Sources and methodology

Every figure on WhichGoat carries a source and a retrieval date. We compile from breed registry standards, university extension services, peer-reviewed and government publications, and The Livestock Conservancy, never from commercial breeder sites, marketplaces, or FAO DAD-IS, and never as copied prose. Wikipedia is used only as a cross-check pointing at a primary source, never as the source of record.

How we handle disagreement

When two acceptable sources give different figures for the same fact, we show both rather than averaging them. The lower-tier source (registry standard over extension estimate, for instance) is the primary figure; the other is kept in full as an alternate, with its own source and date. We never merge, average, or widen a range that no single source actually stated.

What "not found" means

A "Not found in our sources" row is a claim about the world, not a shrug: we checked the acceptable sources for that breed and field and none of them carried the figure. A tap on the marker shows exactly what we checked and when. We never invent a figure to fill a gap, and a thin record, Damascus and Kalahari Red have no dedicated US registry, is the honest result of following the source rules, not a compilation failure.

Every source cited across the corpus

88 distinct sources, tier 1 (registry) first.

Tier 4 · Oklahoma State University breed pages. An educational encyclopedia maintained by a university; not the breed's registry and not an extension service. We cite it for origin and history, and for descriptive fields only, temperament, hardiness, heat and cold tolerance, management notes including fencing, browse suitability, and colors and patterns. Never for a number, and never for health. Every value taken from it is marked with a dagger (†) on the page.

Fields we hold but don't show

Some fields in our schema are almost never published by any source we accept. When fewer than one breed in ten has a sourced value for a field, we stop showing that field on every page rather than printing the same "not found" row 28 times. The data stays in our records, and it comes back the moment enough sources exist. These are the fields currently held back, and the breeds where we do have a sourced value:

Report an error

Found a figure that looks wrong, a dead source link, or a breed we've mischaracterized? Email hello@whichgoat.com with the breed and field. Corrections are fixed on receipt and stamped with a new retrieval date.

Not veterinary or husbandry advice

WhichGoat is a reference for choosing a breed, not a guide to caring for one. For husbandry, health and management, see your state's land-grant university extension service or your veterinarian.

About this site

Read more about who compiles and maintains WhichGoat on the About page.