I have lots of questions about moonspots. How do you get moonspots? Does a doe just start producing them? Do you have to have a buck that's moonspotted? Does the doe have to be moonspotted? I really want a moonspotted goat! They are so cool looking!
Thanks, Cade
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I wish this guy was mine (thought he didn't pass the lovely moon spots on), but he is the grandfather to some of mine. :) Until recently, he belonged to Gerle Ranch. I think she just sold him this year.
Travis and CadeCockburn said:
So, baiscally all im wanting to know is, this buck for sale has like 3 hairs of spots. Could he pass it on and make heavy moonspots like on your handsome buck?
I don't think we're going to buy the buck. We're gong to breed our great pyreness instead. :-) i just thought he might pass it in to his kids but if there's no guarantee I'm not gonna mess with buying him. Thanks for nyour replies everyone!!!
You would probably see some spots in some of your buck's offspring, but how many and to what degree is really a shot in the dark. As fun as they are to look at, there's no guarantee that ANY of his offspring will have moonspots, so it's really better to purchase for production. If your buck has good lines in that regard, then the moonspots are icing on the cake!
Travis and CadeCockburn said:
So, basically all I'm wanting to know is, this buck for sale has like 3 hairs of spots. Could he pass it on and make heavy moonspots like on your handsome buck?
I don't know much about genetics & such, but from reading Patty's comments and a few other discussion's what you get when you breed is a crap shoot. There are specific things you'd have to have in the genetic pool to get specific characteristics but they don't always show up & other times they do. I wouldn't buy a goat for specific eye color or coat color but based on what you want; conformation or milk production. He could possibly pass on his moonspots; sometimes you'd see them well, other times hardly and even other time never.
So, baiscally all im wanting to know is, this buck for sale has like 3 hairs of spots. Could he pass it on and make heavy moonspots like on your handsome buck?
Oh, no. I guess I wasn't very clear. Either of or both of the parents can have moon spots and pass them on to their offspring. But, like in the case of Twist, they may not pass them on either. Moonspots are dominant, so it seems that both parents having them would increase the chances of the offspring having them. However, as I said before, some goats that are heavily moonspotted never pass on any moonspots to offspring, even when bred to different goats. For instance, this guy (Gerle Ranch Benedict), grandfather/great grandfather to some of my Nigerian Dwarfs, had never passed them on to any of his offspring as of a year ago.
The short of it is one or both parents must have moonspots for the offspring to have any chance of having them.
There are some situations that complicate this though. It seems a goat can have moonspots covered by white, so nobody would know this goat had the moonspot gene until it passed the gene on to some offspring and the moonspots were then visible on the offspring. Also, a goat could potentially have only one tiny moonspot consisting of a few hairs that wasn't recognized as a moonspot, but the offspring could have very noticeable moonspots. Also, moonspots can be so close to the color they are over that they are very hard to notice.
I sure hope that helps, and thanks for the compliment on my goats! :)
Ok so, you basically won't get moonspots if u breed 2 moonspotted goats together. But, if it's just one of the parents that has moonspots will they have a better chance of passing it on? There was just a buck for sale and I wanted to get him so he might pass some if his spots down o his kids. Oh by the way, those goats are absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Oh, one more thing, does a doe just genetically start producing them or do they have to be in her genes somewhere?
Either one of the goats has to have moon spots to get moon spotted babies. However, it isn't quite that simple. They don't always pass the moon spots on. There aren't any guarantees about moon spots. A good example of how things can go is my Nubian doe, Twist. The first picture here is her father, Black Mesa Moonspot. He's full of moonspots (beautiful, I think!). Twist (pictured in the second photo with her first kids, twins born last April) is also full of moonspots. However, they are the cream color, and only show where they aren't overlapping each other too much on the reddish areas. You can see them better when she's been trimmed or at least fully shed out. In this photo she was still holding on to some of her winter coat. However, as you can see she didn't pass any moonspots on to her twins at all. They look almost exactly like their father.
I think moonspots are beautiful too! This doe was bred to one of my Nigerian bucks a week ago. I'm secretly hoping she passes the moonspots on to her will be mini-Nubian kids. :)
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I wish this guy was mine (thought he didn't pass the lovely moon spots on), but he is the grandfather to some of mine. :) Until recently, he belonged to Gerle Ranch. I think she just sold him this year.
Travis and CadeCockburn said:
Travis and Cade,
You would probably see some spots in some of your buck's offspring, but how many and to what degree is really a shot in the dark. As fun as they are to look at, there's no guarantee that ANY of his offspring will have moonspots, so it's really better to purchase for production. If your buck has good lines in that regard, then the moonspots are icing on the cake!
Travis and CadeCockburn said:
I don't know much about genetics & such, but from reading Patty's comments and a few other discussion's what you get when you breed is a crap shoot. There are specific things you'd have to have in the genetic pool to get specific characteristics but they don't always show up & other times they do. I wouldn't buy a goat for specific eye color or coat color but based on what you want; conformation or milk production. He could possibly pass on his moonspots; sometimes you'd see them well, other times hardly and even other time never.
So, baiscally all im wanting to know is, this buck for sale has like 3 hairs of spots. Could he pass it on and make heavy moonspots like on your handsome buck?
Either one of the goats has to have moon spots to get moon spotted babies. However, it isn't quite that simple. They don't always pass the moon spots on. There aren't any guarantees about moon spots. A good example of how things can go is my Nubian doe, Twist. The first picture here is her father, Black Mesa Moonspot. He's full of moonspots (beautiful, I think!). Twist (pictured in the second photo with her first kids, twins born last April) is also full of moonspots. However, they are the cream color, and only show where they aren't overlapping each other too much on the reddish areas. You can see them better when she's been trimmed or at least fully shed out. In this photo she was still holding on to some of her winter coat. However, as you can see she didn't pass any moonspots on to her twins at all. They look almost exactly like their father.
I think moonspots are beautiful too! This doe was bred to one of my Nigerian bucks a week ago. I'm secretly hoping she passes the moonspots on to her will be mini-Nubian kids. :)