Bunny’s sire is medium gold with darker moon spots. Her dam has a buckskin and Sundgau combination pattern. Bunny is a cream color that has a bit of a gold tinge to it, with roaning.

Tam has a buckskin pattern. His sire is light buckskin, while his dam is a medium buckskin.

Two cute little bucklings for Bunny this year.

EUMELANIN COLOR

Color	Tam	Bunny	EB1	EB2
Dark Brown	–	–	–	–
Black
Unknown	–	–	–	–

PHEOMENANIN COLOR

Color	Tam	Bunny	EB1	EB2
White	–	–	–	–
Cream			–	–
Tan		–	–	–
Gold	–	–	–	–
Red Brown	–	–

AGOUTI LOCUS PATTERN

Color	Tam	Bunny	EB1	EB2
Solid	–		–	–
Chamoisee	–	–	–	–
Buckskin		–
Cou Clair/Blanc	–	–	–	–
Swiss Marked	–	–	–	–
Sundgau	–	–	–	–
Hidden	–	–	–	–

WHITE SPOTTING & MODIFIERS

Color	Tam	Bunny	EB1	EB2
Random	–			–
Belted	–	–		–
Schwartzal	–	–	–	–
Roaning	–			–
Frosting				–
White Poll	–			–
Moon Spots	–	–	–	–

POLLED, OR NOT

Color	Tam	Bunny	EB1	EB2
Polled	–	–	–	–
Horns

Science is Fun & Genetics are Fascinating!

Please keep in mind this information is primarily for me. I’m posting it publicly in case others are interested. However, I don’t claim to know all the things. This is my method for keeping records of the genetics because I find it fascinating and I’m trying to educate myself.

#2kpioneer

The post 2021 Bunny & Tam Breeding appeared first on .

Thankfully another uneventful kidding season. All the mamas did great.

Our farm gained 7 bucks and 5 does.

I pushed out their kidding dates this year because I don’t like having babies in the colder, rainier weather. This year they were born the last week in April and first couple weeks in May – except for Moon, who kidded in July because her first breeding didn’t take.

Georgia

2 bucks

Willow

1 doe & 2 bucks

Wyldestyle

1 doe & 1 buck

Bunny

1 buck & 2 does

Moon

1 buck & 1 doe

#2kpioneer

The post 2019 Kidding Season appeared first on .

This is our second breeding season with Bunny. Although she has never had any real problems, pregnancy and delivery seem just a bit more uncomfortable for her than it does for Willow and her daughters.

Wingman was one of the kids from the first litter born on our farm. When he was born he had the coolest fawn colored hair spattered with roaning. It has lightened up significantly as he has aged. Wingman’s sire is Crash. He had a combination pattern of Swiss marked and medium to light buckskin. Wingman’s dam is Willow, who is a solid cream color.

Bunny’s sire is medium gold with darker moon spots. Her dam has a buckskin and Sundgau combination pattern. Bunny is a cream color that has a bit of a gold tinge to it, with roaning.

Bunny had triplets! This was quite a shock since she had a single buck last year.

She had 2 does and one buck this year. Two are polled; one is not. Two are very light in color. One is the opposite – red brown & black with a smattering of white.

EUMELANIN COLOR

Color	Wingman	Bunny	CB1	CB2	CB3
Dark Brown	–	–	–	–	–
Black
Unknown	–	–	–	–	–

PHEOMENANIN COLOR

Color	Wingman	Bunny	CB1	CB2	CB3
White	–	–	–	–	–
Cream	–		–
Tan	–	–	–	–	–
Gold		–	–	–	–
Red Brown	–	–		–	–

AGOUTI LOCUS PATTERN

Pattern	Wingman	Bunny	CB1	CB2	CB3
Solid			–
Chamoisee	–	–	–	–	–
Buckskin	–	–		–	–
Cou Clair/Blanc	–	–	–	–	–
Swiss Marked	–	–	–	–	–
Sundgau	–	–	–	–	–
No Pattern	–	–	–	–	–

WHITE SPOTTING & MODIFIERS

Characteristic	Wingman	Bunny	CB1	CB2	CB3
Random
Belted	–	–	–	–	–
Schwartzal	–	–	–	–	–
Roaning
Frosting
White Poll
Moon Spots	–	–	–	–	–

POLLED, OR NOT

Characteristic	Wingman	Bunny	CB1	CB2	CB3
Polled		–	–
Horned	–			–	–

Science is Fun & Genetics are Fascinating!

