Now here's an interesting subject for you!That's a pretty masculine looking goat right there, isn't it? That's certainly what I thought when I walked up to it.But the owners claimed it was a doe, or female.
Baffled, I took a closer look and examined the goat's teats and vulva area.
My suspicions were correct. This was no female goat!
Of course, niether was it a male goat.
It was a hermaphrodite.
Hermaphrodites aren't very uncommon in goats, believe it or not. It occurs when a goat has both male and female reproductive organs. In this case, the goat has a female vulva, but inside was a nodule, which is actually a penis. If we were to examine the internal structure of this goat, we might find testicles in the abdominal cavity.
You can see the visually evident penis within the vulva of this goat above. Fascinating, isn't it? The goat also exhibits immature looking teats much like a buck or wether would and masculine attributes instead of a more feminine look.
There is some debate about the genetic link between the polled (hornless) gene and what causes intersex goats. While it has not been proven, there are many cases of two polled goats being bred together and creating a hermophrodite kid. There are also plenty of cases where it did not.
When breeding polled goats, it would be worth your time to take a closer look at both studies done and anecdotal information to decide for yourself if the risk of breeding a polled goat with a polled goat is worth it to you.
The goat in question here, while very kind and "handsome" in its own way, will likely be butchered this fall along with my own meat goats. I hope to take a closer look at the internal organs at the time and learn more about this fascinating genetic abnormality.
I'm going to have a polled buckling from two polled parents, and have a polled doe now. So I have been pondering this topic myself.
ReplyDeleteI have a goat who has multiple extra teats, is clearly polled, and appears female. She refuses to mate with my buck and is not as social with me as I had hoped, despite my attempts of domesticating her. She tends to stay away from others despite being totally healthy. her "mommy parts" look pushed out a little. I'm starting to question her sex. Is there any advice or things I should be worried about?
ReplyDeleteLots of misinformation out there regarding polled goats and hermaphroditism. Nearly all polled goats are heterozygous polled because very few people will breed polled x polled. If you breed a heterozygous polled doe with a heterozygous polled buck you will get: 1/8 homozygous polled bucklings, 1/8 homozygous polled doelings (ALL will be hermaphrodites), 1/8 herterozygous polled doelings, 1/8 heterozygous polled bucklings, 1/4 horned bucklings and 1/4 horned doelings. That's just the statistics of course. But here is the point: you just can't get a homozygous polled doeling- it is impossible. The gene that inhibits horn growth also inhibits the in-utero switch from male to female (all mammals start off as male fetuses) if TWO polled alleles are present.
DeleteThis is not accurate for all polled goats. There are many lines of polled goats that do not carry any trait for hermaphroditism. Additionally, all mammals do not start as male fetuses. In fact, the x chromosome expresses first and the y chromosome second, so you could say that all mammals start out as female, though this isn't perfectly accurate.
DeleteI believe that is incorrect, all mammals start as female looking sex organs. It's the y chromosome that starts producing the Testosterone thay causes the development of the male sex organs
ReplyDeleteIf I have two doe-lings at age 2 months and they exhibit hermaphrodite is it safe to save these can not breed? nor should we breed with them. I'm new to this problem. Two were born in early December and it appears this maybe the problem. How may I know for sure? Test?
ReplyDeleteBev S in Turlock
I have goat that is exhibiting male characteristics like mumbling, mounting the other female and challenging the wether. There is no sign of testes but a penis does emerge and enter the female, this goat also has a small udder. I hope it is sterile as I don't want young ones yet. I cannot get close enough single handed to check for vulva. Do you think I have and hermaphrodite?
ReplyDelete