How goat breeds are recognized in the US

In the US, a goat breed is recognized when a registry opens a herd book for it and publishes a written standard describing its conformation, size and markings. The American Dairy Goat Association, American Goat Society, American Boer Goat Association, and Miniature Dairy Goat Association are the main dairy, meat and miniature registries; several breeds also have their own dedicated association.

Some breeds have more than one registry, and the registries do not always agree with each other. Kiko and Spanish goats each have three independent US registries with their own herd books. Where that happens, we cite each registry separately rather than picking one as the "real" standard.

A few breeds people search for by name, like Damascus, have no dedicated US registry at all. Their pages are built from peer-reviewed literature instead, and are shorter as a result, an honest reflection of what has been published, not a gap in our compiling.