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Example pairings

Polled goats: what is the intersex risk?

Updated · How it works and sources

With a fertile polled doe, the intersex risk depends on how many polled copies the buck has. It is about 1 in 8 of all kids with one copy and about 1 in 4 with two. Unknown copies give that range.

The health row overlaps every coat color. Color chances still add to 100%; intersex kids are never removed from the color map.

If the buck has one copy of polled, about 1 in 8 kids is expected to be an intersex goat: genetically female and infertile, and it can look like a doeling, a buckling or something in between. If he has two copies, about 1 in 4. If you don't know which he has, plan for 1 in 4. This assumes the polled doe is fertile (she has kidded, or a test shows one copy). Breeders usually pair a polled goat with a horned one: half the kids are polled (all of them if the polled buck has two copies), and none have polled intersex syndrome. A polled DNA test is offered in Europe (Giessen, Bern). Polled goats and sources

These colors assume this line's chocolate is dominant, neither parent carries dominant black or Angora white, and the recorded parentage is right. Parents are entered as horned with no moonspots unless the example says otherwise.

Guess first, then show the answer

Colors to expect

Chances per kid, assuming this line's chocolate is dominant · change

If the buck has one copy of polled, about 1 in 8 kids is expected to be an intersex goat: genetically female and infertile, and it can look like a doeling, a buckling or something in between. If he has two copies, about 1 in 4. If you don't know which he has, plan for 1 in 4. This assumes the polled doe is fertile (she has kidded, or a test shows one copy). Breeders usually pair a polled goat with a horned one: half the kids are polled (all of them if the polled buck has two copies), and none have polled intersex syndrome. A polled DNA test is offered in Europe (Giessen, Bern).

    • Chamoisee: up to 50% (1 in 2)
    • Swiss: up to 50% (1 in 2)
    • Black: up to 25% (1 in 4)

Color illustration shown with natural horns. Horn status is entered separately.

Another reading

Under the alternative tan-sides reading of breeders' buckskin, a chamoisee can hide buckskin. Neither reading has been DNA established for Nigerian Dwarfs.

    • Buckskin Swiss: up to 50% (1 in 2)
    • Chamoisee: up to 50% (1 in 2)
    • Swiss: up to 50% (1 in 2)
    • Black: up to 25% (1 in 4)
    • Buckskin: up to 25% (1 in 4)

Color illustration shown with natural horns. Horn status is entered separately.

Health notes, any color

Intersex (PIS): about 1 in 8 to 1 in 4 of all kids, any color

Assumes the polled doe is fertile (she has kidded, or a test shows one copy).

Markings and traits

Polled · 75% to 100%

Scrapie susceptibility: one or both parents not tested; offspring odds are not calculated.

Alpha-S1 casein: one or both parents not tested; offspring odds are not calculated.

Congenital myotonia: one or both parents not tested; offspring odds are not calculated.

Assumptions and sources
  • Assumes the polled doe is fertile (she has kidded, or a test shows one copy).
  • A gold can carry chocolate without showing it; where a line's chocolate is recessive it can hide in black goats.
  • No dominant black or Angora-type white is included in this lens.
  • Sponenberg notes dominant black may occur in some African breeds; if so, a black relative may not mean 'hides black'.

Family answers that can narrow these odds

  • Buck: Could this goat hide black?
  • Doe: Could this goat hide black?

Answer these in the full calculator to see how the map changes.

What this tool covers

  • Breed-aware Agouti patterns and brown pigment
  • Ranges from unknown copies and deciding questions
  • Polled intersex syndrome, tested traits and stated assumptions

Limits

  • A color name is not a DNA result.
  • A partial answer leaves unmodeled mechanisms uncalculated.
  • Illustrations describe looks; they are not evidence of inheritance.

Sources

How it works and sources