How to Understand the Percentages and Generations in a Mini Dairy Goat

Mini-Dairy goats are a group of new dairy breeds that are being created by taking a full size dairy doe and breeding it to a Nigerian Dwarf buck. The goal is to produce a mid-size dairy goat that looks like the standard size breed. One of the things that has been confusing to many people is the percentages listed on the pedigree. This is the amount of standard sized goat and Nigerian blood that is in the Mini-Dairy goat. This article will attempt to explain where those numbers come from. The other thing that is often misunderstood is the generation of a mini-dairy goat. This article will also tackle that question.  Picture to left is of a full size Oberhasli, a MiniOber and a Nigerian Dwarf.

Understanding Generations: A first generation (F1) is when one of the parents is a Nigerian Dwarf (ND) or a Standard sized doe (one of the six recognized dairy breeds – Alpine, LaMancha, Nubian, Oberhasli, Saanen, Toggenburg). Usually the first cross is a ND buck x Standard doe rather than the other way around. Then if you breed a F1 to another F1 you have a second generation (F2). F2xF2 = F3 and so on. The generation of the kid is always one generation higher than the lowest generation parent with the foundation animals (ND or Standard breed) being considered ‘0 generations’. So, if you breed a F3 to a F1 it is a F2. Even if you bred a F6 to a F1 you would only have a F2.

The chart below shows the generations for MiniNubians.  Other Mini-Dairy breeds follow the same pattern - just change MiniNubian to the breed you are looking at.

Parent 1

Parent 2

Kids

Purebred Nubian or Nigerian

Purebred Nigerian or Nubian or any gen. MiniNubian

1st generation MiniNubian

Registered as Experimental

1st generation MiniNubian

1st generation or higher MiniNubian

2nd generation MiniNubian

Registered as Experimental

2nd generation MiniNubian

2nd or higher generation MiniNubian

3rd generation MiniNubian

Eligible for ‘American’ status IF meets breed standard

3rd generation MiniNubian

3rd or higher generation MiniNubian

4th Generation MiniNubian

Eligible for ‘American’ status IF meets breed standard

4th generation MiniNubian

4th or higher generation MiniNubian

5th Generation MiniNubian

Eligible for ‘American’ status IF meets breed standard

5th generation MiniNubian

5th or higher generation MiniNubian

6th Generation MiniNubian

Eligible for ‘Purebred’ status IF meets breed standard & parents & grandparents are American

There are several common misconceptions surrounding generations. My friend Marcia and I co-wrote this article to help clear some of those up: How to Think About Generations

Understanding Percentages: First generation kids can also be produced by breeding a Mini-Dairy buck (any generation) to a standard sized doe or a Nigerian buck to a Mini-Dairy doe. The resulting kid's percentage is 75% standard breed/25%Nigerian (Standard to mini) or 25% standard breed /75%Nigerian (Nigerian to mini) and they are 1st generation. The kid from those breedings will normally be bred to a 50/50 buck to get kids that are about 60/40 or 40/60. These kids are second generation. In breeding MiniNubians, I prefer the kids that are around 60%Nubian and 40%Nigieran. It lets me keep the height down but still get good Nubian breed character. 

The GoatMentor Breeding Planning sheets calculate the percentage and generation of your kids based on the data you enter about their parents.  Included in the 2* and 3* membership packages.  Click here to sign up!