In addition to goats with a solid coat of one color, there are animals with markings. They are called "speckled goats" because of the speckles that cover them. Obtaining a certain color is not a random process, but is subject to genetic laws. Crossing certain goat species, you can get a large palette of goat hair colors. Knowing the laws of genetics, you can get the desired speckled color.
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What affects the color of a goat
All coloring processes are based on genetics. By interacting with each other, genes give goats one or another shade of fur. The “relay” of this interaction in the goat’s body is carried out by melanin. This pigment has a complex structure and is divided into 2 subspecies: zumelanin and pheomelanin.
Zumelanin “generates” black color, and pheomelanin is responsible for “introducing” red, yellow, and orange. Color depends on the ratio of these varieties of melanin in the animal’s body.
The chromosome is divided into separate sections called "loci". Each area is assigned a Latin letter. Genes are located at certain loci. In addition to area A, genes located in B, S, M are also responsible for the shade of the coat. The gene can take different forms or alleles.
An animal has 2 chromosomes. In each of them, different alleles are located at the loci responsible for coat color. The shade depends on their combination. Alleles can be dominant or recessive. Depending on their interaction, dominant traits can completely suppress recessive ones or will form a joint tandem.
Types of goat colors
Locus A contains alleles that change the color of a goat from white to black. The main, or dominant, color is white, the corresponding allele is designated “Awt”. The table below shows all gene variants in locus A. The first, white allele is the main or dominant one. As you go down in the table, the importance of a gene decreases. If a tandem consists of two different alleles, then the one that is higher will be decisive.
| № | Allele designation | Resulting color | Color names |
| 1 | Awt | White, maybe yellow | White |
| 2 | Asb | Usually the animal has a light belly, face, and legs. | Sable |
| 3 | Abm | Similar to Awt, but has dark markings on head, back or chest. | Black mask |
| 4 | Asr | Dark yellow or brown, with stripes on the lower part of the body or on the head. | Caramel |
| 5 | A+ | Similar to the previous type, but has a light back and belly. | Wild |
| 6 | Ab | Also similar to Asr, but has wide dark "badger" stripes on the lower belly and back. | Badger markings |
| 7 | Ats | Similar to Ab, but stripes run along the silhouette of the animal, bordering the body. | Tan sides |
| 8 | Asc | Here, dark specks are located on the legs and front, light ones - on the face. | San Clemente |
| 9 | Arp | Here the entire front part is dark, and the back part is light with dark splashes. | Repartida |
| 10 | Apk | "Reverse" to Arp. The front is light, the back is black. There are 2 dark marks on the head. | Peacock |
| 11 | Asg | A symbiosis of small dark and white specks throughout the body, except for the neck, head, and legs. | Mottled gray |
| 12 | Ag | Here the specks are distributed throughout the body. Dark areas are located on the legs and head. | Grey |
| 13 | Yeah | Similar to the previous type, but the legs are darkened. | Gray agouti |
| 14 | Asm | Uniform color, but there are white or gray markings on the tail, head, and legs. | Swiss or Toggenburg markings |
| 15 | Aeb | Similar to Asm, but the speckles are light or light brown. | Brows |
| 16 | At | Black with red specks. | Tan |
| 17 | Afsh | Dark with red stripes. | Dim |
| 18 | Als | Similar to Afsh, but the legs are lighter. | Side stripes |
| 19 | Am | Mixed black and red colors. | Mahogany |
| 20 | Arc | The body is all dark, only there are red areas on the cheeks. | Red cheeks |
| 21 | Aa | Absolutely black animal, without inclusions. | Black |
In addition to the A region in the chromosome, color is influenced by B, S, M. B changes color to black or brown. If a goat has black genes, this locus changes their shades of brown. There are 4 options in total B. The S locus affects whether the goat will be a solid color or a spotted, speckled one.A large "S" indicates a solid color, while a small "S" indicates a speckled color. M affects color saturation. The MM allele enhances saturation, and the Mm weakens it.
