Polled goats are popular among livestock farmers because they cause less trouble. They are not aggressive, obedient, and the likelihood of injury to other animals in the herd becomes minimal. There are several breeds of domestic goats, which are especially common in our latitudes. It’s up to you to decide which specific species to choose for breeding for meat, milk and wool.
What does a polled goat mean?
Polled animals are called animals that were born without horns. These are artificially bred breeds; they are not found in nature. Instead of horns, goats grow small bumps or tubercles.The most common types include:
- Toggenburgskaya.
- Lamancha.
- Czech.
- Nubian.
- Zaanenskaya.
It is noteworthy that the polled gene can be inherited. Sometimes such parents have horned kids, this is the norm. Due to the fact that hornlessness in the breed can be accompanied by infertility (hermaphroditism) in males, it is recommended to pair polled and normal animals.
Description of breeds
To understand the intricacies of goat breeding, you need to know the distinctive features of polled goats.
Toggenburg
A breed of goats without sharp horns, for meat and dairy purposes, originally from Switzerland. Toggenburg is an administrative district and also a city of the same name near Zurich. A distinctive feature is the presence of long, thick fur. The species seems to have been specially bred for Russia. The main advantages of this goat are as follows:
- strong physique;
- thick coat;
- high milk yield.
The disadvantage can be considered the low percentage of fat in the product, the almost complete unsuitability (unprofitability) of the breed for breeding for meat. Light color, beige or brown. The constitution is dense, with developed muscles.
Often representatives of the breed are used to improve low-yielding specimens. The milk is used to make delicious cheese.
Lamancha
In the process of breeding this breed, the goats not only lost their horns, but also their ears almost completely atrophied. The queens have high fertility; they bear up to 3 kids in one litter. Milk is odorless and is excellent for consumption raw and processing.
Advantages of the breed:
- calm character;
- versatility (suitable for both milk and meat);
- inheritance of the hornless gene when crossed with other species.
The disadvantages include undeveloped ears and the high cost of young animals.
Czech
An exclusively dairy breed that was miraculously saved from extinction. At first, only hornless specimens were selected from the offspring, which led to degeneration. The restriction has now been lifted Czech goats successfully crosses with ordinary ones endowed with horns.
The Czech goat has the following advantages:
- good adaptation to living conditions in the Russian Federation;
- stable lactation.
Not without its shortcomings. During selection, it is necessary to “dilute” the breed with horned specimens. They are large in size, but built proportionally. The head is small, the coat color is predominantly golden to chocolate. The legs are black, with a characteristic “strap” on the back. The ears are long.
Nubian
Perhaps this breed has the most memorable appearance: a hooked nose, creating a unique profile, and large, hanging ears. The length of the lobe is outstanding: in some specimens it reaches 40 centimeters. The queen with short fur gains weight up to 60 kilograms.
The goat has dimensions and weight even more. The most common colors for Nubians are black, red, and brown. There is also a spotted color, when light stripes and spots are placed on a darker background. Goats have a nuclear temperament, they are very active and emit loud cries.
The following arguments are given as confirmation of the advantages of the breed over others:
- productivity;
- prolonged lactation;
- viability of the offspring.
The downside is that goats are somewhat capricious: Nubians will never live next to other breeds. They are more susceptible to bites from bloodsuckers than others. Milk is exceptionally fatty, rich in protein, and makes it possible to produce unique cheeses.
Saanen
The breed is one of the oldest existing. The goats turned out to be unpretentious, with good milk yield. Both females and males are large: 50 kilograms for goats and up to 80 for bucks. The legs are long, the constitution is strong. There are both light and colored specimens.
The main advantages of the breed:
- productivity is higher than other species;
- obtaining valuable, dietary meat;
- no unpleasant odor.
At the same time, they are demanding in terms of living conditions and can hardly tolerate the Russian climate.
They are distinguished by a calm, balanced temperament and have no equal in terms of milk yield. On average, you can get up to 11 liters of pleasant, odorless milk per day from Zaanenka. When breeding the breed, it is recommended to combine polled and horned individuals.
Productivity comparison
To navigate the milk yield indicators and know how breeds differ in this parameter, it is enough to familiarize yourself with the data presented in the table. And it immediately becomes clear who the champion is:
| Breed name | Milk per day, liters | Milk fat content, % |
| Toggenburg | 3 | up to 5 |
| Lamancha | 6 | up to 5 |
| Czech | up to 5 | up to 4.5 |
| Nubian | up to 4.8 | up to 7.5 |
| Saanen | up to 7 | up to 4.4 |
It can be seen that productivity is higher in hares, but their milk fat content is lower. The lactation period is long, 270-300 days. Traditionally, large farms use Saanen goats, which can easily be tamed to machine milking.
Care and maintenance
The conditions for keeping polled goats are no different from those for their horned fellow tribesmen. Mostly unpretentious, gaining weight well, not picky in their diet. To understand the intricacies of the content, you need to have information about the characteristic features of this type:
- With rare exceptions, the temperament of polled goats is calm, devoid of aggressiveness. Animals will not organize traditional fights for the best pasture or territory.
- All breeds are attached to people and are not adapted to survive in natural conditions.
- They require careful attention, as they are in poor health and susceptible to infections.
- Often a goat may be infertile, this is the price to pay for being hornless.
- You need to take care of the hooves, since polled goats have weak hooves and are often damaged.
- Females are fertile, bearing 2-3 kids at a time. The birth process is relatively easy, without complications.
- The average dimensions of polled goats are smaller than those of their horned counterparts. In rare cases (among Saanenians), a male can gain up to 80 kilograms of weight.
Goats eat everything that is suitable for food: green mass, prepared briquettes, hay or silage. More suitable for cold climates Toggenburg breed, for keeping in insulated farms, obtaining large milk yields - Saanen. The specific choice of variety depends on the goals and objectives that the livestock breeder sets for himself. It is no coincidence that there is a classification and division into dairy, meat and dairy and wool breeds.
