Dramatic results in fiber are shown in crosses of imported bucks and native does, these crosses are FI or bred-on crosses. The Spanish meat goats from Texas and the Southwest provide cashmere breeding stock that also produces big meaty goats. Of the dairy breeds, Toggenburg, Saanen and Nubian are being used with good results. Pygmy and Fainting goats are being used by some growers. Large goats with wide, thick, meaty bodies bring in more income when sold for meat or culled.
Large bodies can also produce more hair if they also have dense hair follicles.
The gestation period for goats is usually 150 days, but it can vary several days each way. The fist kids can be expected 156 days after the buck goat is turned in the does. Goats prefer brush, tree leaves and rough plants. They are used for pasture improvement and in reforestation areas. Ranchers in the high plains find them most useful in controlling leafy spurge.