IMPROVEMENT
OF MILK GOATS

V. L. SIMMONS, Assistant Animal Husbandman, and
W. V. LAMBERT, Senior Animal Husbandman, Animal Husbandry Division, Bureau of Animal Industry

ACCORDING to a recent survey by the United States Department of Agriculture, only two research institutes in the United States are now conducting investigations on milk goat breeding. Both institutions, the New Mexico Agricultural Experiment Station and the Department of Agriculture, have brought about great improvement in their herds by grading up common does with purebred bucks of milk breeds, and the results indicate great potentialities for milk goat improvement by the application of breeding methods.

Milk goats are widely distributed in the United States but, in contrast with Angora goats, they are generally found in small herds and in many cases as one or a few individuals kept on the farm or in the back yard of the urban dweller. While they have not attained the position of economic importance of other classes of livestock, their numbers are increasing. Because a good milk goat will supply sufficient milk for the average family for at least 9 to 10 months of the year and can be kept where it would be impossible to keep a cow, they occupy a place in American agriculture not filled by any other class of livestock, and one that is probably destined to be increasingly important.

The average milk production is low, but there are many high-producing individuals and some herds in which the average milk production is high. Great variability exists both in rate and persistency of lactation.

The income of milk goat producers is derived principally from two sources—the sale of breeding stock and the sale of milk and milk products. Goats’ milk has only a specialized demand and the development of goat dairy enterprises has been limited largely by the market created by the producer’s own initiative. The producer of good breeding stock, on the contrary, has been in a more favorable position, for generally a greater demand exists for good stock than can be supplied.

Goat meat and goatskins also contribute to a limited extent to the income of the goat producer. Thousands of goats are slaughtered annually and their meat enters the same general channels of trade as mutton and lamb. Their skins are used in the manufacture of shoes, gloves, book bindings, pocketbooks, and other small articles. The number of skins produced annually in the United States is not large and millions of skins are imported each year. From July 1934 to July 1935 a total of about 60 million pounds of skins were imported.

The goat is one of the most ancient of domestic animals. Most authorities agree that the numerous varieties are descended from the Persian wild goat, Capra hircus aegagrus, a species common in Asia Minor. Just when it was first introduced into Europe is unknown, but remains of goats are found among the ruins of early European races.

Records of early settlements in Virginia and New England indicate that goats of the milk type were brought to the United States by Capt. John Smith and by Lord Delaware. Goat raising, while of some consequence to the early settlers, gradually declined after the middle of the seventeenth century.

Serious attention began to be paid to the breeding of milk goats in the United States about 30 years ago. Prior to 1904 there were scarcely any purebred Swiss goats in the United States, records revealing but one importation, that of four head in 1893. In 1904 a consignment of 10 Saanen and 16 Toggenburg goats was brought in, and this was followed by several other importations during the next two decades. Animals from these importations were widely dispersed by sale throughout the United States, and have provided the basis for the development and improvement of milk goats in this country.

The important breeds of milk goats in the United States are those that have proved most popular on other continents—the Saanen, Toggenburg, Nubian, Maltese, and Alpine. Representatives of these breeds of improved milk goats, although increasing, are not so numerous in this country as the unimproved types of short-haired goats. Among them are large numbers of the common, or American, goat. A quarantine against the importation of goats from many countries largely accounts for the small number of breeds found in the United States.

The Saanen and Toggenburg breeds of milk goats are the most popular in point of numbers in this country. Both breeds originated in Switzerland. Purebred Saanens (fig. 1, A) are solid white in color and large in size, mature males weighing 175 pounds or more and mature females, 125 pounds or more. The dairy conformation is especially well developed. The marked ability of this breed to produce milk is evidenced by the fact that the highest official test on record in the United States was made by a Saanen doe that produced 4,161.7 pounds of milk in 9 months and 10 days, an average for the period of 6.9 quarts a day.

The body color of Toggenburg goats (fig. 1, B) is brown or chocolate with a white stripe or bar down each side of the face, and the legs below the knees and hocks are white. Two wattles attached to the underside of the neck are very characteristic of this breed. Does of this breed, while not usually producing as large quantities of milk as those of the Saanen breed, are excellent milkers and a Toggenburg doe has made an official record of 2,759 pounds of milk in 10 months. Toggenburg does, when mature, weigh from 100 to 135 pounds and mature bucks, from 150 to 175 pounds. Owing to the fact that Toggenburg goats are more plentiful here than other breeds, a good many grade goats of the Toggenburg type are found in various parts of the country. In fact, many herds have been established by crossing Toggenburg bucks on does of the American type.

