What breed is that goat?

Breed	Ears	Size class	Coat	Horns	Distinguishing note	Source
Boer	Pendulous	Large	Smooth, short	Horned	White body with a contrasting red head is close to diagnostic on its own	86	Pendulous ears, large
Nubian (Anglo-Nubian)	Pendulous	Standard	Smooth, short	Not recorded	Strongly convex "Roman-nosed" profile paired with the long ears	12	Pendulous ears, standard
Mini Nubian	Pendulous	Miniature	Smooth, short	Not recorded	Full-size Nubian ears and Roman nose on a miniature dairy frame; size, not ear shape, separates it from standard Nubian	7	Pendulous ears, miniature
Savanna	Pendulous	Large	Double-coated with cashmere-type down	Horned	Solid white, heavily muscled meat frame that grows a winter undercoat	9185	Pendulous ears, large
Fainting Goat (Myotonic)	Semi-pendulous, with a wave partway down the front edge	Standard	Varies	Horned or polled	Momentary muscle stiffening when startled, alongside prominent, protruding eye sockets	15	Semi-pendulous ears, standard
Spanish	Semi-pendulous	Standard	Varies	Horned	A landrace, not a fixed type; size, color and horn shape vary widely by bloodline	1619	Semi-pendulous ears, standard
Nigora	Erect to semi-pendulous (varies by individual)	Miniature	Cashgora fleece	Not recorded	A refined miniature-dairy build; a Roman nose is a disqualifying fault under the breed standard	17	Erect to semi-pendulous ears, miniature
LaMancha	Elf or gopher (no external ear)	Standard	Smooth, short	Not recorded	The only US breed with this ear type at standard size	12	Elf or gopher ears, standard
Mini LaMancha	Elf or gopher, capped at 1.5in	Miniature	Smooth, short	Not recorded	Same earless look as LaMancha, on a miniature dairy frame	2010	Elf or gopher ears, miniature
Alpine	Erect	Standard	Smooth, short	Not recorded	French color-pattern names (cou clair, cou blanc, chamoisee) rather than one fixed color	21	Erect ears, standard
Golden Guernsey	Erect, carried low in a "bonnet" position	Standard	Varies	Not recorded	Gold body color and skin, ranging pale flaxen to deep bronze	11	Erect ears, standard
Kiko	Erect	Standard	Varies	Horned	Bucks obviously larger and more masculine than does; selected on production, not showring looks	1321	Erect ears, standard
Mini Alpine	Erect	Miniature	Smooth, short	Not recorded	Leaner and more refined than the other MDGA minis, inheriting Alpine's French color names	1422	Erect ears, miniature
Mini Guernsey	Erect, low "bonnet" carriage	Miniature	Varies	Not recorded	Gold body color inherited from Golden Guernsey, on a miniature frame	23	Erect ears, miniature
Mini Oberhasli	Erect	Miniature	Smooth, short	Not recorded	Bucks must be red bay with black chamois markings, same as standard Oberhasli	24	Erect ears, miniature
Mini Saanen	Erect	Miniature	Smooth, short	Not recorded	Must be solid white or cream to register as Purebred	2522	Erect ears, miniature
Mini Toggenburg	Erect	Miniature	Smooth, short	Not recorded	Fawn-to-chocolate coat with the same white Toggenburg markings as the standard breed	26	Erect ears, miniature
Nigerian Dwarf	Erect	Miniature	Straight	Not recorded	Any color or pattern is accepted; occasional blue eyes	21	Erect ears, miniature
Oberhasli	Erect	Standard	Smooth, short	Not recorded	Bay coat with black chamois facial stripes and leg markings, close to diagnostic on its own	1	Erect ears, standard
Pygmy	Erect	Miniature	Straight	Horned	Cobby, full-barrelled, heavily muscled body, not a small dairy build	12	Erect ears, miniature
Saanen	Erect	Standard	Smooth, short	Not recorded	Solid white or light cream, with no pattern recorded in the standard	1	Erect ears, standard
Sable	Erect	Standard	Smooth, short	Not recorded	The Saanen standard's color twin: any color except solid white or cream	1	Erect ears, standard
Toggenburg	Erect	Standard	Smooth, short	Not recorded	Fawn-to-chocolate coat with distinctive white face and leg markings	1	Erect ears, standard
Angora	Not recorded	Standard	Mohair fleece (long ringlets)	Horned	Long, lustrous ringlet-forming mohair on both sexes, sheared twice a year	273	Standard size
Cashmere	Not recorded	Standard	Double-coated with down	Not recorded	Qualifies on fiber traits, not a fixed body type or color; any color is accepted	42829	Standard size
Damascus	Not recorded	Standard	Not recorded	Not recorded	Reddish-brown coat is the only appearance trait recorded in sources compiled here	3031	Standard size
Kalahari Red	Not recorded	Large	Not recorded	Not recorded	Red-coated, with bucks consistently larger than does across measured traits	323334	Large size
Pygora	Not recorded	Miniature	Cashgora fleece	Not recorded	No fleece below the knee; a cross of registered Pygmy and Angora foundation stock	35	Miniature size

