How to Understand the Percentages and Generations in a Mini Dairy Goat
Mini-Dairy
goats are a group of new dairy breeds that are being created by taking a
full size dairy doe and breeding it to a Nigerian Dwarf buck. The goal is to
produce a mid-size dairy goat that looks like the standard size breed. One
of the things that has been confusing to many people is the percentages
listed on the pedigree. This is the amount of standard sized goat and
Nigerian blood that is in the Mini-Dairy goat. This article will attempt to
explain where those numbers come from. The other thing that is often
misunderstood is the generation of a mini-dairy goat. This article will also
tackle that question. Picture to left is of a full size Oberhasli, a
MiniOber and a Nigerian Dwarf.
Understanding Generations: A first generation (F1) is when one of the parents is a Nigerian Dwarf (ND) or a Standard sized doe (one of the six recognized dairy breeds – Alpine, LaMancha, Nubian, Oberhasli, Saanen, Toggenburg). Usually the first cross is a ND buck x Standard doe rather than the other way around. Then if you breed a F1 to another F1 you have a second generation (F2). F2xF2 = F3 and so on. The generation of the kid is always one generation higher than the lowest generation parent with the foundation animals (ND or Standard breed) being considered ‘0 generations’. So, if you breed a F3 to a F1 it is a F2. Even if you bred a F6 to a F1 you would only have a F2.
The chart below shows the generations for MiniNubians. Other Mini-Dairy breeds follow the same pattern - just change MiniNubian to the breed you are looking at.|
Parent 1 |
Parent 2 |
Kids |
|
Purebred Nubian or Nigerian |
Purebred Nigerian or Nubian or any gen. MiniNubian |
1st generation MiniNubian Registered as Experimental |
|
1st generation MiniNubian |
1st generation or higher MiniNubian |
2nd generation MiniNubian Registered as Experimental |
|
2nd generation MiniNubian |
2nd or higher generation MiniNubian |
3rd generation MiniNubian Eligible for ‘American’ status IF meets breed standard |
|
3rd generation MiniNubian |
3rd or higher generation MiniNubian |
4th Generation MiniNubian Eligible for ‘American’ status IF meets breed standard |
|
4th generation MiniNubian |
4th or higher generation MiniNubian |
5th Generation MiniNubian Eligible for ‘American’ status IF meets breed standard |
|
5th generation MiniNubian |
5th or higher generation MiniNubian |
6th Generation MiniNubian Eligible for ‘Purebred’ status IF meets breed standard & parents & grandparents are American |
There are several common misconceptions surrounding generations. My friend Marcia and I co-wrote this article to help clear some of those up: How to Think About Generations
Understanding Percentages: First generation kids can also be produced by breeding a Mini-Dairy buck (any generation) to a standard sized doe or a Nigerian buck to a Mini-Dairy doe. The resulting kid's percentage is 75% standard breed/25%Nigerian (Standard to mini) or 25% standard breed /75%Nigerian (Nigerian to mini) and they are 1st generation. The kid from those breedings will normally be bred to a 50/50 buck to get kids that are about 60/40 or 40/60. These kids are second generation. In breeding MiniNubians, I prefer the kids that are around 60%Nubian and 40%Nigieran. It lets me keep the height down but still get good Nubian breed character.
The GoatMentor Breeding Planning sheets calculate the percentage and generation of your kids based on the data you enter about their parents. Included in the 2* and 3* membership packages. Click here to sign up!