Figure 1.—High-producing does from three different breeds: A,Saanen; B, Toggenburg; C, Anglo-Nubian. The Saanen doe (No. 40728, Advanced Registry No. 191 A. M. G. R. A.) produced 3,144.4 pounds of milk and 95 pounds of fat in -10 months. Her highest daily yield was 17.6 pounds. The Toggenburg doe (No. 41642) produced 11 pounds of milk daily for a 30-day period as a 4-year old.  Each one of these does came from high-producing ancestors and each has won high honors in the show ring. The Anglo-Nubian doe (No. 34278, Advanced Registry No. 201) produced under official test as an 8-year old an average of 12.1 pounds of milk, averaging 5.7 percent fat, daily for 3 months.

Nubian milk goats, although considered a valuable breed, are not numerous in this country. They are natives of Nubia, upper Egypt, and Abyssinia. The colors of Nubians are black, dark brown, or tan, with or without white markings. They have a striking appearance, with drooping ears, a convex face, and a prominent forehead. Nubian bucks when mature weigh 165 pounds or more and mature does, 125 pounds or more. The Nubian breed is considered one of the best for milk production and the milk is noted for its high butter fat content; however, no figures are available on production for this breed.

There are also some Anglo-Nubian goats in this country. These are a very popular type of goat in England and are descended from crosses between the Nubian and goats of English origin. The predominant colors are black, tan, and red, with or without white. Some good specimens have shown a color approaching a roan, which is the color of the doe shown in figure 1, C. Anglo-Nubians are considered good milkers. Richards (21) states that Nubians and Anglo-Nubians are less well adapted to cold climates than are the other breeds.

A scattering of Alpine goats are found in the United States and trace to an importation of 3 bucks and 18 does brought into California from France in 1922. The Alpines range in color from pure white to pure black with frequent white spotting on the neck, legs, or underneath the body. They are of large size and quite hardy, and they have excellent capacity for milk production.

The Maltese breed, while considered valuable in some parts of the world, is of no special importance in this country at present, except that it has had some influence on the type of goats in the Southwest. It is native to the island of Malta. The color is white and reddish brown or black. It is considered one of the best breeds for milk production.

In the southwestern part of the United States there is found a type of goat known as the Spanish Maltese, which is descended from crosses between the Maltese and goats of Spanish origin. It is said that at a former time many Maltese goats were taken into Spain and from there to Mexico and finally to Texas and New Mexico. This type of goat is white or grayish in color, but many have brown, bluish-black, or reddish spots. The ears are pendulous. It is asserted that some are very good milk producers.

The common, or American, goats (fig. 2, A) found in many sections of the United States, especially in the South, are of mixed origin.  In many sections these goats have been bred for a great many years without the introduction of outside blood, so that in general conformation they are nearly uniform, being of medium size, somewhat short legged, and rather meaty in appearance. They do not show the conformation of the Swiss breeds, and they are of various colors—brown of various shades, brown and white, black and white, bluish gray, and white predominate. Although a few goats of this type are occasionally found that are good milkers, the quantity of milk produced is usually small and the lactation period lasts only a few months. Yet by crossing common does with bucks of the Saanen, Toggenburg, and Nubian breeds for several generations, some of the very best milkers in the United States have been produced. Because of the scarcity of good milk goats, common does have been used largely for grading up with the improved breeds.

Figure 2.―A, Common American doe no. 66 used as one of the foundation does of the United States Department of Agriculture herd at Beltsville, Md. This doe produced 367 pounds of milk in a lactation period of 275 days. B, United States Department of Agriculture doe no. 214.  This doe represents the third top cross of high-producing Saanen bucks on a foundation of common American does.  This doe produced 1,796.3 pounds of milk in a lactation of 266 days.


DISTRIBUTION OF MILK GOATS IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE WORLD

With the exception of the dog, the goat is the most widely distributed of all domesticated animals, and the genus Capra is found throughout the world outside of the Arctic regions. Table 1 shows the distribution of goats of all types for those countries that reported an average of 500,000 or more during the 5-year period 1926-30. Although the types of goats are specified in only a few instances in census data, it seems probable that the majority of the goats reported are used for milking purposes. The total number of goats in the world is estimated at 189,000,000, of which 8,000,000 are classed as Angora goats.¹

The total number of milk goats ² in the United States can only be estimated as no specific census figures are available.  The total number of goats of all kinds in 1930 according to the census of that year was 4,821,000, of which 3,785,000 were specified as Angora goats.  Only a small percentage of the 1,036,000 other goats, of short-haired type, could be classed as improved milk goats. In 1930 ³ the five leading States in number of short-haired ⁴ goats and kids were Texas with 185,737; New Mexico, 102,548; Arizona, 97,628; Georgia, 84,503; and Tennessee, 53,948.

Milk goats are found in practically all sections of the United States and in recent years have increased in numbers in the Eastern and Middle Western States. While California ranks eleventh in total number of short-haired goats, the milk goat industry in southern California has developed to a greater extent than in any other section of the United States. The dry, even climate, the abundance of feed, both wild and cultivated, and the favorable marketing conditions present opportunities not offered in most sections.

