Boer goat
The Boer Goat , a beef goat breed, is a breed of domestic goat that originated in South Africa and is primarily bred for meat production. It is descended from the Hottentot goat, which in turn is a descendant of the Nubian goat. Goats from Europe and India were also crossbred into the breed . A South African breed association has existed since 1959. This breed has also existed in Germany since 1977.
The Boer goat came to Germany as part of the displacement crossbreeding to build up beef goat breeding. The first animals came to Germany via the University of Gießen and in 1978/1979 via the " Wilhelma " zoo . Later, sperm and embryos were imported.
The Boer Goat is a large, compact goat that is predominantly white and has a strong head with a Ram's nose and chin-length lop ears. The head color of the Bure can vary between black-brown, rust-brown, caramel, white and colored. All kinds of markings (e.g .: wide blazes, small blazes, stars, spots and glasses) can appear. A solid red-brown color is also permitted. This color twist is colloquially called Kalahari red or Red Kalahari and is enjoying growing popularity in Germany.
A good goat has a maximum of two teats on each side of the udder. Because of her low milk yield, she is not milked. The body mass of castrated bucks can be up to 140 kg. The lambs gain weight from 140 to 250 g per day. After 100 days, they can achieve a live weight of up to 24 kg. The breed is also very fertile: three lambs are possible in two years, with an average of two lambs being born.
The specialty of the Boer goat is that it has a tasty, tender meat that lacks the typical goat odor.
Color impact Kalahari Red
The single-colored red-brown color is now permitted in the various breeding associations without restriction. The color ranges from black-brown to rust-brown to caramel.
In the country of origin South Africa or in Australia this color is listed as a separate goat breed .
The research results of Fiona Menzi from Austria are very interesting about the color of the goats. She wrote her doctoral thesis on the color inheritance of Boer goats at the Institute for Genetics at the University of Bern . 358 blood samples were analyzed. The result of the genetic analysis was that today's mostly white Boer goats emerged from the brown goats due to a mutation. The whole article is available in English here.
Landscaping
Their cross-country mobility and the fact that the fawn-bearing goat does not have to be milked make them ideal for use in landscape maintenance in order to get a grip on the bushes in extensively used pastureland. As a typical leaves eater it is able to m (in part on the hind legs) shrubs to a height of 1.80 bite or after clearing the regrowth Schwenden .
literature
- Norbert Benecke; Man and his pets - the story of a relationship that goes back thousands of years , Stuttgart 1994
- Hans Hinrich Sambraus; Color atlas of farm animal breeds , Stuttgart 2001
- Keep goats. Hans Späth, Otto Thume, 2000
- Goats and sheep. Klaus Löhle, Wolfgang Leucht, 1997
- Goat breeding. Christian Gall, 2001
Web links
- Further information from a Schäfer weblog ( memento from November 19, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- The Boer Goat in the goat lexicon , accessed on September 28, 2009