# ADGA Linear Appraisal ?s Thanks!



## MapleKnoll (Nov 4, 2014)

is this what is used and are the ones with 45 the ideal? I don't understand some of the udder ones.


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## COgoatLover25 (Dec 23, 2013)

Generally the 25 is what you want, some of them I prefer closer to a 45 but that's just my opinion. What are you not understanding about the udder?


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

The ones in the middle are ideal, so the 25s.


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## Cadence (Jul 20, 2013)

"Ideal" is relative.
You don't always want them in the middle, some traits you want higher and lower and some is breeder preference.

Repeating COgoatlover25 - which don't you understand. Ask a question and we'll do the best we can to answer it.


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## MapleKnoll (Nov 4, 2014)

I thought in the majority of the pictures the middle one was most idea but having never done linear appraisal and seeing the higher # on the 3rd picture I thought it was indicating the most ideal udders...what do the numbers represent anyways?


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## MapleKnoll (Nov 4, 2014)

the teat placement and teat diameter ones, the 3rd pictures(which I mistakenly(I think lol) understood to be ideal) looked terrible to me. I have a couple does with good thick teats that are quick to refill and easy to milk out but they dont look like bulbs that are ready to bust open. and the placement one looks really weak and too close to me


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## Cadence (Jul 20, 2013)

So teats is probably a great example. I have a doe who has "yam" teats. Like.. her teats look like yams. CLEARLY this is not good teat diameter. No one really tries hard to breed for that. She would be much closer to the 45 in the picture. (I could find the math if you really wanted, it is there). But there are much grayer areas. If I am hand milking, it is more comfortable to have a little bit larger teats than really small teats. If I have a machine that works on small teats, then as a breeder, I'm going to aim for smaller teats. 
This is what is meant by "It depends on the breeder"
_Additionally_ nigerians don't have a different number for teats. That means that on a nigerian a 20 might be GIANT teats but on an alpine, those might be slightly small. 
Many times between 20 and 35 are what most people aim for. People who can feed heavily are going to be comfortable with a doe that might be closer to 35-40 in dairiness but people who have their goats out on pasture and browse might want goats who are more substantial.
The one thing that almost everyone wants at the big end is rump width  Wide rumps are good. Many standard size breeders want tall goats (stature) but in Nigerians anything over ~33 (again, I'd have to double check calculations) in a doe is over height. So taller in nigerians isn't always better. 
The numbers are the way we can describe them quantitatively so everyone can know what we are talking about. Some traits (not on this chart) are not given a number. They are given a letter. "Head" for example is given a rating - good, very good, acceptable, and so forth.


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## MapleKnoll (Nov 4, 2014)

so the #s aren't equivalent to grades? as in the higher the better? I'm going to research more on my own I just haven't had time and I knew someone here would help me out  Thanks!


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## Cadence (Jul 20, 2013)

The numbers in this picture are not equivalent to grades. 
There are two types of traits measured:
Linear traits - there are 13 primary and 1 secondary trait that is given a number between 1-50. These have heritability and are used for the genetic evaluations
Structural traits - there are 8 of these which are given a letter score. There aren't the same types of numbers assigned here. 
There is also a final score given for each category the goat can be evaluated in (4 for milkers, 3 for everyone else).
The structural traits (assigned letters) and the individual categories can be looked at more like a student's GPA grade. The E for excellent is 90% or above, the V - very good 89-85%, G - good 80-84% and so forth. 
The numbers (from your picture) are used more like a range. Middles can be desirable, ends can be desireable, it all depends on what you are breeding for.


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