Articles "Symbols In Dairy Goat Breeding" Article Index

Goat Mineral Mix
Your support of our advertisers helps support GoatWorld!
Goat Mix
The Jolly German Jam Shoppe!
SYMBOLS IN DAIRY GOAT BREEDING

By: "Goat Handbook, United States, 1992"
Original Document: Web Site
About the Author

Rated 1.5 by 194 responses.

1) AR -- Advanced Registry
AR is an abbreviation for Advanced Registry. The Advanced Registry is a special section of records kept for those does who have met minimum requirements for production of milk and/or butterfat for their age while on test under official supervision, and bucks who have sired daughters meeting such minimum requirements. These requirements are based on lactations of 305 days or less and begin with a base of 1500 lbs of milk and/or 52.5 lbs of butterfat for does freshening at age 2 years or less. For every day the doe exceeds 2 years of age at the time of kidding, up to the time she becomes 5 years of age, the requirement is increased by 0.2 lb of milk and 0.007 lb of butterfat. At the age of 5 years or more, a doe must produce 1719 lbs of milk and/or 60 lbs of butterfat in the 305 days or less.

2)
For bucks the special AR record section is reserved for those who have sired at least three daughters by three different dams who have met their Advanced Registry requirements as listed above. They are known as Advanced Registry herdsires. There is also a unique provision whereby a buck may become an Advanced Registry herdsire if two of his sons have qualified to be Advanced Registry herdsires or if he has sired one son and two daughters who are Advanced Registry.

3)
Usually the symbol AR has something following. It may be a number such as AR17 which when found with a doe's name would indicate that, at the time this registry certificate or pedigree was made out, her last record would be found in Volume 17 of the ADGA Yearbook. When found with a buck's name it would indicate that, at the time the registry certificate or pedigree was made out, the record for the last daughter or son to make Advanced Registry would be found in Volume 17 of the ADGA Yearbook. (The ADGA Yearbook is the annually published volume of production records and show awards for a given year.) Looking in the Yearbook will show the actual age at freshening, number of days milked, pounds of milk produced and pounds of butterfat actually produced. This record may have listed a former Yearbook number, say AR16, where a previous record was published. This keying to previous Yearbooks will continue back to the first official record made by the doe or, in the case of a buck, the first volume published after at least three of his daughters or two of his sons or a combination of daughters and sons made AR.

4)
On some pedigrees the abbreviation AR may be followed with the actual record, so the information is available at a glance. It might look like this:

    AR14270:6-2 282-2600-96 (3.7)

    -- AR14270 is the Advanced Registry record number. Each qualifying record will have a new number.

    -- 6-2 means the doe was 6 years and 2 months old at the start of this particular lactation record.

    -- 282 indicates the total number of days milked in the lactation. (Note that in this case less than the usual 305 days.) Years ago records of 365 days or even longer were assigned their own record number providing a qualifying 305 day record had been made in the first 305 days.

    -- 2600 is the actual pounds of milk produced in this 282-day lactation.

    -- 96 is the actual pounds of butterfat produced in this 282-day lactation.

    -- 3.7 0s the average percentage of butterfat in the milk during the lactation.

5) * -- Stars
The star designation (*) briefly means there are official records that can be looked up either on the animal itself or its immediate ancestors. A buck obtains one star by virtue of having:

    1) a dam who has at least one official production test record that meets minimum production requirements for both milk and butterfat for her age when tested or is a star milker, and

    2) has a sire who is an Advanced Registry herdsire, a star buck, a + buck, or has a dam who has met minimum requirements for milk and butterfat in at least one lactation. Stars in themselves are never a sufficient indicator of an animal's worth but are extremely useful as a quick guide to those animals with production records on themselves or their ancestry that can be looked up.

6)
There are several ways in which a doe is entitled to have a star (*) suffix following her name. The most common one is to be an Advanced Registry doe as outlined earlier. The second most common way is to qualify as a star milker at a recognized official milking competition.

7)
An Advanced Registry test requires a once-a-month visit year-round by an official tester to weigh and sample the milk.

8)
A milking competition utilizes a single day's production to estimate an animal's producing ability.

9)
Naturally, the Advanced Registry lactation record is one of more value, but because the production requirements for a one-day star milker test are so high, usually only quite deserving does can secure a star in this way. The testing supervisor will check at one milking to be sure the does are milked out dry and will then weigh and sample the milk at ++++MISSING DATA++++

10) +Plus Bucks
While a buck can get a star on the basis of his parentage, the plus (+) prefix before his name is always earned by siring worthy offspring. The usual way is to have sired at least three daughters by three different dams who have qualified as Advanced Registry or Star Milkers. He may also earn the +B prefix by having two sons who are Advanced Registry Herdsires. A +B buck is always an Advanced Registry Herdsire. If he qualifies by having both three qualifying daughters and two qualifying sons he is entitled to the + +B prefix. A buck may have a total of only one star (*) and two pluses (++) before his name which looks like this: ++*B. There is no such thing as a 5-star buck!

11)
If a buck has a prefix of ++*B it means he has at least three daughters (from different dams) who are AR or Star Milkers, two sons who are AR Herdsires, and parentage with qualifying production records. Since both ancestry and progeny have been proven desirable for production, such a buck can be considered a valuable asset in a breeding program.

