# Does color come from buck or doe?



## mhoward2 (Jun 30, 2012)

Where does the kids coloration come from? Is it usually the buck or the doe? I seems to me that it comes from the doe mainly. I have a lot of lighter colored does in my herd and want to get some darker colors. If I use a black buck will I accomplish this?


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Both buck and doe contribute. It just depends on the color/pattern genetics of the parents and what's behind them...there are recessive and dominant colors and patterns.


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## VincekFarm (Jun 27, 2011)

I think it is usually half and half. My one doe a year ago had twin does and one doeling was identical to her and the other was identical to the sire, which was very interesting. Most times it seems to me that you will just get random colored kids, though still similar to their parents in some ways.


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

This is an excellent question. A similar thread on here a while back discussed this and it was answered well with some facts on it. When our traditional Full blood Boer Buck was bred to our traditional boer Doe.. she produced two dark reds. I was told that the color genetics needed to be present in both the buck and the doe to produce a nearly all solid red like this from traditional Boers. This doe bred to the same buck this year gave us a beautiful paint and one traditional. I am not sure what type of goats you have.


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## TheMixedBag (Oct 16, 2010)

The only way to guarantee a color you want is to test breeding animals and learn to understand the results. I don't actually know of any place that color tests goats, so that may be out.

As for inheritance, it's 50%, plain and simple. Half of the genes come from the sire, half the dam. It didn't work any other way. That being said, there are factors that control what you see. Some genes are recessive (such as black) and need two copies to show (homozygous). This is how some traits can hide for generations and pop up later. Some genes are blocked by other genes, or their appearance (phenotype) is affected by another gene (an example is frame acting on splash or dw in horses).

Basically color genetics are difficult to master, even with the ability to test and the schooling to understand it. You're much better off focusing on conformation and performance and leaving color as a side thought.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

I think it comes from all over! All three of our does threw very different babies. They were all bred to a cream and white buck. 

Our black doe threw a golden buckling (her mother is golden), a dark chamoisee with white overlay, and a little black kid that was DOA.

Our brown doe with a white patch threw one stark white buck with a cream patch, and one cream chamoisee.

Our rich chocolate chamoisee doe threw a buck that looked just like their grandsire on their sire's side, and a roan doe.

It's very interesting =D


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## TheMixedBag (Oct 16, 2010)

Here's a pfd on genetics. Fairly extensive, but you should get your answer there.
http://www.cagba.org/genetics_goat_clr_20041.pdf


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I wondered about this too, but have read and heard that if both parents carry color genes, the chances on having kids w/color are better.
Some people we bought a couple of goats from had a red buck and bred them all to traditional colored does, I don't recall them having any red does, and they ended up with a lot of solid red kids, but they did have a lot more traditional colored kids than colored kids. 

We've had 3 solid red kids - from 2 kiddings - from 2 solid red does bred to the same traditional buck.
We've had 2 paints - 1 from a traditional doe bred to the same traditional buck as mentioned above.
then the other is one we have now from one of the red does bred to our current traditional buck. Our current buck has thrown some 'spots' on his babies, but so far all but 1 have been traditional.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

It is what color genetics... the Buck and or Doe has....if one or both have a lot of color genetics in their lines ..... the more chances ...you will get color.... So... if the Doe has more color genetic than the buck ...it is more likely ..coming from the Doe lines or visa versa :wink: 

If both sire and Dam...have a lot of color genes ...then... solids and paints are more likely as well.... :thumb:


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