Finding success in the market goat sector

For some people, market goat wethers are a joke. They don’t understand what it takes to breed and raise a competitive wether, and the years it takes to build a program. For the last few years, I have a had a few wethers here and there, but they never seemed to make a mark. This year, that all changed.

The first set of wethers I had were a set of triples out of a solid red 50% Boer doe, who has some fiber goat in her as well. She had her first of kids last year, a set of doe kids, and I loved them. This year she gave me three wethers in the middle of cold snap (-35 outside and -10 in the barn) and also presented me with the challenge of pulling them. All three wethers made it, and only suffered a little frostbite on the tips of their ears.

I knew from when they were a few days old that they would be special. They were wide, big boned and muscled. I sold all three to different families so they wouldn’t have to compete against each other. Two of the three wethers were first in their class, and the third was second. Not bad for a set of triplets born in February.

The other market wethers were consistently second or third, and with good market judges (not dairy judges) I think they would have won their classes. If they had been born earlier in the year, those two lightweight champions could have taken it all.

However, even though the elusive Grand Champion Market Wether title is important, I think the most important contest for the industry is the carcass contest, followed by the rate of gain contest, and that is were my goats really excelled this year.

One of the wethers shown at the Elbert County Fair didn’t just win the carcass contest, he crushed it. That is phenomenal.

In the rate of gain contest, the little paint wether that won his class was also the best gainer. This is important to me because it translates to feed efficiency, which is important for the commercial meat goat industry.

The wether that was shown at the Adams County Fair also won his class.

This fall I traveled to Texas, where I purchased a direct son of the late Strategic Power. Strategic Strike caught my eye, because he had that wether look to him, but had the genetics to back a fullblood program as well. Since I do both, that is important to me.

I can’t wait to see what he does for my program. I also have a young EGGS buck I purchased from their dispersal sale in Louisiana in March, and he is coming along nicely, although it’s taken him a little longer to catch up. I think he will really pop over the winter, but only time will tell.

I am so excited for where my Boer goat breeding program is going, and for the future of herd in the wether industry, as well as with percentages and fullbloods.