# Registrating goats



## Mason&lily

First can you register a goat without papers but it is purebred and also how do you register a goat?


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## OneFineAcre

Mason&lily said:


> First can you register a goat without papers but it is purebred and also how do you register a goat?[/QUOTE
> 
> No.
> Unless you have documents from the breeder that the mother and father had registration papers then you cannot register the animal.
> If you do, then their is a form you fill out with the registry, and pay the fee.
> Not knowing what kind of goats you have, hard to say which registry.  My goats are registered with the American Dairy Goat Association.  They have a website.
> Good luck and welcome to the forum


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## OneFineAcre

No.
Unless you have documents from the breeder that the mother and father had registration papers then you cannot register the animal.
If you do, then there is a form you fill out with the registry, and pay the fee.
Not knowing what kind of goats you have, hard to say which registry.  My goats are registered with the American Dairy Goat Association.  They have a website.
Good luck and welcome to the forum[


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## Goat Whisperer

Mason&lily said:


> First can you register a goat without papers but it is purebred and also how do you register a goat?



YES, you can!  Its not the same as the bigger registry's, but you need to start somewhere  

Check out this registry-
http://idgr.info/index/registration-requirements/goats-of-unknown-ancestry/


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## OneFineAcre

Goat Whisperer said:


> YES, you can!  Its not the same as the bigger registry's, but you need to start somewhere
> 
> Check out this registry-
> http://idgr.info/index/registration-requirements/goats-of-unknown-ancestry/



I've never heard of them before. 
@Goat Whisperer are your goats registered with IDGR?


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## Mason&lily

I checked that site out it seems great for my Nigerian dwarfs i know they are pure Nigerian but don't have papers


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## OneFineAcre

Mason&lily said:


> I checked that site out it seems great for my Nigerian dwarfs i know they are pure Nigerian but don't have papers



Mason&lily,
If you bought the animals with no registration papers, why are you interested in registering them now?


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## Mason&lily

At first I bought them as pets but now I'm starting to breed and raise them


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## OneFineAcre

Mason&lily said:


> At first I bought them as pets but now I'm starting to breed and raise them


They don't have to be registered to breed and raise them.


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## Pearce Pastures

It depends on the registry.  There are different organizations for registering your goats, some that people feel are to be taken more seriously than others due to their practices, length of time as an established registry, and what not.  

With Nigerian dwarf goats, people seem to tend towards three registries... AGS, ADGA, and NDGA.  When I look to buy goats, these are the ones I look for.  None of them will allow you to officially register your goats but I believe one, and I have to check which, will let you "record" your goats in a separate book and you can "breed up" to purebred status.

Other registries, such as NMGA which I worked for as an editor, are smaller, less established, and in general receive less notice from people but do have a purpose and place.  You can register your animals with them but again, it will not be in their purebred book but you can breed up to that with future animals.  I started out that way and still have one gal that is an NMGA registry and that is all.  She and her offspring will never be eligible for registry in any of the big name groups out there but I love her and that is all that matters.

It is really about what you want to be doing.  You can breed and sell your goats as pets, 4H animals (depending on the rules of your area's 4H), an home milkers without ANY registration, or if you just want to be able to prove some kind of lineage from this point forward, you might join one of the smaller registries.  If you are wanting to get top dollar for your animals, have them in big national shows, and work to improve the breed, I am not sure if you will be satisfied with registries that are not among the  big names.


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## Pearce Pastures

Nope, I just checked and for Nigerians you can't register yours with any of the big three I mentioned.


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## OneFineAcre

Pearce Pastures said:


> It depends on the registry.  There are different organizations for registering your goats, some that people feel are to be taken more seriously than others due to their practices, length of time as an established registry, and what not.
> 
> With Nigerian dwarf goats, people seem to tend towards three registries... AGS, ADGA, and NDGA.  When I look to buy goats, these are the ones I look for.  None of them will allow you to officially register your goats but I believe one, and I have to check which, will let you "record" your goats in a separate book and you can "breed up" to purebred status.
> 
> Other registries, such as NMGA which I worked for as an editor, are smaller, less established, and in general receive less notice from people but do have a purpose and place.  You can register your animals with them but again, it will not be in their purebred book but you can breed up to that with future animals.  I started out that way and still have one gal that is an NMGA registry and that is all.  She and her offspring will never be eligible for registry in any of the big name groups out there but I love her and that is all that matters.
> 
> It is really about what you want to be doing.  You can breed and sell your goats as pets, 4H animals (depending on the rules of your area's 4H), an home milkers without ANY registration, or if you just want to be able to prove some kind of lineage from this point forward, you might join one of the smaller registries.  If you are wanting to get top dollar for your animals, have them in big national shows, and work to improve the breed, I am not sure if you will be satisfied with registries that are not among the  big names.



I agree with you 100% that registering the goats with one of these registries might have some value if you are looking to prove some kind of lineage going forward.  Particularly if the registry offers linear appraisals, and milk testing. 
If so, then it may add some $ value a few generations in the future.


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## Mason&lily

I live where 4-h is a big thing in a little country town so goats don't have to be registered to be in 4-h? That's what I would offer them as an pets and dairy goats


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## Southern by choice

Registration has it's advantages however whether registered or unregistered not every goat will be a great milker. 

