Goat Glam: Fall 2025

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Goat Glam will feature two goats for assessment each Time. We’ll discuss each doe’s good traits, what could be better, and what to look for in a buck to improve her kids.

Welcome back to another edition of goat conformation assessments. I’ve reached into my hat and selected two goats to be assessed. Both happen to be from the same owner, Lauren! Thank you to all who have submitted animals. I enjoy taking the time to look at every animal entered.

---

First Doe – Gracie, 2-year-old Nigerian Dwarf Goat, First Freshener

For a two-year-old, I have to say I love her depth of body, especially as we get to that rear rib. She’s nice and flat across her top line, although I’d like to see her with a longer, more level rump, as it’s a touch steep. I’d also like to see her a bit higher in the withers (the point above the shoulders where the neck meets the body). She has nice feet and legs. If I had to pick on her, I’d like to see her a little tighter in the elbow and straighter in the foreleg.

Where I’d like the fore udder to be a little longer and the teats to point squarely down toward the ground, her udder has a nice shape, and it appears to be attached nicely.

Overall, she’s a solid doe! If she were in my herd, I would breed her to a buck with great dairy strength and nice feet and legs with good udders behind him.

 Second Doe – Olivia, 2-year-old Nigerian Dwarf Goat, First Freshener

This doe is very different from the first. She’s a little more dairy and has a longer neck, but not quite as nice of a front end. She may be a bit more straight in the foreleg, but her elbows don’t sit as snugly to her body wall.

She’s higher in the withers and has a nice top line as well; however, she’s shorter and narrower in the rump. She has a nicely shaped udder when viewed from the side, but her rear udder could use better attachments, as it looks almost pendulous (meaning it may sway from side to side even when full, especially as she ages). The teats are also too far to the side, and when they’re that far out, we worry about irritation and possibly mastitis problems due to them rubbing against the inside of the rear legs.

This doe looks to be productive, and I think if she’s bred to a buck with great general appearance, especially in the front end, and excellent udders behind him with good fore udders and rear attachments, you could see fixes in a few generations.

While I prefer the first doe, both are nice dairy goats that look to have good production for first fresheners.

---

Originally published in the 2024 Fall issue of Goat Journal and regularly vetted for accuracy.