Please keep in mind this information is primarily for me. I’m posting it publicly in case others are interested. However, I don’t claim to know all the things. This is my method for keeping records of the genetics because I find it fascinating and I’m trying to educate myself.

#2kpioneer

The post 2019 Bunny & Wingman Breeding appeared first on .

Continuing my fascination with genetics, this post is about the coat patterns of goats.

In my previous post on coat color, I mentioned that the Agouti locus determines the color of a goat. Part of determining the color is also determining the pattern.

A goat receives two alleles on the Agouti locus – one comes from the dam, one comes from the sire. If the alleles are the same (homozygous), such as both being buckskin, then the kid would also be buckskin. However, if the alleles are different (heterozygous), different combinations of color patterns can be expressed. The Agouti alleles are co-dominant, meaning they both can be shown. In general, though, the pattern with most tan will be expressed.

Two other things to consider are pattern modifiers and white spotting. White spotting can change what we see on the goat’s coat, masking its genetic color pattern.

Agouti Allele’s

This is not a complete list, but the most common in Nigerian Dwarf Goats

SOLID

When only pheomelanin is present and no eumelanin this produces a solid pattern. This is the most dominant pattern.

Our goat, Bunny, is a solid light cream color with white spotting.

CHAMOISEE

Also known as Badgerface. Goats with this pattern are tan or brown, with a black (or dark brown) underbelly, dorsal stripe, facial stripe, and lower legs.

BUCKSKIN

Also known as San Clemente. The body on a buckskin can be cream, tan, or dark reddish brown. They are distinguished by their black (or dark brown) cape around the head, neck, and shoulders. Buckskins also express black (or dark brown) on top of their tail and chevron on the back legs. Their head is black (or dark brown) with lighter stripes.

Vern is a dark buckskin with random spotting.

COU CLAIR/COU BLANC

Also known as Peacock. These goats have a tan (cou clair) or white front (cou blanc), while their back half is black (or dark brown). They also have black (or dark brown) facial stripes.

SWISS MARKED

Also known as the Toggenburg pattern. Goats that are Swiss marked have a black (or dark brown) body. The pheomelanin (white, cream, or tan) areas include all 4 legs, facial stripes, ears, and under the tail.

WyldeStyle is Swiss marked.

SUNDGAU

The Sundgau pattern is similar to the Swiss marked pattern with a black (or dark brown) body and light legs, facial stripes, ears, and under the tail. However, the Sundgau pattern also has a light underbelly. It also has black (or dark brown) stripes on their light legs.

NO PATTERN

When there is only eumelanin and no pheomelanin present, this produces an all black goat. This is the most recessive pattern.

COMBINATION PATTERNS

Because goats can show both the pattern they inherited from their dam and the one they inherited from their sire, sometimes combination patterns occur.

Crash is a Buckskin/Swiss Marked combination.

White Spotting & Other Modifiers

Sometimes, in certain areas the eumelanin and/or pheomelanin pigments are not produced. This results in white spotting.

Genetically, the base color is still present, but it is masked by the spotting.

There are multiple genes associated with white spotting, so one goat could have multiple spotting patterns.

RANDOM

Random spots on the body

BELTED

White band around a goat’s midsection. The belt may go entirely around the goat, or not – and be referred to as a partial belt.

WyldeStyle has a partial belt with her Swiss markings.

SCHWARTZAL

The body is primarily white with dark markings on the head and sometimes the legs.