In a number of countries milk goats have been bred for many years, and in a few countries, Switzerland in particular, they have been brought to a state of considerable efficiency and perfection.  In Spain goats are the chief source of the milk supply. In Europe and Asia the goat is used quite generally as a dairy animal, while in Africa meat and skins are the principal products.

Goats’ milk differs in some respects from the milk of the cow. Chemical analyses of the two kinds of milk are shown in table 2.

Considerable variability is observed in the composition of milk from different breeds of both goats and cows, between individuals in the same breed and even in samples taken from the same individual, especially when such samples are taken at widely different periods of lactation. The above results for the goat are based on analyses of milk from the herd kept by the United States Department of Agriculture at Beltsville, Md., while the results for the two breeds of dairy cattle are from data reported by the Associates of Rogers (22).⁵

Studies by Jordan and Smith (11) showed that there are no essential differences 1 the casein of goats’ and cows’ milk. Similarly, studies on milk from the Department of Agriculture herd show that there are no significant differences between these two kinds of milk in content of calcium, phosphorus, iron, and copper. Studies made in the nutrition laboratories of the Department on the vitamin content of goats’ and cows’ milk showed no marked superiority of one over the other. Jersey milk was found to contain somewhat more vitamin A, but goats’ milk more of vitamins B and C. It was also determined that goats’ milk has a much softer curd than the milk of either Holstein-Friesian or Jersey cattle.

Through the cooperation of the Department of Agriculture and Johns Hopkins University, normal infants were fed Holstein, Jersey, and goat milk. The milk used in these studies was boiled for 1 minute and was supplemented with orange juice and cod-liver oil. While the number of infants fed on any one kind of milk was too small to furnish conclusive results, no essential differences in health, general appearance, and well-being of the infants were observed, good results being obtained with each kind of milk.⁶  The gains in weight were in proportion to the total nutritive contents of the milk. No attempts were made to compare the two kinds of milk on infants with a history of malnutrition. Goats’ milk may be of value for infant feeding in cases of food idiosyncrasies, for many cases are on record in which children are able to utilize goats’ milk, but not the milk of the cow.

The fat globules are much smaller in goats’ milk and this characteristic, together with a softer curd, makes it easier to digest than cows’ milk. Because of the small fat globules, which prevent the cream from rising to the surface, the ordinary method of obtaining cream by allowing it to rise is impracticable. By the use of the separator, however, practically all the butterfat can be obtained and it may be used satisfactorily for making butter. Several varieties of cheese are also made from goats’ milk. To a limited extent, powdered, condensed, and evaporated goats’-milk products are being manufactured in the United States.

No figures are available concerning the total production or consumption of goats’ milk and of the products made from it. In general, there has been only a specialized market for goats’ milk and the development of goat dairy enterprises has been limited to a large extent by this market. The price of goats’ milk has ranged from 10 to 50 cents a quart and sometimes even higher. There is one brand of evaporated, unsweetened goats’ milk on the market which sells for 25 cents for a can of 6 ounces. This is equivalent to about 65 cents a quart [$12.38/ qt. in 2021 dollars! -ASC] for the original milk.

Cunningham and Addington (8) studied the effect of early breeding upon milk production. It was found that does freshening for the second time at 2 years of age produced significantly more milk than does that freshened for the first time as 2-year-olds. However, the does freshening for the first time at 2 years of age had somewhat longer lactation periods. The greater production of the goats freshened first as yearlings is contradictory to the belief of many goat breeders.

The question of breeding does early or late in the lactation period has been studied by Brooks (5). He found that while delayed breeding tends to prolong the lactation period indefinitely, the later production is at a much lower level. Furthermore, breeding early in the lactation period did not seem to decrease the rate of production during the first part of lactation.

The goat is a seasonal breeder. Turner (26) investigated this question for goats of various breeds in the United States and found that estrous cycles in normal does occur quite regularly at intervals of about 21 days during the period from September to February. During the months from April through July, and perhaps mostly through August, estrous cycles are generally suppressed. Similar findings were reported by Kupfer (13) for goats in South Africa and in Switzerland.

By the injection of an extract prepared from the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland, Asdell (2) was able to bring about some improvement in milk secretion of goats in the late stages of lactation. No improvement was observed from injections made early in lactation, especially in the better milkers. Evans (9) was able to induce lactation in several virgin milk goats following the injection of a pituitary extract, and in one mature goat during her dry period. In cattle he reports that the Bureau of Dairy Industry of the U. S. Department of Agriculture has been able to get increases in milk yield following the injection of pituitary extract in some low-producing cows that apparently had a deficiency of this hormone. The yield returned to former levels as soon as the injections ceased. Good-producing cows did not respond. These results indicate that there is a relationship between the secretion of the pituitary body and the ability to lactate, but sufficient information is not yet available to make it possible to use this information in a practical way.

