Genealogical data of Boer and Nubian goats in Mexico.

The pedigree file of the Boer and Nubian goat breeds in Mexico was constructed using the national database provided by the Asociación Mexicana de Criadores de Ganado Caprino de Registro. Field technicians routinely updated the goat national database by recording information from flocks participating in the performance-recording system. Information on animal identification number, parents, birth date, sex, breed, and farm of origin were used to undertake pedigree analyses using the ENDOG program (version 4.8). This paper presents a pedigree data file, tables and figures of characteristics of pedigree data, pedigree analyses, pedigree integrity, effective population size and genetic conservation index. The data can be used to estimate other population parameters, to monitor the genetic diversity of the Boer and Nubian goat breeds in Mexico, and also to design balanced breeding programs, maintaining genetic variation at reasonable levels and maximizing genetic progress in these populations.

Dataset on growth curves of Boer goats fitted by ten non-linear functions.

Data on the description of growth of female Boer goats from the Mexican national breeding flock are presented. Goat meat is highly appreciated for the preparation of traditional dishes of Mexican cuisine, and its demand is on the rise. Boer goats are of relatively recent arrival in Mexico and the size of the performance-recorded flock has been increasing steadily in the last ten years. Repeated measures of body weight at different ages from birth to adulthood of Boer goats are scarce. When available, such data can be used to describe the growth pattern and the meat production potential of goat meat breeds such as the Boer. This paper presents data on estimators of growth curve parameters, plots of average predicted growth curves, plots of residuals on age, and data on goodness of fit statistics of ten non-linear functions fitted to describe the growth curve of Boer goats.