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Generally, there are three types of goats found in the U.S. As of January 2006, according to USDA-NASS: there are fiber goats, approximately 238,000; dairy goats, approximately 296,000; and meat goats, approximately 2.4 million. Meat may be produced from all three types, but only the latter is kept exclusively for this purpose, i.e., in many small flocks of dairy or fiber goats, some may be used for their meat.
The sale of breeding stock may present an important source of income. During the last 10 years, several improved breeds of meat goats have been imported from South Africa and New Zealand and have revolutionized the meat goat industry in the U.S.
Following are brief descriptions of different breeds of goats. It is recommended that farmers or ranchers select goat breeds according to their purpose, environmental conditions and adaptability of the breed. The goat industry is still in its formative years and U.S. hybrids or composite breeds are not readily available. Cross breeding of local breeds with improved imported breeds may have the potential to produce improved crossbreds that have faster gain and adaptability to different regions of the U.S. In the following section only major breeds of goats will be covered; however, there are more than 60 breeds of goats present in the world. For more information on various breeds of livestock including goats, refer to the Oklahoma State University website
| Oklahoma State University website |