Turner and Reineke (27) observed that involution of the mammary gland (shrinking of the secretory tissue) was almost complete in a goat in the late stages of lactation, and that the stimulation of milking was ineffective in maintaining the secretory tissue in such goats. Their results suggest that attempts to increase the milk flow by the use of hormones will fail unless growth of the secretory tissue is first induced.

In 1936 the Department of Agriculture undertook, as a part of the germ-plasm survey, to determine the status of milk goat breeding in the United States. Questionnaires were sent to experiment stations in those States where milk goats are raised in large numbers, and also to important private breeders whose names had been obtained from State experiment stations and from breed association secretaries.  The following information was requested: (1) The name and registration number of important sires; (2) the number of each daughter and her dam; (3) the age when the doe was tested; (4) the number of days in milk; (5) the pounds of milk produced; and (6) the pounds of butterfat produced, and the percentage of butterfat, for each daughter and her dam.

The returns from private breeders were limited. While there are some herds of fairly large size, it appears that few breeders are keeping records on milk and butterfat production, although many breeders expressed a desire for such records and a willingness to cooperate in the keeping of records. Certainly no progress in locating superior germ plasm can be made until better records exist than those now available.

From this survey it was also determined that New Mexico is the only State now conducting research on milk goat breeding. This station has had an extensive breeding program under way since 1919 and the results are discussed in a later section.

Research was initiated with milk goats by the Bureau of Animal Industry in 1909 with the breeding of common or American does to bucks of the same type, with the purpose of developing a superior strain for milk production. Progress was slow and difficult and after 2 years of experimentation of this sort purebred bucks of both the Saanen and Toggenburg breeds were obtained for grading up the common does. The lines started from the top crosses of the original does by males of these two breeds were kept distinct. In each generation the best producing does were retained for top-crossing in the succeeding generation.

Progress has been slow since only a relatively small number of breeding does could be maintained and breeding activities were curtailed at various times. However, there has been some progress.  The average length of the lactation period for the top-cross does, on the basis of the 1934 and 1935 results, has increased 145 percent and the average annual milk yield, 335 percent over that of the native does.⁷ It should be pointed out that only six native does were available for comparison and the average length of lactation for these does was only 113 days.

The influence on both milk yield and length of lactation as a result of continuous top-crossing with purebred bucks is shown in table 3.  With few exceptions, the does were approximately 24 months old at the beginning of lactation.

Since the length of lactation varied greatly, the quantity of milk produced by each doe during the first 120 days of her first lactation is used as a basis for the comparison of the productive abilities of does of the different top-cross generations.

As the trend in improvement of milk yield was similar for the top-cross does from the Saanen and Toggenburg bucks, the results for the two breeds were combined. A doe of the third top cross is shown in figure 2, B. The milk production of the does from the fourth and fifth top-cross generations was almost equal to that of the purebred does in the herd. No production data are available for grade does of more than thirty-one thirty-seconds pure breeding. A fourth top-cross doe produced 2,221 pounds of milk in 355 days, while the best purebred doe produced 2,297 pounds in 312 days.  A number of the grade does had production records exceeding 1,600 pounds for one lactation.

The length of the lactation period also was increased as a result of the top-crossing, although a large part of the improvement was observed in the first top-cross generation. Since only six native does were tested, the average of 113 days observed for them may have been lower than the average for the population of does from which they were chosen.

A comparison of the milk production of does of different ages in the Department herd is shown in table 4. These results show that the period of maximum milk production for does is between 4 and 6 years of age. The length of lactation period also is greatest between the ages of 4 and 6 years but the change observed in length of lactation was not so great as that for milk production.

A comparison of the purebred sires used in this herd, as measured by the sire index (calculated by the commercial form of the Mount Hope index, as described by Prentice (20)), showed that marked differences exist in the ability of sires to transmit their characteristics to their offspring. None of the sires possessed the necessary inheritance for raising both the milk yield and the length of the lactation period of all his daughters.® However, more sires increased the milk yield of their daughters than increased the length of the period of lactation.

Since 1919 the New Mexico Agricultural Experiment Station has conducted experiments to determine the improvement that might be expected from grading up native does of the Southwest with purebred Toggenburg bucks. The native does were descendants of the goats brought into the United States by the Spaniards. Since its initiation, the experiment has been expanded to include such studies as the inheritance of horns and wattles, length of gestation, prolificacy, the sex ratio, and a determination of the effects of inbreeding and outcrossing on milk production, and the birth weight of kids.

