2004 ASU Performance Test Results
We sent all 30 of our fullblood and purebred buck offspring to the 2004 Meat Goat Performance Test at the Angelo State University Management, Instruction and Research Center in San Angelo, TX.  The test began May 29, 2004 and ended August 31, 2004, and accepted bucks born between January 1, 2004 and March 31, 2004.

One of our bucks tied for first at the test in both average daily gain and ribeye area, and several others placed in the top 25%.  We had two bucks that did very poorly.  This was puzzling because they had gained very well prior to weaning.  

Ten weeks into the test I finally found time to visit the test site, and quickly figured out what the problem was.  The two slow growing bucks were pretty gentle bucks, and they had been put in pens with very aggressive bucks.  Apparently the other bucks were not allowing them to get adequate feed because when we moved those two bucks to a pen of their own they gained over 1 lb/day for the remainder of the test.  Unfortunately, it was too late for that to help their overall results much, but at least I learned something.

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.

2004 Herd Results, 2004 Sire Results, 2004 Individual Animal Results