Boer

The foundation was the goats of the Khoikhoi and, later, of Boer farmers in the Eastern Cape, with possible Angora and European blood along the way. By the 1830s there were many types; by the end of that century the Boer had become a large, powerful goat with a convex profile and lop ears.

Formal selection began about 1930, first for meat quality and foraging ability, later for the white body and red head that now mark the breed. The Boer Goat Breeders' Association was founded at Somerset East in 1959.

By a 2025 count the breed had reached 72 countries, with a recorded global population of about 183,000.

They are large, white with a red head, and they grow faster and heavier than any other goat breed. Wikipedia's averages are about 250 lb and 37 inches for bucks, 205 lb and 31 inches for does.

The coat is short and glossy, the ears lop, and both sexes carry dark, backward-curving horns.

Docile is the American Boer Goat Association's word for the breed, alongside highly fertile.

Both sexes carry horns, and that is the handling fact to plan for. Penn State Extension warns that horns can tangle in fencing and severely harm the goat, and recommends a single strand of electric wire inside woven-wire fencing to keep goats off it.

Penn State describes bucks in general as tending to be aggressive, with a strong, urine-like odor that is worst in the breeding season from September to early January.

Showing differs from the dairy breeds. Cornell's 4-H fact sheet notes that dairy goats with horns cannot be shown in the United States, but some shows allow meat goats whose horns have been tipped rather than removed.

Meat, and the upgrading of other people's herds. A Boer buck used on dairy or brush does raises the growth rate of the kid crop immediately, which is why most American meat goats now carry Boer blood.

Does are fertile and breed close to year round; gestation averages 148 days, a doe can bring three kiddings in two years, and twins are common.

Boers were selected hard for growth, and in the process they became more susceptible to internal parasites and less thrifty than the landrace breeds. In wet climates with heavy worm burdens they need real parasite management, and a Kiko may outlast them.

Feed to match the growth: the daily gain that sells the breed comes off good grazing or a ration, not off air.

The American Boer Goat Association keeps the US registry. For breeding stock, ask for the registration and verify it; for commercial does, the papers matter less than the parasite history.

Ask the parasite questions before the growth questions: what the herd is dewormed with, how often, and what the losses have been in wet years. In dry country a Boer is easy; in worm country the management is the purchase.

Recent sale prices on HoofnHorn, where there are any, are further down this page.