The foundation animals for the breeding experiment consisted of 10 native yearling does that came from a herd in which there was no apparent evidence of improvement by the use of improved bucks of either Angora or milk type. Milk records were secured on 8 of the 10 foundation native does and their progeny.

The improvement in production resulting from top crosses of purebred Toggenburg bucks on native does and their resulting offspring is shown in table 5 in comparison with the production of purebred does. Each of the does was approximately 2 years old at the beginning of her lactation period. In all cases the quantity of milk produced by a doe was corrected to a butterfat basis of 4 percent by use of the formula of Gaines and Davidson (19).⁹

Marked increases in milk production were obtained from the top-cross does, the greatest increase occurring in the first generation.  From the fourth top cross, does equaling the production of the purebred females were obtained.

A number of does in the station herd have made creditable records under the rules for advanced registry of the American Milk Goat Record Association, several being leaders in their respective classes.  One of these, Val Verde’s Zula 25467, has a record of 2,759.0 pounds of milk and 100.2 pounds of fat. Another, NMAC Mary Ann, a daughter of Val Verde’s Zula, has a record of 2,570.4 pounds of milk and 77.08 pounds of fat, while several others have records exceeding 2,500 pounds of milk and 90 pounds of fat. Two of these high-producing does, Laura Lorenzo 35768 and NMAC Amelita 35769, are twins.

During the course of the experiment at the New Mexico Station, line-breeding has been practiced to three outstanding bucks in an attempt to fix the desirable characteristics of the family from which these bucks came. The production of the inbred and outbred daughters from these males is shown in table 6.

The effect of the inbreeding in general has been to lower slightly the milk production of the inbred does in comparison with the production of their dams, whereas the outcrossed daughters have exceeded their dams in milk production. In the production of butterfat, however, as measured by the percentage of butterfat in the milk, the inbred does did somewhat better than the outbred does. While it would appear from these results that close inbreeding is not a good practice for the average breeder of goats, it is to be hoped that experiment stations conducting breeding experiments with milk goats, and likewise some of the larger breeders, can practice some inbreeding in their herds.

Much experimental work on animals and plants has shown that inbreeding is a certain method for increasing the purity or homozygosity of inherited characteristics. If accompanied by rigid selection, good inbred strains may eventually be isolated. Individuals of these strains, because of their greater purity for certain desirable characteristics, should have a greater chance to transmit these characteristics when outcrossed to unrelated goats, and they may be valuable parental material in other ways. It should be emphasized, however, that the use of close inbreeding for animal improvement is still in the experimental stages, and that it is not recommended for the average private breeder.

In addition to the studies on production, the New Mexico station has presented data on the length of the gestation period, on fertility and fecundity, and on the sex ratio.

A total of 144 gestation periods were recorded, 115 being for does over 18 months old and 29 for does under 18 months. The mean length of the gestation period for all does was 149.9 days, with a range from 136 to 157 days. For the younger does the range was from 136 to 154 days and for the older does from 139 to 157 days.  The mean for both groups was 149.9 days.

Fertility in this herd was high. From 152 matings a total of 144 conceptions was secured; 127 of these were from single services, 13 from the second, 3 from the third, and 1 from the fourth service.  From the 144 parturitions 286 kids were produced, the distribution of single and multiple births being as follows: Single, 40; twins, 70; triplets, 30; and quadruplets, 4. A somewhat higher proportion of multiple births was observed for the older does. A Saanen doe with quadruplet kids is shown in figure 3.

Figure 3.—United States Department of Agriculture Saanen doe no. 412 with her quadruplet kids. Quadruplets are uncommon in milk goats, only 3 sets being recorded in a total of 617 parturitions in the Department herd. In the herd of the New Mexico Agricultural Experiment Station 4 sets of quadruplets have been recorded in a total of 144 parturitions. Instances of a larger number of kids at one parturition are very rare.

A preponderance of males was observed, the ratio of males to females being 115 to 100, for a total of 363 kids examined. This is a somewhat lower proportion of males than has been reported by other investigators.

Promotion of the interests of milk-goat breeders in the United States has depended largely on various breed associations and on State and local organizations of breeders. Through the medium of exhibits at State and county fairs, and by advertising in various periodicals mostly devoted to the promotion of goats, much interest in milk goats has been created in many sections of the country.

At the present time three associations are registering goats—the American Milk Goat Record Association of Vincennes, Ind., the International Dairy Goat Record Association, at Lincoln, Nebr., and the American Goat Society, Inc., of Wayland, N. Y. Of these, the first mentioned is the oldest and largest. It was organized in 1903, and by the end of October 1936 had recorded 51,118 purebred and grade goats. The second association was organized in 1927 and had recorded a total of 2,323 purebred goats, while the third organization was established in 1935 and had registered 1,527 purebred animals by the end of October 1936.

