Jack & Anita Mauldin boer goat industry news.

Update - August 30, 2009

There is a very interesting article of the Goat Rancher magazine - September, 2009 issue. The article "A study of the S.A. breed standards" was written by Cathie Keblinger of Seven-A Plus Ranch. She obtained two important documents that came from the South African Boer Goat Breeders Association, the breeders that developed the Boer breed over the last70+ years. The two books, that we are trying to obtain a copy of, are

SA Boer Goat, the Ideal
A Study of the SA Boer Goat - 2006

The first thing that caught my eye was the drawing by the SA breeders of what they believe would be the IDEAL buck and doe. Cathie writes in the article that the books use these drawings and then go into the potential problems that can be caused by breeding animals too shallow, too short or too long. It is interesting that the US Boer industry started out with the same standards as the SA and have changed them very little but there has been a dramatic difference in the body style coming from several of the top breeders winning in the show ring. There has been no justification for the changes in the US. The SA have documented, in detail, what the breed should look like and what kind of problems may result in breeding for a different style. I believe it is important for all breeders to consider what the South African breeders are striving for and the justifications they have stated for creating the IDEAL BUCKS and DOES. The US industry's justification seems to be in creating long, lean show wethers that sell for high prices.

A select few U.S. Boer goat breeders will no doubt one of these days be recognized by the world meat goat industry for their ability to see that a major focus should be put on long, thin necks to really improve the premier meat goat, the Boer. They saw this before the South African breeders that created the Boer breed. They saw it before the Australian and New Zealand Boer breeders that are by far the largest supplier of goat meat to the U.S. market. As a matter of fact, there is not one other country that has gone in the direction that these select U.S. breeders have charted for us. We must not forget the U.S. judges that are falling head over heels to award these new LONG, THIN neck animals every award they can. These breeders and judges are even ahead of every Boer standard in the world. Every Boer association standard in the world, including the ABGA, clearly states the neck should be of moderate length and not long. The South African standards even go farther in the description and require the moderate neck to be FULL and WELL FLESHED. That means they have some meat on it because this is a meat goat. The judges are not waiting for the standards to catch up. They are moving ahead at break neck speed to change the minds of normal breeders that really don't understand why it is so important to have the LONG, THIN neck. It is just by chance that some of the same breeders that developed this new look are also judges and some have been directors of the associations. They have already changed the show wether industry to this long, streamlined look. The benefits of that LONG, THIN neck, even in show wethers, is obvious..... well it must be to you because I certainly have not seen any benefit or value to the change. I must be really dumb because I keep asking the breeders and judges "what is the financial justification?" and they don't say anything. I guess, what is needed is for all of us to look at some before and after pictures of U.S. animals and pictures of what those ignorant breeders in other countries are focusing on.

This is one of the early does that came out of some of the first SA genetics. She is known throughout the U.S. Industry and has been a major producer of outstanding animals for the U.S. Moderate neck, full and well fleshed.	This is an example of the new generation animal with a long, THIN neck and breeders are asking why is that needed and where is the meat... this breed is a meat goat you know.

These are some red does out of Australia with nice necks full and well fleshed. These does have body and depth. Australia is not going for the long, thin necks.	This is the doe shown on the South African's standard page on their web site showing exactly what they think a doe should look like according to their standards. Remember the SA breeders created this breed and have been working on the breed for over 60 years. The South African breeders are not changing to long, thin necks.

New Zealand does with moderate, full, well fleshed necks. Lots of body and meat. New Zealand is not going with the long, thin necks.	This is a traditional colored doe from Australia that is a multi champ doe. Again the neck is moderated, full, and well fleshed just as the SA standards call for.
Breeders also need to look at the differences between the bucks in these same countries

This is an Australian buck, Warlord, that was a multi supreme champion. His genetics are now coming to the U.S. Notice the neck is moderate, FULL, WELL FLESHED (powerful is the word). Notice the total body shouts that it is a meat producer.	This is a buck in South Africa. This is Dr. Pepper, the world grand champion Boer Buck. This picture is on the SA standards to show what they want the buck to look like. A moderate WELL FLESHED (powerful is the word) neck. The same goes for this buck as the Australian buck. The body shouts Meat, Lots of Meat.
	To the left is Wide Load, the 2008 ABGA National Grand Champion Buck in the U.S. This is a completely different look compared to the major bucks in the other countries that are major breeders of Boer Goats. It will be up to the industry as to which body is the preferred one for the future. I will still ask the question "what is the financial justification for the extreme neck that is out of proportion to the rest of the body compared to the other countries bucks.

The picture to the left is our Painted Warrior - age 13 months. The picture to the right is our Rolling Thunder at the age of 16 months. Wide Load was in the 12-16 month old class when he was named ABGA National Grand Champion Buck - 2008 so these three bucks were the general ages in these pictures. It is important in our breeding program to have a buck with a muscular shoulders, strong forearm, a powerful neck and good body depth. The Boer goat industry in the U.S. is largely guided by the show ring, the breeders and the judges that go along with the breeders even when it requires them to ignore the ABGA standards and what it calls for. Every breeder in the U.S. needs to be asking one question to their self and to the breeders wanting to sell them animals. "What is the financial justification for ANY change in the looks of our animals. If they have a good answer, great. That is where big improvements come from. However, no one is answering that question that I keep asking on chat groups and anywhere I can. When one weak answer is given, it is "long feminine necks is an indicator of fertility. Now that sounds great until you stop and think "what fertility problems were we having before the long, thin necks came along". There was no problem. So there can't have a better solution when there was no problem in the first place. Personally, I do not believe there is any correlation between the length of the neck and fertility unless the neck is too short. I can also state that if I put peanut butter in my driveway, it keeps elephants out of my yard. I can prove that because when I did it, no elephants showed up. It doesn't matter that no elephants ever showed up anyway. Until I see a study by an objective group on this long neck, I will ignore these breeders and judges. They are absolutely entitled to do what they are doing just as much as I am entitled to say I think they are completely in left field and history will prove them wrong. We will continue to breed for bucks that shout MEAT and for does with moderate, full, well fleshed necks. While these breeders were focusing on longer, thinner necks. we have been focusing on breeding genetics in our herd that are more resistant to worms. At this time, we now have 38% of our herd that is strongly resistant and many of them have not been wormed in 2 years. Do you think I can financially justify that time and effort???? Just think how much better they would be if they had long , thin necks.