco said:
			
		

> Southern by choice said:
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No Rocco-that was for the poster. 
Sometimes those new in goats may not know there is a difference.


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## AshleyFishy (Sep 20, 2013)

Southern by choice said:
			
		

> Rocco said:
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2x

I know I didn't when I got started with boer mutts.


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## Rocco (Sep 20, 2013)

treeclimber233 said:
			
		

> ok I will ask.  what is the difference between full blood and purebred.


Full blood is *full blood*...100% Boer.

Pure bred is, from ABGA website:

"Does between 93.7 percent up to 99.9 percent are eligible for an American Purebred registration."
"Bucks between 96.8 percent up to 99.9 are eligible for American Purebred registration."

So any full blood crossed with anything else can never be bred back up to full blood status.

So, my point in the above original posting was that purebred's have some genetic diversity from the cross-breeding that full bloods do not have.  So a purebred can throw something unexpected.

I had a wonderful *purebred traditional* doe that had some weird color gene somewhere in her background. First kidding was a black and white paint buckling. Second kidding was a solid red doe and a buckskin and white buckling. Third kidding was a B&W paint doeling, a solid brown doeling and a traditional doeling. 

I don't know about other goat breeds, but in Myotonic goats once crosses are bred back up above the 94% level they are once again considered as full blood.


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## Rocco (Sep 20, 2013)

Southern by choice said:
			
		

> No Rocco-that was for the poster.
> Sometimes those new in goats may not know there is a difference.


Hopefully AshleyFishy and my additional post cleared up any uncertainties.


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