What eye color will my goat's kids have?
Blue eyes are a dominant trait in goats. Goats, like many animals, have two alleles that code for eye color. When a buck and a doe successfully breed, they each randomly pass on one of their two eye color alleles to their offspring. If they pass on even one blue eyed allele, the kid will have blue eyes.
The chance that the kids will have brown eyes or blue eyes depends upon the genotype (the genetic makeup) of the sire and the dam. Without genetic testing, the phenotypes (the physical representations of those genes, or the actual color of their eyes) are the first clues in determining what the genotypes of the sire and dam are.
While a brown eyed goat's genotype is easily determined as bb, blue eyed goats could either have two dominant genes BB (homozygous) or one dominant and one recessive gene Bb (heterozygous).
So how can you know whether a blue eyed goat is BB or Bb? Cross it with a brown eyed goat several times and record the eye color of the resulting kids. If your blue eyed goat continually has only blue eyed kids, the chances are that goat's genotype is BB. If that goat produces even one brown eyed kid, however, then the genotype is likely Bb.
That all said, each breeding is a coin flip for which genes get passed on---if you flip a coin 10 times, you will not necessarily get half head and half tales but rather, have a fifty percent chance of having heads or tails at each flip. Breeding a BB buck to a bb doe does not mean you will an even split between brown eyed and blue eyed kids.
Once you know the genotypes of the breeding animals, you can have a better idea of the chances of getting blue eyes or brown eyes by using the chart below.
Blue eyes are a dominant trait in goats. Goats, like many animals, have two alleles that code for eye color. When a buck and a doe successfully breed, they each randomly pass on one of their two eye color alleles to their offspring. If they pass on even one blue eyed allele, the kid will have blue eyes.
The chance that the kids will have brown eyes or blue eyes depends upon the genotype (the genetic makeup) of the sire and the dam. Without genetic testing, the phenotypes (the physical representations of those genes, or the actual color of their eyes) are the first clues in determining what the genotypes of the sire and dam are.
While a brown eyed goat's genotype is easily determined as bb, blue eyed goats could either have two dominant genes BB (homozygous) or one dominant and one recessive gene Bb (heterozygous).
So how can you know whether a blue eyed goat is BB or Bb? Cross it with a brown eyed goat several times and record the eye color of the resulting kids. If your blue eyed goat continually has only blue eyed kids, the chances are that goat's genotype is BB. If that goat produces even one brown eyed kid, however, then the genotype is likely Bb.
That all said, each breeding is a coin flip for which genes get passed on---if you flip a coin 10 times, you will not necessarily get half head and half tales but rather, have a fifty percent chance of having heads or tails at each flip. Breeding a BB buck to a bb doe does not mean you will an even split between brown eyed and blue eyed kids.
Once you know the genotypes of the breeding animals, you can have a better idea of the chances of getting blue eyes or brown eyes by using the chart below.
A Few Helpful Sites
(We are not responsible for the content of others sites and merely have found these to be worth viewing. Enjoy!)
Goat information and help:
BackYardHerds
Fias Co Farm
Dummies.com
Goat supplies, medications, and equipment:
American Livestock and Pet Supply, Inc.
Caprine Supply
Hoegger Supply Company
Valley Vet
Diet and Nutrition
Selenium Soil Concentration Map (Note: Under 0.5mg of selenium per kilogram of soil is considered deficient. Over 3mg is toxic to goats. Goats require 0.2mg (ppm) Other factors can impact your goat's selenium intake as well.
Goat Associations, Registries and Clubs:
American Boer Goat Association
American Dairy Goat Association
American Goat Society
American Kiko Goat Association
American LaMancha Club
American Nigerian Dwarf Goat Association
International Boer Goat Association
International Dairy Goat Registry
International Fainting Goat Association
International Kiko Goat Association
International Nubian Breeders Association
International Sable Breeder's Association
Miniature Dairy Goat Association
Miniature Silky Fainting Goat Association
Mytonic Goat Registry
National Kiko Registry
National Miniature Goat Association
National Pygmy Goat Association
National Saanen Breeders Association
Nigerian Dwarf Goat Association
North American Packgoat Association
Oberhasli Goat Club
Spanish Goat Association
United States Boer Goat Association
Goat Purchasing and Selling:
Craigslist
Goat Finder.com
Hoobly
Toxic Weeds, Cultivated Plants, and Trees:
ASPCA Toxic and Non-toxic Plants
A Guide to Plants Toxic to Horses and Livestock
Poisonous Pasture Weeds
List of Poisonous Plants
Cornell University's Plants Poisonous to Livestock
Purdue University's Indiana Toxic Plants
University of New Hampshire's Poisonous Plants in Pastures
(We are not responsible for the content of others sites and merely have found these to be worth viewing. Enjoy!)
Goat information and help:
BackYardHerds
Fias Co Farm
Dummies.com
Goat supplies, medications, and equipment:
American Livestock and Pet Supply, Inc.
Caprine Supply
Hoegger Supply Company
Valley Vet
Diet and Nutrition
Selenium Soil Concentration Map (Note: Under 0.5mg of selenium per kilogram of soil is considered deficient. Over 3mg is toxic to goats. Goats require 0.2mg (ppm) Other factors can impact your goat's selenium intake as well.
Goat Associations, Registries and Clubs:
American Boer Goat Association
American Dairy Goat Association
American Goat Society
American Kiko Goat Association
American LaMancha Club
American Nigerian Dwarf Goat Association
International Boer Goat Association
International Dairy Goat Registry
International Fainting Goat Association
International Kiko Goat Association
International Nubian Breeders Association
International Sable Breeder's Association
Miniature Dairy Goat Association
Miniature Silky Fainting Goat Association
Mytonic Goat Registry
National Kiko Registry
National Miniature Goat Association
National Pygmy Goat Association
National Saanen Breeders Association
Nigerian Dwarf Goat Association
North American Packgoat Association
Oberhasli Goat Club
Spanish Goat Association
United States Boer Goat Association
Goat Purchasing and Selling:
Craigslist
Goat Finder.com
Hoobly
Toxic Weeds, Cultivated Plants, and Trees:
ASPCA Toxic and Non-toxic Plants
A Guide to Plants Toxic to Horses and Livestock
Poisonous Pasture Weeds
List of Poisonous Plants
Cornell University's Plants Poisonous to Livestock
Purdue University's Indiana Toxic Plants
University of New Hampshire's Poisonous Plants in Pastures