12) Lifetime Production Records
As official production testing has become more widespread and the dairy goat industry grows up, the emphasis on lifetime production becomes ever more important. Even as it is recognized that a complete lactation record is of more importance than a single day test, it is recognized that a summary of all lactation records in the life of a doe is the most important. In making such a summary the actual production records of every lactation in the life of the doe are added together regardless of length and regardless of whether AR requirements are met in every lactation. The result is summarized by stating the actual number of days milked, the total pounds of milk and total pounds of butterfat produced. Often the average percent of butterfat is stated since the importance of having an adequate butterfat test is very important. Here is an actual lifetime production of a real doe to give an idea of what should be included: 3,480 days 18,006 lb milk - 664 lb fat (3.7).

13) CH Permanent Champions
While classification scores are now of much more value than show wins in determining outstanding type, in earlier days the use of show wins was the best indication of demonstrated good type. A system was devised whereby an animal winning Grand Champion at three or more different shows with at least 10 animals of its breed shown by at least two exhibitors could win with designation of permanent Champion (CH).

14)
While there were and are many other rules involved such as having at least two judges, two wins with at least eight milkers, allowance for Reserve Grand Championship wins, and the like, the three wins are basic necessities. Of course, at large shows with perhaps 100 head of the breed in competition, the championship is usually worth more than at a small show of 10 or 12 head. However, no satisfactory method of show size recognition has been approved. At any rate, the three wins make an animal a permanent champion and the prefix CH is placed before its name. If a doe holds an Advanced Registry or Star designation her prefix shall be GCH. If a buck is an Advanced Registry Herdsire his prefix shall also be GCH.

15) Classification Symbols
Official classification scores are now appearing on registry certificates, and, since all classified herds are allowed and encouraged to use their scores on pedigrees and in advertising, it seems worthwhile to present a brief summary of the most important designations.

16)
In classification each animal is compared with the ideal of that breed, sex, and age and are given numerical scores in General Appearance, Dairy Character, Body Capacity, and, in does, Mammary System. The scores indicate the percentage of ideal the animal is. Along with this, an overall score is given. This overall score is computed on the basis of allowing 30 2256834976225877000000000000000000000
Dairy Character, 20 2256834976225877000000000000000000000000000000000000000
bucks 45 2.256835E+199eneral Appearance, 30Dairy Character, and 25Body Capacity).

17)
The following table shows the numerical score and abbreviations used in each breakdown:
(E) Excellent 90 or more
(V) Very Good 80 to 89
(+) Good Plus 70 to 79
(G) Good 60 to 69
(F) Fair 50 to 59
(P) Poor Below 50

18)
Also used is a series of numbers showing the relative excellence or deficiencies in specific areas. The wise breeder will have available an official code number chart for use in conjunction with official classification codes to determine if the animal in question is indeed useful in a type-improvement program. Of particular value in selecting breeding stock is the Whole Herd Classification Score. This is an average of the overall scores of every milking doe of a breed in a herd.

19)
All the symbols are guides to help to look for better production and type conformation.

20) Purebred-American-Experimental-Grade
The term purebred as defined by the American Dairy Goat Association (ADGA) means that the sire and dam of all animals to be registered must be purebred of the same breed, except for LaMancha. All LaMancha dairy goats with at least 3 generations of American LaMancha ancestry born after January 1, 1980 will be entered into an open purebred LaMancha herd book. Alpines, Oberhasli, Saanen and Toggenburg must also have erect ears besides the proper color markings. LaMancha can only have rudimentary ears: ''elf'' (short) or ''gopher'' (very short). LaMancha bucks must have gopher ears. Nubians must have pendulous ears. Saanen must be of white color or cream. Oberhasli must be of ''Chamoise'' color. Black Oberhasli does are registered with a ''b'' suffix to their registration number. Toggenburg must have a shade of fawn or brown with white facial stripes, outline of ears, white below knees and hocks, and a triangle on each side of the tail base in the pinbone area. Black Toggenburg does with above markings are registered with a ''b'' suffix.

21)
Dairy goats registered with the American Goat Society (AGS) may be reregist ++++MISSING DATA++++

22)
A doe of unknown pedigree may be recorded as ''Grade'' with the ADGA as a ''native on performance'' or ''native on appearance,'' depending upon certification by official DHIA or a nonrelated ADGA member as to conforming with one of the six specific breed types or the Experimental Registry. Recordation of grades is in 1/2, 3/4, and 7/8 levels as for American Registry.

23)
Kids resulting from artificial insemination need an insemination certificate to accompany application for registration or recordation. At the time of service, the doe must have been positively identified by tattoo and registration papers. Semen containers (ampule or straw) must also carry complete sire identification. Color codes for dairy goats semen are as follows:
Alpine -purple
LaMancha -yellow
Nubian -red
Oberhasli -orange
Saanen -blue
Toggenburg -green

24)
Kids resulting from embryo transplants need to include the appropriate transplant certificate with the application for registration.

About the author: Extension Goat Handbook - This material was contributed from collections at the National Agricultural Library. However, users should direct all inquires about the contents to authors or originating agencies.
H. Considine; Portage, WI
G. F. W. Haenlein; U. of Delaware, Newark

Agricultural Research Service

Email: Contact INFO
Telephone: Contact INFO
Designed & Hosted by: JOLLY GERMAN
©1999-2024 GoatWorld.Com
All written, audio, video and graphic material contained within this site, except where otherwise noted, is Copyright ©1999-2024. Some content may also be the property of contributors to the site, in which case their material is also protected by applicable copyright laws and this copyright policy. No material may be linked directly to or reproduced in any form without written permission. If you would like to reprint something from our site, simply send us an email to request permission to do so. Please refer to our REPRINT criteria.
©Gary Pfalzbot, Colorado, USA
This site is run and operated by a Disabled Veteran