ROANING

Roaning is when white hairs are sprinkled among colored hairs. They are single hairs, not spots of white.

Georgia has roaning throughout her body.

FROSTING

When ticking occurs on the muzzle, ears, or tail it is known as frosting.

Georgia also has frosting.

WHITE POLL

A white poll refers to a white spot on top of the head.

Bunny has a white poll.

MOON SPOTS

Moon spots are random spots of color on top of a base color.

Moon has moon spots.

My goal is to take this information to learn more about and enhance our own herd.

Science is Fun & Genetics are Fascinating!

The post Goat Coat Pattern appeared first on .

We had three does due to kid the end of February to the beginning of March. Thankfully, all three mamas did great and we had a problem free kidding season.

We had such a mild winter with barely any snow, so I was hopeful the births would happen snow free. Nope. We received the most snow of the entire season during those couple weeks during kidding. The only snafu this caused was that we couldn’t use one of the kidding pens I planned to use.

BUNNY

Bunny surprised me just a little by having her baby a couple days sooner than I was expecting. She was in her kidding pen, though, so all was good. I was also a bit surprised that she had only one baby.

Farm Girl heard a goat making a horrible sound, when she investigated she noticed Bunny was in labor. We got to the barn just as Bunny birthed her little boy. We watched and watched expecting her to have another. After half an hour, both Farmer John & I checked her using the bouncing method and decided there were no more babies.

Because the temperature was below freezing I made the buckling a goat coat using fleece I had in my stash.

He was born on our friend’s birthday, so we started calling him Frankie. This worked out perfectly since one of my new favorite show’s is Grace & Frankie.

GEORGIA

Georgia, Georgia, Georgia.

She would have had her babies out in the snow. And, it’s all my fault.

I wasn’t expecting her to kid for another few days so I opened the stall door in case she wanted to go outside. She did. As I was about to go back inside the house I decided to check her backside for any indication that labor might be close. I noticed her vulva was a different shape. It had been puffy. Now it wasn’t puffy, but it was elongated. I right away brought her back into the barn and shut the door. I wasn’t expecting things to progress as quickly as they did, but I was hoping the change meant she was close.

Since Georgia had a change, I walked over and checked Willow. She did not have any noticeable changes, so I went back to peek at Georgia. Holy Guacamole, she was in active labor! She was laying down in obvious distress making a horrid sound.

I literally turned around, walked a couple feet, and grabbed the goat cam. Within those few seconds she pushed out her first baby – a boy. I stood there in awe and within another minute or two she delivered her second kid. This time a girl. It happened so quickly, I’m not even sure she knew she had another baby.

Doe on the left. Buck on the right. Their markings are incredibly similar, but the little girl’s tan areas are darker and redder than the little boy’s.

Georgia was a first freshener, so I was slightly concerned about how she would do during labor. She did fabulously. Below is her labor video.

WILLOW

I was getting a bit nervous about Willow. I was expecting her to kid over a week sooner than she did. For the most part, she didn’t seem in distress. But, there was a time two days before she delivered that I thought for sure she was in labor. When I checked her, her vulva was actually open a bit. Then later she was laying with one leg out obviously uncomfortable. A couple hours later – nothing. She went back to her typical self.

The next day – nothing. No indication that something was wonky the day before or that labor would happen soon.

The next morning, before taking the kids to school, I checked on her. I noticed nothing.

By the time I got back from school, she had 3 babies. I was so relieved!

She had 2 bucks and a doe.

I did get video of Willow’s birth. But, since the little rascal opted to have her babies in the short amount of time I was not home, the video is all from the goat cam.

This was our second kidding season. Last year we missed Willow’s birth by just minutes also. So this year I was determined to learn how to know when a goat is nearing labor.

I researched the topic and put up camera’s so I could watch their every move. I watched a ridiculous amount of Goat TV searching for signs that labor was near.