The American Milk Goat Record Association has established an advanced registry and is sponsoring the testing of does for milk and butterfat production. Its requirements for advanced registration are comparable in some respects with those adopted by the various organizations promoting advanced registry of dairy cattle.¹⁰ A total of 201 females have met the requirements for advanced registry— 123 Toggenburg, 60 Saanen, 11 Nubian, and 7 native does. In 1936 the American Goat Society, Inc., established a herd-improvement registry for the purpose of obtaining individual production on each doe in the herds registered under this plan.

In addition to the registry associations there are many State and local societies that are promoting the milk-goat industry in various ways. Three papers—the Goat World, the Dairy Goat Journal, and the American Goat Herd—are devoted primarily to sponsoring the interests of milk-goat breeders.

Much progress has been made by some breeders of milk goats in improving their herds. While figures are not available on the average production of milk goats in this country, certainly it is far below that of the better herds and probably below the average production of herds in such countries as Switzerland, where the goat plays a greater part in domestic economy than in the United States.

There can be no doubt of the need for improvement in the milk production of goats in the United States. While it is not to be expected that the goat will supplant the dairy cow to any great extent, there are sections of the country where good milk goats would contribute materially to the welfare of many families. The facts that a goat can be kept where it would be impossible to keep a cow and at the same time will supply sufficient milk for the average family, are features that seem to make goats suitable for families of low incomes living on small acreages.in suburban districts, in mining districts, and in other areas where a good supply of milk is not available and the keeping of cows is impracticable.

But improvement of the goat alone will not solve the problems of the industry as a commercial business. If an industry is to grow, it must have new or better markets for its products. Research is greatly needed to develop uses for goat products, and one of the chief activities of breed organizations should be to encourage research in this field. Among the problems that might well be studied are (1) the value of goats’ milk for the feeding of infants, invalids, and persons allergic to cows’ milk and its products, (2) its value for the making of cheese of various types, (3) methods for the preparation of condensed milk in order to make it more widely available, (4) the creation of a greater demand for goat meat, by advertising and the development of new and better recipes for its preparation, and (5) studies on the economics of production under various systems of farming.

Future improvement in milk goats must come largely through the efforts of breeders. Fundamental research is needed to guide breeding efforts, but research of this kind will be undertaken only at the demand, and with the support and encouragement, of breeders. In addition, breeders can do much themselves to improve the goat.  Practices that should be of general benefit would include:
   1. The keeping of more complete records on milk and butterfat production, fertility, and fecundity of the goats in the breeding herd.  Such records are vital to breed improvement, and the germ plasm survey conducted by the Department of Agriculture indicates that many prominent breeders have been lax in keeping such records.
   2. The development of a more extensive record-of-performance program that will enroll the better breeders. Fortunately the foundation for such a program has been laid and it should be encouraged to the fullest extent. Dairy breeders have made much progress in the use of record-of-performance tests and goat breeders can utilize many of these findings in the development of their own program.
   3. The more extensive use of proved sires. It is well known that sires differ greatly in their ability to transmit inherited characteristics to their offspring. While the record of his ancestors furnishes some information about the value of a sire, the surest way of determining this is to study the records of his daughters. Once a sire has proved his ability to transmit desirable characteristics, provision should be made to use him to the fullest extent. Because of the wide distribution of goat breeders and the relatively small size of the herds, this will prove difficult in many cases. However, the need for the use of such sires is so great, if proper progress is to be made, that breeders and breed associations should make every effort to develop means whereby exchanges of such sires could be made between breeders.
   4. The development of a better spirit of cooperation among breeders.  Too frequently in the past there has been a tendency for the development of factions. This has resulted in tendencies for various groups in the industry to be working at cross-purposes. For instance, several breed associations have been established, each recording all breeds of milk goats. The result has been to lower the effectiveness of the breed associations in sponsoring breed promotion and improvement. It also makes it more difficult for the breeder to record his animals, especially if transfers from one association to the other are desired. With the relatively small number of purebred milk goats in the United States, one vigorous organization receiving the support of the whole industry certainly would seem to be sufficient.
   5. Finally, more consideration needs to be given to the development of better procedures to guide breeders in the selection of breeding animals. Much information on the basic problems of animal breeding that should be of great use to goat breeders is contained in the 1936 Yearbook of Agriculture.¹²

The improvement of the milk goat, in common with the improvement of other species of livestock, is a large task that will require the best efforts of the breeder, the research worker, and all other interested agencies.

SINCE the improvement of goats has rested largely in the hands of private breeders and very few research agencies have had projects pertaining to goat husbandry in any form, genetic studies of this species have lagged. Nevertheless, some facts concerning the genetics of various characters have been reported, although most of the conclusions must be considered as tentative.

