# Question About Naturally Polled Goats



## ErinElizabeth (Oct 27, 2013)

I have seen alot of naturally polled goats but never really thought much about it since none of my Nigerians have been. I am wondering what the frequency of this occuring is given how the parents are? I have two Boer does that are naturally polled. Is this common for Boer goats? What is the likelyhood of their kids being polled if they are bred to a horned buck?


----------



## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

If both of their parents were polled then 100% of their kids will be polled. If one of their parents was horned then 50% of their kids will be polled.


----------



## NoahEm (Sep 19, 2013)

I was told that if you bred two polled goats they would have hermaphrodites..... Is that not true?


----------



## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

NoahEm said:


> I was told that if you bred two polled goats they would have hermaphrodites..... Is that not true?


You can get a hermie from a polledxpolled breeding, polledxnot polled, not polledxnot polled... There is a risk if they carry the polled gene the kids will be a Hermie but it's not a 100% chance type thing.


----------



## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Every hermie I've ever seen was from a horned to horned breeding. The incidence may be slightly higher but not much really.


----------



## ErinElizabeth (Oct 27, 2013)

goathiker said:


> If both of their parents were polled then 100% of their kids will be polled. If one of their parents was horned then 50% of their kids will be polled.


Confused - do you mean my doe and buck or their parents?
Two of the does are polled, the buck is horned. I'm not sure about either of their parents.


----------



## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

I mean the polled does parents. If they carry 2 polled genes, one from each parent being polled, they will have 100% polled kids. If they only carry 1 polled gene from 1 parent being polled then 50% of their kids will be polled. 

They can not carry a polled gene and be horned. If they have 1 polled gene then they are polled.


----------



## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Polled is a dominant gene.
Nearly all polled goats do carry the recessive horned gene. If yours do, and if you breed them to each other, you'll get 75% polled kids, 25% horned.
There does seem to be a recessive hermie gene that is linked to _some_ polled lines. But there may very well be lines out there that don't carry it. I'm eager to know if someone finds one!


----------



## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

milkmaid said:


> Polled is a dominant gene.
> Nearly all polled goats do carry the recessive horned gene. If yours do, and if you breed them to each other, you'll get 75% polled kids, 25% horned.
> There does seem to be a recessive hermie gene that is linked to some polled lines. But there may very well be lines out there that don't carry it. I'm eager to know if someone finds one!


How do we know if there is a line that doesn't carry the hermie gene? Is it possible that a line DOES carry the gene, it just never shows up?


----------



## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Think of it this way.
The dominant polled gene and the recessive hermie gene are inextricably linked together, because they are on the same chromosome. When a goat has only one copy of the polled gene, it is a polled goat - but not a hermie, because it also has _only one_ copy of the hermie gene. When it carries two polled genes, it is polled _and_ a hermie because it has _two_ copies of the recessive gene.
That's the theory, anyway. My understanding of genetics is, admittedly, not extensive.



> How do we know if there is a line that doesn't carry the hermie gene?


Find a polled goat that ALWAYS throws polled kids, even when bred to horned goats. (Let's call it Cookie.) That means Cookie has 2 copies of the polled gene AND is fertile. If Cookie's parents both inherit their polled gene from a common ancestor, they are from the same line; and now we know the line doesn't carry the hermie gene. Does that make sense?



> Is it possible that a line DOES carry the gene, it just never shows up?


If the line carries the gene, and polled goats from that line are bred together, it will soon pop up somewhere.

Most of the polled Nigerian dwarf goats I've seen online, can be traced directly back to Flat Rocks Gem, a polled goat. Unfortunately, a breeding between two polled Flat Rocks descendents has produced a hermie - which makes me think that the line carries the hermie gene. To prove it scientifically, someone would have to do a lot of inbreedings in that line and note the percentage of hermie kids.

When tracing pedigrees, remember that the polled gene will _never_ skip a generation. Also remember that if both parents are polled, that doesn't prove the goat is homozygous polled.


----------



## NoahEm (Sep 19, 2013)

Ok wow that is pretty interesting, thank you


----------



## springkids (Sep 12, 2013)

goathiker said:


> If both of their parents were polled then 100% of their kids will be polled. If one of their parents was horned then 50% of their kids will be polled.


I have 14 does total and 5 of those are naturally polled. Four of these does are Boers and they have a mix of polled and horned kids. Never had a Hermie (Thank God). All of our bucks have been horned. Never had any problems. We have had more polled does than bucks??? I'm not sure if that means anything or not.


----------



## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

goathiker said:


> If both of their parents were polled then 100% of their kids will be polled.


That is only true if the sire or dam is homozygous for the polled gene. If both sire and dam are heterozygous polled then you have a 25% chance at homozygous polled kids, 50% heterozygous polled kids, and a 25% chance of horned kids.



> I was told that if you bred two polled goats they would have hermaphrodites..... Is that not true?


Some say there is a higher chance of getting a hermaphrodite when you cross polled to polled. However, my personal belief is that there are *some* lines of goats that carry both the polled gene and the gene for hermaphrodites. Some breeders have been breeding polled to polled for years without getting a hermaphrodite and then some get hermaphrodites from their horned goats so I have a hard time believing that every polled goat has a higher chance of throwing a hermaphrodite compared to horned goats.



> We have had more polled does than bucks??? I'm not sure if that means anything or not.


It doesn't mean anything. Just a coincidence. Each kid produced from a polledxhorned breeding has a 50/50 chance of being either polled or horned. Same thing for bucklings and doelings...50/50 shot either way.


----------

