2003 ASU Performance Test Results
We sent 39 of our 53 fullblood and purebred buck offspring to the 2003 Meat Goat Performance Test at the Angelo State University Management, Instruction and Research Center in San Angelo, TX.  The other fullblood bucks were too young to participate or were bottle babies that I felt the data would be unreliable for because of the poor start they got.  The test began May 24, 2003 and ended August 26, 2003, and accepted bucks born between January 1, 2003 and March 31, 2003.  We picked most of our bucks up a few days early so they could be included in our production sale on August 24, 2003.

After the first 8 weeks of the test 3 of the top 4 bucks were from our herd.  Click the link below to view the interim performance test results through the first 8 weeks.  During the last 4 weeks of the test our bucks grew much slower than they did during the previous 8 weeks.    

This seems to happen every year with the bucks born during January and February.  I'm not sure whether it occurs because the heat affects the older, larger bucks more causing them to lose their appetite, or if the older bucks rut more and eat less causing them to grow more slowly, but I have noticed it every year with my animals and other breeder's bucks as well.  In future years I plan to breed our does a couple of weeks later so the kids will be born in March, and will hopefully continue to grow through the end of the test.

Another factor affecting the results was the early removal of most of our bucks from the test.  We left our culls, and during the additional four days they were at the test site the weather was cool, and all of them gained 1 lb/day bringing their ADG's up.  Had we left the other bucks their final ADG's would have been on average 0.020 lbs/day higher.  That may not sound like much, but it would have moved our sire Tarzan from 11th place to 8th place, moved all of our bucks up several places in the rankings, and moved our herd from slightly below average to slightly above average.

Another strange thing I noticed this year was that about  1/3 of our bucks gained weight on test at a slower rate than they did prior to the test.  Considering that we raise our kids on pasture with no supplement this seems kind of strange since at the test site they have free choice 17% pellets.  

In the past when I have seen anomalies like that they were caused by conditions at the test site.  In fact, our sire Fat Bastard and his penmates were the victims of a clogged feeder at the test site when they were tested in 2000 causing them to gain weight at slower rates than they had prior to the test.  

Upon further analysis I found that almost all of those kids were in one of three pens at the test site.  The pens involved contained our Limo and most of our Mbwa Fahali ME sons which would account for the poor performance of those sires.  I didn't note any clogged feeders or other problems during the test, but I also didn't check.

Click the links below to view the complete performance test results.  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.

2003 Interim Test Results

2003 Herd Results, 2003 Sire Results, 2003 Individual Animal Results