The inheritance of horns in goats has been studied by Lush (14).  Warwick (29), Addington and Cunningham (1), Asdell and Crew (3), and Asdell and Smith (4). The evidence in each case strongly suggests that the polled and horned conditions constitute a pair of Mendelian characters, the horned condition being recessive and due to a single recessive gene. In a few cases, however, individuals with scurs (imperfectly developed horns, usually without an attachment to the bone) were observed, but the data were too few to warrant an attempt to interpret the significance of the scurs. Muller (18) investigated the inheritance of the multihorned condition in goats but found that, while the character is inherited, the mode of inheritance was complex.

The mode of inheritance of wattles—sometimes called tassels—has been investigated by Asdell and Smith (4), Lush (14), and Addington and Cunningham (7). The evidence indicates that the wattled condition is dominant over the nonwattled condition and that one pair of genes is concerned. The exact manner of inheritance of the bearded condition has not been determined, but Asdell and Smith suggest that it is a sex-limited character dominant in the male and recessive in the female.

An inherited nervous instability of the goat has been reported by White and Plaskett (32), Hooper (10),and Lush (15). If suddenly frightened or surprised, goats with this affliction become rigid and the worst frightened usually fall. The spell usually lasts from 10 to 20 seconds. The animals recover the use of the muscles in the fore part of the body first, and on recovery often start moving away with the rear quarters dragging or very stiff. After being frightened once, the goats cannot be affected again, regardless of the extent of fright, until 20 to 30 minutes have elapsed. These goats apparently were quite unable to jump over obstacles of ordinary height. The mode of inheritance has not been determined.

The presence of short ears in the goat has been reported by Wassin (31) and Käb (12). Wassin suggests that one pair of genes is involved and that long ears are incompletely dominant. This would account for the three types of ears observed, the homozygous (AA) being long, the heterozygous (Aa) intermediate, and the recessive (aa) type being short. The short ears described by Käb, on the other hand, were dominant. In neither case, however, was the mode of inheritance definitely determined.

Much variability in color and marking occurs in the goat. The chief colors observed are white, brown, tan, red, roan, gray, black, fawn, and cream, but. several other colors occur less frequently. Relatively little is known concerning the mode of inheritance of the various colors and the interactions of the genes concerned.¹⁴

Cryptorchidism (the condition in which one or both testes fail to descend into the scrotum) occurs quite commonly in the goat, and Warwick (30) and Lush, Jones, and Dameron (16) have shown that the condition is inherited, though the exact mode of inheritance has not been determined. At least two pairs of genes appear to be involved.  Abnormalities of the reproductive system, which take the form of an intimate mixture of male and female parts belonging to the accessory sexual organs, are rather common in the goat, according to Crew (7).  Since the abnormalities occur more frequently in some districts than in others, and because certain individuals in successive matings produce one of more of these intersexual offspring, it would seem that the condition is inherited. Nothing has been reported on the mode of inheritance.

Calder (6) has studied the incidence of multiple births in the goat and believes that prolificacy is a character controlled to some extent by genetic factors. The male appears to be equally influential with the female in transmitting the potentialities for multiple births.  Calder suggests that most effective results will be obtained in selecting for prolificacy if due consideration is given to the prolificacy of both strains, and to the actual size of the litters from which the females and males are chosen.