We have reg and unregistered goats. We do look for heavy milking lines when we are looking at registered goats. Unregistered goats more often then not don't come with much history... it depends on the breeder. We treat everyone the same and we keep good records we are also up front about the productivity. I cannot tell you how many times I ask "what is the productivity" - keep in mind these are registered goats-  answer more often then not ... "I don't really know- I think a gallon a day"

Milk tests can show you productivity however many do not do milk tests. Doing DHIR testing requires a monthly fee... our fee I believe is $22 month then a tester comes monthly for a fee(test fee)+ travel (they have to come out 2x in a 24hr period) . This could end up being costly for some and that is why many do not do testing. The testers generally keep costs low as they can, it just depends how far away they are.

Some goats will produce a lot of milk but may not have long lactation cycle. Other may produce less but have constant steady long lactation.

No two goats are alike ! LOL

I look at the whole goat... whether reg or un reg.  reason... because our best milker IS UN registered. She is also our hardiest goat! Another unregistered doe I have produces the BEST tasting milk ever. She is not a high end producer but has long steady lactation with very ricj creamy milk. I have had goats that produced LOTS of milk but faded out after 6 months... that doesn't work for me. These goats are sold as "soapgoats" and history is given so the new owners understand the goat will not be a family milker.

We have a reg Lamancha with known good lines... her dam is an 8*M her sire is a *B her SS(Sires sire) is a +*B Sires Dam is an SGCH 11*M The dams sire is a *B dams dam is an SG 7*M
Given all the "stars" this goat should be a great producer. So far I am not too impressed. My unregistered doe puts her to shame. At the same time the doe was machine milked (commercial) which doesn't milk them the whole way out. She did dam raise kids (twins) and we bought her - the machine suction thingys fall off at the end. She was given approx 1 gallon day at least that is what they thought, they don't know because it all goes in a huge bucket. When we brought her home she was already down to 1/2 gallon day. This was only 5 1/2 months into lactation. In fairness, that is a lot of transition and she was a first freshener. She was just bred for Mini's so we will see how she does as a second freshener. She does have a GORGEOUS udder and teats! There is also plenty of room in her bag LOL so she should produce well next time.
We never base anything on a FF.

I share all that to just give perspective.

If you are just starting in goats sometimes it is good to take things slow and learn about goats also taking time to understand the different ways of maximizing milk output.


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## Mason&lily

How do you tell when a goat is a good milker, my momma goat had a huge bag when te babies were born and both them nursing she had a huge bag still


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## Southern by choice

You simply need to milk her. Some milk their Nigies 1x day some do 2x day. Be consistent. Milking is a commitment, you need to stick with it. You cannot start and then decide you don't want to milk for a few days.  When testing milk it is weighed but most people just measure the milk.  2 cups, 3 cups, 1 qt, etc. 
Is she still in milk? Was she a first freshener?


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## Mason&lily

No she's not shes weaned her baby's off and the people I got her from can't rembered if it was her or one of the other ones that looked actually like her


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## Mason&lily

Sorry she is all dryed up she has weaned her baby's all by herself but they have been eating grain since 3 days old!! And this is ether her 2 time or 1 time giving birth but everything went perfectly fine I watched from a stall window so she would be in peace but I could still watch, she had them 8 minutes apart In 18 minutes


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## WeizenfelderGal

I have wondered about this too.  
I have a TMGR Sire and a bunch of Grade (Not registered Doe's)  I often wondered if their kids could be registered if the SIRE IS but DAM is NOT.  Some horse registries allow this. ...Still learning 
Two of my babies out of him this year!
I don't mind if not as my goal is just good Goats to Milk 
I will follow this thread.


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## Southern by choice

WeizenfelderGal said:


> I have wondered about this too.
> I have a TMGR Sire and a bunch of Grade (Not registered Doe's)  I often wondered if their kids could be registered if the SIRE IS but DAM is NOT.  Some horse registries allow this. ...Still learning
> Two of my babies out of him this year!
> I don't mind if not as my goal is just good Goats to Milk
> I will follow this thread.
> View attachment 47671


Welcome to BYH! 

This is a pretty old thread. There are many newer and informative threads more recent. 
I was just mentioning registering grades to someone else here on BYH. I can't remember where though.

TMGR no longer registers grades, at least that is my understanding.
MDGA still does but there are requirements.

Both registries are great. I am with the MDGA because simply that is where I started out, eventually I may double register.
You can look up the rules governing grades.
It will take many generations to get to Experimenta status, it is worth it for your future clients and if there is value in the goats... IOW heavy milkers good conformation etc.
I sold all my mini Nubians, my focus is Lamanchas and Miniature Lamanchas, my farm partner (family) has Nigerians. We both care about all the breeds I have some Nigerians too. We still have a few Nubians, just no mini Nubians anymore.

Really cute kids. How old are they?


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## WeizenfelderGal

Thank you.  These two are 6 weeks old.  I had a really neat Lamancha cross too.  She had twins.  One with airplane ears and one with Lamancha ears.  I kept them too.  Sire comes from good milk lines.  My Lamancha gives me good milk too.  I don't quite know what "Good Milk" means.  Is their a measurement?  What makes a good or bad milk goat? Hmmm.  Sorry, thinking while typing here, LOL!


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## Southern by choice

A good milker is a goat that produces well. There is a range for every goat.
Milk is measured in pounds. Weight is going to vary because of the butter fat but roughly 8# is a gallon.
Most people think of milk in volume. pint, quart, half gallon, gallon  etc

FF (first fresheners) are going to be all over the map as far as production. Breed of goat, how many kids in the litter, age of goat at FF.


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