Special hybrid goat is great lechon alternative:

[mikey]

Special hybrid goat is great ‘lechon ’alternative


By Reggie Aspiras
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 20:14:00 04/02/2008


MANILA, Philippines—There was a time when old McDonald just had a farm and on that farm he had some cows and chicks. I couldn’t recall if goats were included but just for today’s column, let’s presume they were.

With today’s technology much had changed. Animals are bred and raised according to breeder specifications for either meat, milk or what have you.

The Puentespinas of Davao, owners of the famed Malagos Garden Resort, are prime movers in agriculture. They are flower-growers, cheese-makers, pumpkin and vegetable farmers, ostrich- and goat-meat raisers.

(The first property in the Philippines and the 39th in the world to be certified by the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program, Malagos Garden Resort is also an accredited wildlife farm.)

For my 40th birthday, my friend Olive Puentespina gifted me with a whole cabrito (young goat).

Not wanting to cook, I phoned butcher/grill master Robert Aquino, the man who does excellent spit-roasted lamb on the spot, to marinate the cabrito for me. With the kind of work he does for lamb and his kebabs, there could have been no better choice. He opted to marinate it the Middle Eastern way.

The result was meat so tender that it melted in your mouth. None of that goat-y taste. It was exemplary! Milky, creamy, flavorful, tender, absolutely delicious!

It was the highlight of my buffet spread and a perfect alternative to the usual lechons—baka, baboy or manok!

New goat hybrids

I asked Olive what kind of goat it was—it was a bo-ang, a hybrid between the Boer goat, the meat-producing breed, and Anglo Nubian, a milking breed.

“Ours, though, is more Anglo-Nubian than it is Boer, simply because of our need for milk to make cheese.”

So what makes their cabritos so different from everyone else’s? “We separate our young males at three months of age. From birth, they stay with their moms for milk and not once have we substituted their nourishment with any kind of milk replacement.”

While still with their moms, “they get introduced to fresh grass planted organically to get them used to this kind of feeding when they come off milk. They are also introduced to a specially formulated feed concentrate given to their moms.

“After they are weaned, all males are grouped together and fattened until they are about five to six months, not older and slaughtered for meat.

“Maybe those result in tender meat. The other factor is the way they are cooked or treated by the chefs. Cooked properly, treated well, given the right marinade, they should remain tender and moist.”

And Robert Aquino did just that, splendidly!

Olive sells her cabrito plain or marinated and ships them to Manila weekly. Call 0917-7001205 or Robert Aquino at 0906-8404323.

[mikey]

sounds to me,they use a Anglo Buck bred to a Boer Doe to create a bo-ang or hybrid,which has more Anglo than Boer.In order to create a hybrid with more Anglo,the buck would be Anglo.Interesting.

[nemo]

Or they could have done this:
 
Anglo x boer = F1(50:50 anglo and boer)

F1 x anglo = 75% anglo and 25% boer

or F1 x boer = 75% boer and 25 anglo

[mikey]

Doc.Sometimes I have found it difficult to understand the language used in the Philippines,example, one finds bo-ang used with hybrid,a bo-ang is nothing more than a crossbreed,one could also call it a mix.Doc. when is a crossbreed a crossbreed and a hybrid a hybrid.Are they not the same thing?I agree with you Doc.one would have to breed the 50/50,f1 back to a anglo buck to get a goat with more anglo,now a f2 anglo,75/25%.

[nemo]

Yeah, different places have different terminologies here in the Philippines.
I remember one time, in one particular town in bulacan, i kept asking people where could i find a PIGGERY farm and they keep on saying to me that, "there is a POULTRY farm in that street". When i went to that area there is a PIGGERY farm. And upon asking the owner there, he said to me that  in their area a Poultry farm could mean either a piggery or poultry.

Well, back to goat.
The term hybrid in a more specific manner means a crossbreed that surpass it parents performance.

Because it is possible that you could create a crossbreed but will not surpass the performance of the mother or father.

Also like in human, the father surname will replace the mother's surname. So, if the buck is an anglo, you could call the offspring , Anglo-hybrid, anglo-boer (mother is boer), anglo-upgrade etc...

[mikey]

Doc.I understand that part of it.What I am having a problem with,the story says a bo-ang or hybrid with more anglo.I have found in breeding goats,especially crossbreeding,its like gambling,one never really knows what you will end up with.Our bo-ang is all white,the heads of a anglo and boer look alike,our bo-ang has the neck,legs and rear rump of a anglo,his body is barrel shaped like a boer.The million dollar question is,is he more boer or anglo??I guess his mother only really knows for sure hehehe.To me he is just a crossbreed,nothing more,nothing less.

[nemo]

In genetics there is also the phenotype and genotype.

The phenotype is the appearance observable while the genotype the genetic makeup of the cell of the animal.
 
Example
           B    B   
b        Bb   Bb
b        Bb   Bb

What does this mean:
BB= homozygous dominant (black)
bb=homoyzgous recessive  (white)

By breeding a black animal with white you will have:
 4 Bb= heterozygous dominant (black)  phenotypically they are all black but in the genetic level they are 50/50.

So, in appearance they might be inclining to one parent but in genetics they are 50/50.

This is just a simplified example.

[mikey]

Doc.
So what you are saying,breeding should always be based on objectives??
The wild goats, Bezoar, Markhol and Ibex, possibly, the respective predecessors of the predominant Bezoar, Savannah and Nubian types, have contributed to the development of approximately 570 goat breed populations in the world. Numerous identifiable morphological characteristics and production performance in these breeds outline the potential for the genetic improvement of the efficiency of meat goat production. The management of meat goats tends to vary from country to country and within country from region to region according to the climate, terrain, breed, availability of feed and grazing land, diseases and economic status of the producer. Studies on evaluation of breeds has been more common in the past two decades, while a majority of these are from Institutional herds in developing countries. In meat goats, possible benefits from scientific advances made in genetics, nutrition and husbandry have not yet been realised to the same extent as other livestock and poultry species. Information on genetic resources and studies on breed evaluation under varying management could help identify breeds that demonstrate promise for the application of quantitative genetic principle to improve the efficiency of meat goat production.

Is the story based on what the goat looks like or the DNA of the goat??Are they saying the bo-ang having more anglo is on appearance more than the genetic makeup.I would think without a DNA test,its questionable,is it not????I know in the dairy goat world,it is the anglo that has the best tasting meat,hence,the anglo is known as a dairy/meat breed (dual).Complicated.

[nemo]

Yes, breeding should always be based on what target/objective you have or need in your farm.

I think the above story is about physical traits and not the dna of the animal.

I cannot definitely say that the bo-ang is base on appearance or genetic. They have given limited input. Even without DNA  you could tell the tentative genes of the animal based on the records. But the definitive test would be dna.

Genetics and breeding  is a complicated subject. There are also some exemption to the rule issue in some cases, some what mutation or cross linking than the normal  swapping of genes etc...

[mikey]

Doc. thanks for the info.I think the story must be based on appearance.