   (1)  Addington, L. H., and CunniNGham, O. C. 1935. MILK GOAT BREEDING. N. Mex. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. 229, 81 pp., illus.
   (2)  Asdell, S. A. 1935. GoAT RESEARCH IN 1934. Brit. Goat Soc. Yearbook 1935: 101, 103-104, illus.
   (3)  ―and Crew, F.A.E. 1925. THE INHERITANCE OF HORNS IN THE GOAT. Jour. Genetics 15:367-374.
   (4)  ―and SmitH, A. D. BUCHANAN. 1928. INHERITANCE OF COLOR, BEARD, TASSELS, AND HORNS IN THE GOAT. Jour. Heredity 19: 425-430, illus.
   (5)  Brooks, H. J. 1934. THE TREND IN PRODUCTION WITH THE ADVANCE IN LACTATION. Brit. Goat Soc. Yearbook 1934: 25, 26, 28-29, 31, illus.
   (6)  Calder, A. 1928. THE INHERITANCE OF MULTIPLE BIRTHS. Brit. Goat Soc. Yearbook 1928: 53-57, illus.
   (7)  Crew, F. A. E. 1927. THE GENETICS OF SEXUALITY IN ANIMALS. 188 Pp., illus. Cambridge.
   (8)  CunniNGHam, O. C., and Addington, L. H. 1936. THE EFFECT OF EARLY BREEDING UPON THE MILK ENERGY PRODUCTION OF GRADE AND PUREBRED TOGGENBURG GOATS. Jour. Dairy Sci. 19: 405-409.
   (9)  Evans, E. I. 1934. VIRGIN ANIMALS SECRETE MILK AFTER INJECTIONS OF PITUITARY HORMONE. U.S. Dept. Agr. Yearbook 1934: 360-363, illus.
  (10)  Hooper, J. J. 1916. A PECULIAR BREED OF GOATS. Science (n. s.) 43: 571.
  (11)  Jordan, W. H., and Smith, G. A. 1917. GOAT’S MILK FOR INFANT FEEDING. N. Y. State Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. 429, 20 pp., illus.
  (12)  Käb, E. 1934. ERBLICHE STUMMELOHREN BEI DER ZIEGE. Zuchtungskunde 9:452-455, illus.
  (13)  Kupfer, M. 1928. THE SEXUAL CYCLE OF FEMALE DOMESTICATED MAMMALS. THE OVARIAN CHANGES AND THE PERIODICITY OF OESTRUM IN CATTLE, SHEEP, GOATS, PIGS, DONKEYS, AND HORSES. Union So. Africa Dept. Agr., Dir. Vet. Ed. and Research Repts. 13-14: 1211-1270, illus.
  (14)  Luss, J. L. 1926. INHERITANCE OF HORNS, WATTLES, AND COLOR IN GRADE TOGGENBURG GOATS. Jour. Heredity 17: 73-91, illus.
  (15)  ―1930. “NERVOUS” Goars. Jour. Heredity 21: 243-247, illus.
  (16)  Lush, J. L., Jones, J. M., and Dameron, W. H. 1930. THE INHERITANCE OF CRYPTORCHIDISM IN GoATs. Tex. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. 407, 23 pp., illus.
  (17)  MARQUARDT, J. C. 1936. FIVE MILLION GOATs. Rural New Yorker 115 (5351): 36, illus.
  (18)  MULLER, R. 1918. WEITERE INZUCHTVERSUCHE MIT VIELHORNIGE ZIEGEN. Arch. Tierheilk. Sup. 44: 198-206.
  (19)  OverMAN, O. R., and Gaines, W. L. 1933. MILK-ENERGY FORMULAS FOR VARIOUS BREEDS OF CATTLE. Jour. Agr. Research 48: 1109-1120, illus.
  (20)  PrENTICE, E. P. 1935. BREEDING PROFITABLE DAIRY CATTLE; A NEW SOURCE OF NATIONAL WEALTH. 261 pp., illus. Boston and New York.
  (21)  Richards, I. 1921. MODERN MILK GOATS; STATUS OF THE MILK GOAT INDUSTRY . . . 271 pp., illus. Philadelphia and London.
  (22)  Rogers, L. A., ASSOCIATES OF 1935. FUNDAMENTALS OF DAIRY SCIENCE. Ed. 2, 616 pp., illus. New York.
  (23)  Shaw, E. L. 1935. MiLk goats. U. S. Dept. Agr. Farmers’ Bull. 920, 32 pp., illus. (Revised).
  (24)  SmitH, A. D. BUCHANAN. 1934. INHERITANCE OF MILK YIELD. Brit. Goat Soc. Yearbook 1934:95-95, illus.
  (25)  Thompson, G. F. 1905. THE MILCH GOATS. U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Anim. Indus. Bull. 68, 32 pp., illus.
  (26)  TurNER, C. W. 1936. SEASONAL VARIATION IN THE BIRTH RATE OF THE MILKING GOAT IN THE UNITED STATES. Jour. Dairy Sci. 19: 619-622.
  (27)  ―and REINEKE, E. P. 1936. A STUDY OF THE INVOLUTION OF THE MAMMARY GLAND OF THE GOAT. Mo. Agr. Expt. Sta. Research Bul. 235, 23 pp., illus.
  (28)  Voorhies, E. C. 1917. THE MILCH GOAT IN CALIFORNIA. Calif. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. 285, pp. [87]-114, illus.
  (29)  Warwick, B. L. 1933. INHERITANCE OF HORNS IN ANGORA GOATs. Tex. Agr. Expt. Sta. Ann. Rept. 46: 39.
  (30)  ―1934. INHERITANCE OF THE RIDGLING CHARACTER IN GoaTs. Tex. Agr. Expt. Sta. Ann. Rept. 47: 28-29.
  (31)  WassIN, B. 1928. OHRLOSIGKEIT BEI SCHAFEN UND ZIEGEN. Ztschr. Induktive Abstam. u. Vererbungslehre 49: [95]-104, illus.
  (32)  White, G. R., and Plaskett, J. 1904. NERVOUS, STIFF-LEGGED OR "FAINTING" GoaTs. Amer. Vet. Rev. 28: 556-560, illus.
  (33)  WriGHT, S. 1922, COEFFICIENTS OF INBREEDING AND RELATIONsHIP. Amer. Nat. 56: 330-338.