Red Hawk Ridge Ranch

The Boer Goat Story The development of the Boer goat in the early 1900’s can be traced to the Dutch farmers of South Africa. Boer is a Dutch word meaning farmer. With meat production setting the selection criteria, the Dutch farmers developed the Boer goat as a unique breed of livestock. The Boer goat has a rapid growth rate, excellent carcass qualities and is highly adapted to different environments.

Through the subsequent decades of selective breeding, the Boer goat gained its genetic superiority and nobility, laying the foundation for what is today's American Boer goat.

The first full-blood Boers were brought into the United States in 1993, the same year the American Boer Goat Association was formed. Since that time a tremendous amount of interest in breeding Boer and Boer influence goats has exploded in the United States.

The Boer goat is commonly a goat with a white body and a red head. Docile, high fertility and a fast growth rate are some of the traits that set the Boer goat apart in the purebred and commercial segments of the American meat goat industry. Mature Does can weigh between 190- 230 lb and mature Boer bucks can weigh between 200 – 340 lb.

The demand for high quality, lean, healthy red meat is the one of the underlining forces behind the development of the American meat goat industry. With an eager base of ethnic consumers, the demand for goat meat continues to grow in the United States each year. The importation of goat meat into the United States is estimated over 30 million dollars annually. From American Boer Goat Association