2000 ASU Performance Test Results
We sent 6 of our 7 fullblood buck offspring sired by Hakuna Matata and Mbwa Fahali to the 2000 Meat Goat Performance Test at the Angelo State University Management, Instruction and Research Center in San Angelo, TX.  The other fullblood buck was too young to participate.  The test began June 3, 2000 and ended August 31, 2000, and accepted bucks born between January 1, 2000 and March 31, 2000.

2 of the 6 bucks we had on test finished in the top 10%.  Our buck that did the worst was a bottle baby, and I believe his slow growth was a result of non-genetic factors.  We got a bad batch of milk replacer this year that caused half of the bottle babies to die from ulcers, and caused damage to the digestive tracts of the others that has been slow to heal.  He finally came around the final couple of weeks of the test, but before that grew very slowly.  

The other 3 test bucks all tested above average.  If you ignored the bottle baby's performance (or lack thereof), our herd would be tied for first overall, and his sire Hakuna Matata would have ranked 15th instead of 21st in the sire standings (not counting the bottle baby, there was only one other Hakuna Matata kid at the test so that isn't really a good sample). 

Our sire Mbwa Fahali ranked 4th out of 26 sires for the outstanding and consistent performance of his four offspring.  The bucks he sired averaged .712 lbs/day of weight gain, with the worst one gaining .041 lbs/day lower than the group average, and the best one gaining .035 lbs/day better than the group average!  In 1999 Mbwa Fahali gained .762 lbs/day when he was at the test, just .050 lbs/day better than his offspring did as a group.

Participation in the test was disappointing in 2000.  Only 71 animals were entered and 69 finished the test.  A total of 9 herds and 26 sires were represented at the test.  Most of the animals on test were entered by ranches that have historically done well.  The average daily gain this year was .601 lbs/day.  In 1999 the average daily gain was .575 lbs/day when 142 animals finished the test, and in 1998 the average daily gain was just .48 lbs/day when 260 animals completed the test.  Clearly the ranches with lower quality animals are not testing their stock, and they are probably also not upgrading their sires or they would be testing to measure their improvement.  Unfortunately many sires from inferior lines continue to be used, with the offspring being sold to producers for use as commercial herd sires.  This nonsense will come to an end when commercial producers start demanding quality performance tested sires, instead of culls, and become willing to pay a small premium for them.  

Getting off my soapbox now, click the links below to view the complete performance test results.  When you are finished click the back button on your browser to return to this page. The abbreviation ADG means average daily gain (reported in lbs/day) and REA means ribeye area (reported in square inches). Please note that a 135 lb. goat with a ribeye area of 2.4 is not necessarily superior to a 100 lb. goat with a ribeye area of 2.1. The ribeye areas of goats with significantly different weights are difficult to compare, although it would probably be safe to say that a 100 lb. goat with a ribeye area of 2.4 is superior to either a 135 lb. goat with the same size ribeye or another 100 lb. goat with a ribeye area of 2.1.  Click here for a chart showing average ribeye areas of different size goats.

2000 Herd Results, 2000 Sire Results, 2000 Individual Animal Results