Habitat – Boer goats are well adapted for hot, dry semi-deserts.
Location – Boer goats were developed in South Africa in the 1900’s from a cross of indigenous goats and Indian or European goats and are bred mainly for meat production. They can be found in South Africa and the United States.
Diet – Boer goats are herbivores and are browsers by nature, preferring brush, shrubs, and broadleaf weeds rather than grass.
Typical Behavior & Temperament
Boer goats are easy to maintain because they are calm and have a calm temperament. This goat is sociable and prefers to be in a group. It’s a favorite goat for land management because it doesn’t fight with others. It’s also one of the few sheep breeds that make a good pet.
Boer Goat Reproduction
The high fertility rate of Boer goats helps breeders and meat farmers recoup the money they spend when investing in a top-quality breeding pair.
When you have a Billy goat that lives up to his potential, expanding a herd of Boer goats without spending a dime on introducing new stock into the herd.
Boer goats are capable of breeding capable throughout the year. Both males and females reach reproductive maturity when they are five months old. A Boer nanny goat is pregnant for approximately five months and then nurses her kid or kids for roughly three months, before she can either be milked or is scheduled for breeding again.
Boer Goat Facts
- Goats of this breed almost always have a white body and a red head.
- The ears lop – or hang down in a droopy manner.
- Horns are thick and curve backward.
- Eyes are almost always brown.
- The mature males typically weigh roughly 158kgs.
- Mature females commonly weigh between 85kgs and 113kgs.
- Not only do they boast a rapid growth rate but also routinely experience an enhanced fertility rate, as well.
- The coveted carcass, personality, and meat quality is often passed onto kids even when the males have mated with cross-bed nannies or female goats from entirely different breeds.
- The most common top-quality meat goat cross-breeds all include Boer goats: Boer and Nubians, Boer and Angoras, Boer and Sirohi, Boer and Kiko, Boer and Osmanabadi, as well as Boer and Jamnapari.
- They are known to be hardy, but some keepers may experience increased struggles with internal parasites when raising these animals in hot climates.
- The average life expectancy is between 8 to 12 years.
Reasons to Buy a Registered Boer Goat
- From a breeding standpoint, you can market to more people with registered goats. Many customers are looking to buy a registered animal. You will drastically reduce your future clientele if you choose not to register your herd.
- Registered goats have a pedigree to back them up and you can track their lineage.
- You can enter them in shows and contests
- Registered goats command a higher price than unregistered.
- You can always sell a register-able goat without papers but you can never do the opposite
