INHERITANCE OF GOAT COAT COLORS

Goat color inheritance was evaluated based on color description of 218 kids and their parents (10 sires, 178 dams) from mixed crosses between several goat populations in an experiment on cashmere fiber production. Altogether 10 color patterns were observed. They were postulated to be caused by 10 alleles at the Agouti locus, with the allele for white or tan color being the top dominant allele, and the nine others codominant. The bottom recessive allele, for nonagouti color, was the 11th allele at this locus. The postulated alleles are white or tan (A(Wt)), black mask (A(blm)), bezoar (A(bz)), badgerface (A(b)), grey (A(g)), lightbelly (A(lb)), SWISS markings (A(sm)), lateral stripes (A(ls)), mahogany (A(mh)), red cheek (A(rc)), and nonagouti (A(a)). Two types of eumelanin pigment were observed, black and light brown, the latter being dominant. Recessive brown was not observed.