# Blue eyed ND questions



## kelebek (Oct 5, 2007)

I have a registered ND buck and would like to start breeding blue eyes at my ranch. Would it be better to have a blue eyed doe or buck? I am looking at reserving a couple for the spring, but not sure which sex I have a better chance of getting the blue eyes from

Thanks
Allison


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## Muddy Creek Farm (Oct 5, 2007)

I would say buck. You can spread your blue-eyes throught the herd then :wink:


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## samall (Oct 7, 2007)

Blue eyes are a dominant trait in goats, therefore it can't be "carried" by a brown eyed goat. So....you would need to breed your brown eyed goats to blue eyed goats to have a chance at blue eyed kids. I bought a blue eyed buck last year because most of my does are brown eyed and I'd also like to raise some blue eyed ND's. Having both parent's blue eyed does increase your odds for getting blue eyes, but it still isn't guaranteed since both blue-eyed parents might be carrying the brown gene.


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## moonspinner (Oct 5, 2007)

Sex doesn't factor in regarding the odds of blue eyes. Only that you need at least one blue-eyed parent. I have found it helps to have a greater concentration of blue eyes in the goat's pedigree to produce a greater percentage of be kids. For instance, I had a blue eyed doe who only had one blue eyed relative within several generations and she never produced a single be kid for me. 
But as was mentioned, a buck with blue eyes obviously increases chances of more be kids in your herd than a doe.


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## Chaty (Oct 5, 2007)

I had a blue eyed doe that was bred to browneyed buck and she had a blueyed doe...now my blueyed buck produced all blue eyes this season...so I think if 1 at least has blue eyes you got a chance and with a buck you got a better chance.


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## moonspinner (Oct 5, 2007)

Genetically speaking you must have at least one blue eyed parent to produce a blue eyed kid. Chaty, I'm guessing your buck has more than one blue eyed relative in his immediate family if he threw all be kids. Unless of course, he was bred to all be does.


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## Chaty (Oct 5, 2007)

Not real sure of his heritage but all of his kids have been born with blue eyes...He is a Nigi/pyg mix and has been a busy boy...yep all the kids had blue eyes. I did see his dam and she had brown eyes.


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## Sweet Gum Minis (Oct 6, 2007)

Its luck of the draw how many you can get from one parent who's blue-eyed. You could get one who throws nearly all, one who's 50/50 or one who rarely does and its an individual thing. Normally speaking you'll get about 50/50. 

A buck can be bred to many does and can spread his blue-eyes around. If you have one doe then all you will get is what she produces so I would go with a buck.


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## VincekFarm (Jun 27, 2011)

Well I have a blue eyed doe bred to a brown eyed buck & she had 2 brown eyed doelings. Butt I recently bought and blue eyed buck and I will be breeding him to the blue eyed doe's daughter so I'm hoping for some blue-eyed kiddos with her recessive traits. XD


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## Calico Patch Farm (Mar 8, 2011)

Both of my ND bucks have blue eyes. When we first got them, we had all brown eyes. Since we bought them, we have gotten 11 blue eyed kids since in 2 years of breeding (that's from 7 does). If you get a buck, the blue eyes will "travel" a lot faster.


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Just so you know guys...this thread is 4 years old.


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## Calico Patch Farm (Mar 8, 2011)

KW Farms said:


> Just so you know guys...this thread is 4 years old.


Lol wow. I never even noticed the dates.


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## Oldbattleaxe (Oct 27, 2011)

The year before last, I covered my herd with a blue eyed buck, and my brown eyed girls only gave me one blue eyed offspring, a buckling  . In June of this year, my four bucks destryed a section of fence and invaded doe territory. I decided to leave them all together while I built a new buck yard. The boys spent two weeks cavorting with the girls. On Wednesday last, the fall kids started hitting the ground, and so far everyone of them has been blue eyed. I guess I know who did the most cavorting...


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## logansmommy7 (Nov 11, 2009)

Agree with many posters here-My blue eyed buck bred to brown eyed does yielded 5/6 kids with blue eyes...


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## Mini Goat Lover (May 4, 2011)

My brown eyed doe was bred to a blue eyed buck and both her kids had blue eyes.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Better chance for more BE kids with a BE buck that has parents that are both BE.


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## Randi (Apr 22, 2011)

How about a blue eyed buck and a blue eyed doe?


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

liz said:


> Better chance for more BE kids with a BE buck that has parents that are both BE.


Actually there wouldn't be a greater chance unless the goat was homozygous for blue eyes. If you have a non-homozygous blue eyed goat, you still have a 50/50 chance of getting blue eyes crossed with a brown eyed goat...no matter if one or both parents were blue eyed on either sire or dam.

Each kid produced has a certain percentage chance of blue eyes depending on the breeding. It's like rolling the dice for each individual kid...not breeding. It's a total gamble with heterozygous blue eyed goats.

You could have a whole background of blue eyed goats in a pedigree, if your goat is heterozygous for them, it will make no difference in chances for that goat to produce blue eyes on offspring.

Here's a good link to how blue eyed genetics work: http://www.goatspots.com/blueeyes.html


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## Randi (Apr 22, 2011)

So if I am DNA testing anyway, will I find out which blue-eyed genetics I have?


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Not exactly sure what you mean?
There is no test for blue eyed homozygousity...however if everything a certain goat is bred to comes out blue eyed then there is a good chance it's homozygous. 
If you have a blue eyed goat from one brown eyed parent, then the only possibility is heterozygous for blue eyes.


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