What I learned is that no amount of Goat TV will really give an indication of when labor is near. None of my goats gave early signs. I even went back and watched video prior to their labor’s searching for signs. Virtually nothing. One time Bunny pawed at the ground – big deal, Moon paws at the ground or backs of people and other goats all the time and she’s not even pregnant. Willow had a bit of excitement, but that was two days before she gave birth. I already knew she was close, so that didn’t really tell me anything I didn’t already know – expect cause me to worry something might be wrong.

None of the typical signs happened until they were in active labor. I was hoping for signs a little sooner.

I need more practice before the tail ligaments give me a clue to labor being near. I started feeling what I thought were their ligaments about a month before they were due. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice much of a change. Willow and Bunny’s may have been getting softer, but not so much that it was a clear indication of labor. And, Georgia’s always seemed loosey goosey to me.

I will continue my labor sleuthing skills next year.

I am incredibly thankful for the seemingly easy, trouble free births. We have 3 mama’s who did great and a total of 6 healthy babies.

The post 2018 Kidding Season appeared first on .

We just brought Bunny home last summer, so this was our first experience with breeding her. Her coloring is similar to Willow’s, so I was interested to see the similarities and differences between their kids.

Tam’s sire is light buckskin, while his dam is a medium buckskin. Tam also is buckskin.

Bunny’s sire is medium gold with darker moon spots. Her dam has a buckskin and Sundgau combination pattern. Bunny is a cream color that has a bit of a gold tinge to it, with roaning.

Bunny had one buck. He is a light tan with roaning. His coloring is fairly similar to Willow’s solid color kids, except he is a bit more tan than cream.

EUMELANIN COLOR

Color	Tam	Bunny	BB1
Dark Brown	-	-	-
Black
Unknown	-	-

PHEOMENANIN COLOR

Color	Tam	Bunny	BB1
White	-	-	-
Cream
Tan		-
Gold	-	-	-
Red Brown	-	-	-

AGOUTI LOCUS PATTERN

Color	Tam	Bunny	BB1
Solid	-
Chamoisee	-	-	-
Buckskin		-	-
Cou Clair/Blanc	-	-
Swiss Marked	-	-	-
Sundgau	-	-	-
No Pattern	-	-	-

WHITE SPOTTING & MODIFIERS

Color	Tam	Bunny	BB1
Random	-		-
Belted	-	-	partial
Schwartzal	-	-	-
Roaning	-
Frosting
White Poll	-
Moon Spots	-	-	-

POLLED, OR NOT

Color	Tam	Bunny	BB1
Polled	-	-	-
Horned

Science is Fun & Genetics are Fascinating!

The post 2018 Bunny & Tam Breeding appeared first on .

Bunny is our second milking doe.

We recently brought her home, so we are just getting to know each other. So far, I love her. She is very mild mannered.

She had never been hand milked prior to coming to our house. You would never know it. She gives me very little trouble at milking time.

* * * * * * *

PEDIGREE

DIJI FARM MEREDITH FS86 (VV+V)
D001638324

DOB: 01/17/13
FARM NAME: BUNNY
disbudded
strawberry blonde/cream

* * * * * * *

She is lovely. Her cream colored coat has a slight reddish undertone.

* * * * * * *

KIDDING HISTORY

We brought home Bunny the summer of 2017, so her kidding history with us begins in 2018:

2018 Kidding

x Tam
DOB: 2/25/2018
Single: 1 buck

2019 Kidding

x Wingman
DOB: 5/13/2019
Triplets: 2 does, 1 buck

2021 Kidding

x Tam
DOB: 4/24/2021
Twins: 2 bucks

* * * * * * *

LINEAR APPRAISAL

Bunny had Linear Appraisal’s done in 2015, 2016, and 2017. Click here to view her stats on the ADGA Genetics site.

* * * * * * *

MILK PRODUCTION

Click here to view her milk production evaluation on the ADGA Genetics site.

#2kpioneer

The post Our Nigerian Dwarf Goat Herd: Bunny appeared first on .