As you have worked through this module there may have been times when you were nearly overwhelmed by the science and technical aspects involved. However, goat breeding, in the truest sense of the word, is more than the sum of its parts and details. Knowledge alone will not guarantee success in breeding goats for the food and clothing products they provide for humans. As Bourdon (2000) points out, success has more to do with the use of common sense in the application of all the theory and technology. He goes on to suggest that longevity in the livestock breeding business tends to be associated with six different characteristics or attributes, as follows:

Knowledgeable and understanding

An understanding of the several features of meat goat breeding is essential, particularly in regard to:

• Genotype by environment interactions and their importance in establishing breeding objectives.
• Randomness of inheritance and how it causes limitations and opportunities.
• Necessary differences in approach to breeding for simply-inherited traits, e.g. color, versus polygenic traits, e.g. growth.
• The elements of genetic change, and trade-offs among the elements.
• Importance and power of sire selection.
• Role of breeds and the power of between-breed selection
• Need to balance exploitation of heterosis and breeding values in crossbreeding.

Being knowledgeable also means understanding many things about meat goats in particular; which markets demand what characteristics, the impact of seasonality, impact of breeding for parasite tolerance, animal vitality, and the like. This can be learned by reading, by talking to other breeder you respect, and from personal experience. It is important to know the true genetic capabilities of your own animals and the limits to production imposed by your local environment (non-genetic factors). You should also be knowledgeable of your end-user needs and the kind of environment the your animals will be working for them.

The genetic theory applicable to meat goat breeding does not change rapidly. But animal breeding technology applicable to meat goats is changing rapidly. Research provides new information relative to genetic by environment interactions, genetic relationships, genetic impact on permanent change, and the like. Interact with those who know more about this than you.

Use good information

Good decisions are based on good information. If there is a major weakness in the meat goat sector is that the amount of good performance information is very limited. Steps are just now being taken to record performance data and to use it to create predictions in the form of expected progeny differences (EPDs) and estimated breeding values (EBV). Having good information means measuring meat goat performance and keeping good records. Performance information is not cheap — it takes time and labor to collect, store, retrieve, and synthesize into usable form. Keeping records and getting usable data remain a challenge. Procedural details, such as determining contemporary groups, need close attention. While commercial meat goat producers should probably limit their record keeping to the most basic items. Seedstock breeders are obligated to do as much as they can to document the performance of their meat goats because eventually the value of seedstock comes not only from the animals, but also from the information that goes with them.

Meat goat breeders also have the social responsibility of contributing their records to breed or genetic improvement associations for the greater good. You will improve the quality of genetic information to yourselves as well as to other breeders.

Slow down and take time to think

Take the time to think about what you do every day; especially in your breeding program. How is your best or optimum meat goat characterized? What are the fastest, easiest, most economical ways to obtain the next generation with those characteristics? Avoid coffee shop talk and avoid the pack mentality. Try to see the big picture and be analytical.

Be consistent

Those who call themselves meat goat breeders are too often influenced by fads that may seem important at the time but have little long-term justification. Lack of consistency dooms too many efforts to breed improved meat goats. Do not start and stop; go this direction and then that; or change the optimum from this to that. You must be able to see into the future and determine what kind of goat will be most useful over the longer term. Study, think, set goals and stick with them. Occasionally it may be necessary to modify or alter your breeding objectives, but do so only when markets change and there are legitimate reasons. The more consistent your goals, the more definable and more marketable your breeding stock will be

Simplicity; keep it simple

Successful breeding programs are usually simple. Simple programs do not avoid the use of advanced breeding technology. They are simple in concept. They have well-established goals and remain clear of complex rules or approaches for individual matings. No grand scheme will beat Mendelian probability over the long haul.

You can simplify your program by clearly defining the roles your meat goat breeding stock best fit. It may not be appropriate to try to make your breeding stock be all things to all people. Limit the traits under selection to those that are truly important. These are meat goats, albeit with good breeding values, so ignore those traits that have only aesthetic value. Complex breeding programs are difficult to maintain. Simplicity breeds consistency. We all appreciate a striking, attractive, good looking animal; but we can and do alter our notions of what constitutes a pretty animal and in time those notions tend to describe very functional types. As Bourdon (2000) suggests, perhaps it would be beneficial to be faster to adjust our aesthetic sense to the realities of meat goat production.

Have patience

The pace of genetic change in meat goats, relative to many other things in life, is relatively slow. Not as slow as some other species of livestock, but much slower than many of us would like. There is the tendency to jump to conclusions about animals on which there is very little known, other than the pedigree. Even if the animal is “an own son of Good Ole Boy”, if there is little performance information on “Good Ole Boy” then the relationship is meaningless. To be successful, patience is virtue.

Gene segregation and gamete selection are largely random processes. Therefore inheritance is necessarily unpredictable. The wisest breeders patiently play the averages. They understand that if they follow the rules, the next generation of animals will be better than the last. Once in a while nature steps in and both gene segregation and gamete selection get together to produce a truly outstanding meat animal. Seek those and exploit them. Be prepared; but don’t expect every herd sire to be that animal. Reject formula breeding. Have patience.

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