The pairs people confuse

**Nigerian Dwarf vs Pygmy.** Both are small and erect-eared, but color and build separate them. Nigerian Dwarf accepts any color or pattern and is the only miniature dairy breed ADGA registers 21. Pygmy's color is limited to three defined families (agouti, caramel or black) on a cobby, heavily muscled, dished-faced build, with a standard that calls for horns 12. Nigerian Dwarf looks like a small dairy goat; Pygmy looks like a small, stocky meat-type goat.

**Alpine vs Oberhasli.** Both are erect-eared, standard-size Swiss dairy breeds with French-derived color terms, but Oberhasli is fixed on one pattern: bay with black chamois markings, black permitted on does only 1. Alpine accepts eight named color patterns, from solid cou clair to broken pied 2. One fixed bay-and-black pattern is Oberhasli; anything that varies is Alpine.

**Boer vs Savanna vs Kiko.** All three are meat breeds. Boer's ears are pendulous, on a white body with a contrasting red-brown head 86. Savanna's ears are pendulous too, on a solid white body with a cashmere-type winter undercoat 95. Kiko's ears are erect, the fastest way to separate it from the other two 13, and its registry records the coat type as variable, though UC Cooperative Extension notes white and cream as the colors actually observed 2136.

**Angora vs Pygora.** Angora is a full-size fiber breed with a mohair fleece forming long ringlets on both sexes, and its standard calls for horns on both sexes too 327. Pygora, a miniature cross of Pygmy and Angora foundation stock, grows cashgora fleece, not mohair, in one of three PBA-defined types, none of it below the knee 35. Size is the fast tell: Angora standard, Pygora small.

**Nubian vs Mini Nubian.** Both share the same diagnostic trait, the long pendulous "bell-shaped" ear and the strongly convex Roman nose, drawn from the same genetics 17. Head and ear shape don't tell them apart. Size is the only visual tell, and it only works with something in frame to judge scale against.

**Toggenburg vs Alpine.** Toggenburg is fixed on one scheme: fawn to dark chocolate with defined white or cream facial and leg markings 1, a pattern no other breed here shares. Alpine's range is broader and doesn't include that pattern among its named colors 2. Markings that match exactly point to Toggenburg; anything else, to Alpine.

What this can't tell you

A few things limit how far a guide like this can go. Crosses are common, especially among meat and fiber breeds bred for production rather than show, and a crossbred animal can mix traits from this table without matching any single row.

Disbudding removes horns from most dairy goats as kids, so a hornless adult usually reflects a breeder's choice, not the standard, which is why horns sit last above rather than first. Coat color varies within a breed wherever the standard allows more than one pattern, which covers most dairy breeds and all three color-open minis (Nubian type, Nigerian Dwarf and LaMancha type all accept "any color or pattern").

Video compression and low light flatten ear shape, the most reliable trait here, in exactly the situation this guide is written for and exactly where it's least trustworthy. And even in good light, you often can't tell a registered animal from an unregistered lookalike by eye. Registration should be based on pedigree and paperwork, not on how closely one goat happens to match its standard.

Where to go from here

Identifying a breed and choosing one to keep are different jobs. Once you know, or have narrowed down, what you're looking at, whichgoat.com is built for the next question: which breed actually fits a given purpose, climate and setup, sourced the same way this guide is, from registry standards, extension sources and the Livestock Conservancy rather than marketing copy.