In Progress: January of 2023!
I do not think we see genetic problems more often than other herds, but I do want to be extremely open about what we have seen. I think that will help the breed as we move forward in breeding healthy animals. Some of these are genetic problems that are traceable; others are so random it is not possible to breed/cull for them. Many times when abnormalities happen (like when a kid is born dead, we do not know what the cause was; it could have been environmental, disease, or genetics. Almost everything is genetic in some way or another.
You will notice that some of the goats who appear most often for different problems are my nicest goats who have the best production, structure and offspring.
If I were to cull from my herd every goat who is related to a goat with a genetic problem, I would have no goats. It is not possible to breed goats with no genetic problems.
To keep this simple, I am only identifying dam and sire of affected kids or breeding individuals who have defects like being Over-Height (OH). There are many siblings, half-siblings, cousins still breeding in my herd because I have a very line-bred herd.
For front leg lameness, I recorded them the year they went lame. For over-height goats, I did the year they were born. For kids born in 2022, we don't know yet who will go over-height.
There are genetic problems that we have never seen in our herd. For example, we have never had a goat with the cancer that is found on the anus. We have also never had a kid with a cleft palate.
You will notice that some of the goats who appear most often for different problems are my nicest goats who have the best production, structure and offspring.
If I were to cull from my herd every goat who is related to a goat with a genetic problem, I would have no goats. It is not possible to breed goats with no genetic problems.
To keep this simple, I am only identifying dam and sire of affected kids or breeding individuals who have defects like being Over-Height (OH). There are many siblings, half-siblings, cousins still breeding in my herd because I have a very line-bred herd.
For front leg lameness, I recorded them the year they went lame. For over-height goats, I did the year they were born. For kids born in 2022, we don't know yet who will go over-height.
There are genetic problems that we have never seen in our herd. For example, we have never had a goat with the cancer that is found on the anus. We have also never had a kid with a cleft palate.