The development of the Boer goat in the early 1900’s can be traced to the Dutch farmers of South Africa. Boer is a Dutch word meaning farmer. With meat production setting the selection criteria, the Dutch farmers developed the Boer goat as a unique breed of livestock. The Boer goat has a rapid growth rate, excellent carcass qualities and is highly adapted to different environments. Through the subsequent decades of selective breeding, the Boer goat gained its genetic superiority and nobility, laying the foundation for the improved Boer Goat and the basis for today’s American Boer goat. The first full-blood Boers were brought into the United States in 1993. Since that time a tremendous amount of interest in breeding Boer and Boer influence goats has exploded in the United States. The South Africans carefully selected and bred goats to produce the traditional Boer goat which a goat with a white body and a red head. There are also grade Boer goats that may be solid reds or white, or paints or dapples. While most of these can be registered with the Boer breed associations in the USA, in South Africa only the traditionals can be registered. Docile, high fertility and a fast growth rate are some of the traits that set the Boer goat apart in the purebred and commercial segments of the American meat goat industry. Mature Does can weigh between 190- 230 lb and mature Boer bucks can weigh between 200 – 340 lb.

You can find more information about Boer goats at abga.org.