Apart from getting your goats conformation, milk production, and udder dialed in-- there is one more key defining characteristic for Miniature LaManchas as a breed that also calls to our attention-- Ears! Ears may not be the focal point of your breeding program, but sooner or later those pesky little nubs will need some attention when it comes to registering your goats in the American and Purebred herd books. So, while its important that we fine tune our lines, we also need to make sure to pay attention to the ears. This will ensure that our bucks (and eventually does) all have gopher ears to better emulate the breed they are supposed to represent. When registering your minis with the miniature dairy goat registries (MDGA/TMGR) you should know that bucks must have gopher ears to be accepted into the American and Purebred herd books. Otherwise they will always only be listed as experimental. Genetic Inheritance of EarsThe genes that determine wether or not a certain 'feature' like erect vs. gopher ears in goats is a co-dominant trait. Meaning the animal has two sets of genes that determine inheritability. And in order for the complete trait to be expressed, they must have two copies of the same gene. In a LaMancha, the trait for gopher ears is dominant. So, if your goat has gopher ears, she has two pairs of dominant genes that express gopher ears. In Nigerians, the erect ears is a recessive gene. So in order to have erect ears, he has to have two pairs of recessive genes. An animal with elf ears has inherited one dominant and one recessive gene from each parent. Because of this, the goat has neither gopher or erect ears. Instead, she has something that more or less strikes a compromise between the two genes. Since gopher ears are a requirement for the miniature LaMancha as a breed, it is very important to learn how to breed for proper ears, and understand genetic inheritance. Which will help you make better breeding choices, and select offspring to keep out of any one particular breeding to advance your herd with. Fun with punit squares |
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