Boer

Boer, South African breed of goat, the most productive meat goat in the world. Millions of Boer goats are raised across southern Africa as well as in Australia and New Zealand, the United States and Canada, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere. They are prized for their size, rapid weight gain, carcass quality, hardiness, and docility. These qualities can be passed on even when Boer bucks are bred to does of other breeds. Boer does are renowned for kidding as often as two times in three years, frequently bearing twins and sometimes triplets.

Boer (Dutch: “farmer”) goats were bred by Afrikaner farmers who crossed various European and Indian breeds with breeds raised by Bantu and Khoekhoe people. In 1959, breeders in what is now Eastern Cape province founded the South African Boer Goat Breeders’ Association. This society has established the standards followed by breeders around the world. The most-prized Boer goats are large, stocky animals with a white body and a red head, brown eyes, lop (downward-hanging) ears, backward-curving horns, and strong, well-placed legs. Adult males often reach 160 kg (350 pounds), and females can weigh as much as 110 kg (about 250 pounds).