I want to show you some of the common faults or things people say when judging or just talking about goat conformation from a breeding & meat perspective. (From a totally inexperienced judge-er) :)

Things to Remember:

#1 - all goats are made up of bone, muscle and fat.

# 2 - all goats have the same number of bones and they are located in the same

places. They are almost the same in shape and  represent almost the same portion of all carcasses.  The other two tissues - muscle and fat - are very different from goat to goat.

# 3 - all goats have the same number of muscles.  They are attached to the skeleton in the same location in all goats.  The shape and size of these muscles are very different.

# 4 - muscle moves when the animal walks.  Fat doesn't move. Fat hangs, shakes and wiggles

# 5 - it costs much more to put on a pound of fat than a pound of muscle.  Most research indicates that it is 6 to 7 times more expensive.  We all know that a certain amount of fat is required on the carcass and it is very desirable for it to be well marbled. Some people say goat meat cannot be marbled. This is not true, if the animal is taken care of and let age for nearly a year or older the meat will marble beautifully.  Marbling is the small seams of fat in the muscle tissue and it is an important factor in the taste and tenderness of the meat.

Notice the goat on the left, her left shoulder blade is poking clear out above her back. Notice the goat on the right you cannot even see her shoulder blades beneath her skin.  The goat on the left is NOT skinny.   She has bad loose shoulders.

This is a side view of a different goat with rolling shoulders. Hers are not nearly as bad as the other two, but you can see the gap in there. These does could be culled for conformational faults, though I don't imagine the heritability on something like that is very high. These goats do not do well at all in the show ring unless you can get their heads up high to flatten those shoulders down. The bottom goat could probably pull it off, the top two I've tried it, and they do not.

Notice the gap between the shoulder blades. You can actually stick your fingers between the shoulder blades and they disappear! This is a conformational fault. It also can affect the amount of meat from the shoulder area when butchering. The dark area is a big "pit".   If you poured water right there, it would be close to an inch deep.

"Loose Shoulders vs TightShoulders"

Cow-Hocked vs. Correct

The buckling on the left is correct. Notice how wide he stands, how his hocks point straight out and are not turned in like the buckling on the right. Because the right buckling is also narrow (stands with legs close together) his hocks being turned in are more of an issue.  He will not carry as much meat as the buckling on the left who should mature into an awesome big meat carrying buck. Look how the buckling on the left seems balanced, filled out and more round verses the more "pear" and enlongated shape of the right buckling.

Narrow Standing vs. Wide

the buckling on the right stands fairly wide and very square, his legs match up evenly, you can almost not even see his back legs. If his head wasn't turned he'd be perfectly lined up. The buck on the left is older and isn't standing correctly. He has matured and stands a bit wider but isn't as correct in front as the buckling on the right.

No Feminine Wedge vs. Feminine Wedge

While this doe above doesn't have a straight "top line" (from withers to hip bones) she does have a good feminine wedge. She has a little rounded appearance to her because she is very pregnant in this photo. The doe below is an older doe with a BEAUTIFUL feminine wedge. She is NOT pregnant, (Maybe a tad fat) but notice the diagonal slant from her girth area towards her back legs, her belly has a angle verses like a board straight across.

This doeling above has a lot of things going for her, however feminine wedge isn't one of them. Her angle goes the opposite direction. This doeling has a beautiful profile (from the side view) Nice long top and very nice muscling for being just a few months old in this photo. Very promising feminine doe. The "Wedge" is suppose to be the area where the doe carries her kids, the more of an angle, ideally the more room she has for her kids. Which means easier gestation for multiples and maybe easier on the rest of the does body. (?) While I cannot prove this either way, I wouldn't hesitate to use this doeling below in my breeding program, however as a show goat, she might not measure up to a doe with a great wedge like the does above.

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EXTENDED RUMENS

These 3 does pictured were NOT obese or pregnant their rumen was simply enlarged. No amount of diet or exercise would make this go away

Domino

Sonny (left)

&

Trina

(right)