Goats were one of the earliest domesticated animals, and evidence of their domestication can be traced as far back as 10,000 years. They probably originated in Central Asia and the Mediterranean, but by the 1500s Spanish and Portuguese explorers were scattering goats across the globe. Goats were commonly kept on ships as a source of milk and meat By the 1600s, the first goat registry was produced in Switzerland, and classification by breed has existed ever since. Because of their versatility, goats have adapted to virtually every climate on the planet. Globally, more people drink goat's milk than any other type of dairy, and goat meat is one of the world's most popular red meats.
Goats are used for milk, meat, fiber (or hair), land management (brush control), packing, entertainment, and pets, making them perhaps the most useful all-around animal on the planet.
PRODUCTION TRAITS
Four key traits to be considered for genetic improvement in goats used primarily for meat production are the following: 1) adaptability to environmental and production conditions, 2) reproductive rate, 3) gross rate and 4) carcass characteristics. Of these four production traits, only carcass characteristics are not readily measurable on the farm. With good record keeping and a set of scales, the meat goat producer can collect the information needed to measurably increase the productivity of his/her meat goat enterprise.
Adaptability
This trait is the most important of all the reproduction traits. The profitability of any meat goat enterprise may be greatly diminished if an animal's ability to survive and reproduce is impaired by the production environment. The goat has proven to be perhaps the most adaptable of all the domesticated livestock. Indeed, the goat survives worldwide in a wide range of environmental conditions. However, when taken out of one environment and placed into another, domesticated livestock may not always realize its production potential. Therefore, we might expect Spanish goats to perform differently in the Carolinas and Virginia than they do on the arid Edwards Plateau of Texas. Similarly, Boer goats might perform differently in South African then they do in North American. In addition, different degrees of adaptability exist between breeds. For example, we might expect Spanish goats to be inherently better adapted to extensive, browsing conditions than Tennessee Stiff-leg goats.
Adaptability is a lowly heritable trait because natural selection has already reduced the genetic variability. Therefore, adaptability will respond slowly to selection.
Reproductive rate
In animals kept primarily for meat production, reproductive rate is the single most important factor contributing to the efficiency of production. Reproductive traits of interest in meat goat enterprise would be conception rate, kidding rate, and ability to breed out of season.
In general, goats have a high reproductive rate with conception rate not being a problem. Several studies have demonstrated that although twins and triplets have no lower birth and weaning weights have slower growth rates, they produce more total weight of kid per doe per year. Therefore, prolificacy, defined as the number of kids born per doe, is an important reproduction trait. Goats that have evolved in the temperature zones of the world tend to be seasonal breeders, with females coming into estrus in the fall and anestrus occurring in late spring. This breeding pattern does not always coincide with the optimal marketing period of weaned kids. On the other hand, goats from tropical regions are non-seasonal breeders and kid all year-round. Therefore, incorporating this trait of non-seasonality into a meat goat enterprise would be advantageous.
Growth rate
Growth rate can be effectively divided into two periods: pre-weaning average daily gain and post-weaning average daily gain. A high pre-weaning average daily gain not only reflects the genetic potentiall of the growing animal, but also the mothering ability of the doe. In some production systems, kids are sold at weaning and therefore pre-weaning average daily gain is an important production trait to consider. In other production systems kids are sold as yearlings or as older animals and post-weaning average daily gain becomes an important production factor.
Carcass characteristics
Carcass characteristics of interest are dressing percentage, anatomical distribution of muscle and the ratios of lean:fat:bone. Generally, the dressing percentage of goats is around 50%. As an animal grows, the percentage of fat in the carcass tends to increase, the percentage of bone tends to decrease whereas the percentage of lean muscle stays about the same. The portions of the carcass with the largest muscle mass are the leg and shoulder. However, percentage wise, these portions tend to decrease as the animal grows.