ISSN No.

0119-5727
PCARRD Farm Primer No. 27/2007

Triple Cross Goat

Production

PHILIPPINE COUNCIL FOR AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY

AND NATURAL RESOURCES RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (PCARRD)
Department of Science and Technology (DOST)
OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Dear Reader:

This publication, Primer on Triple Cross Goat Production, provides

information on how to produce triple cross goats or three-way crosses as
slaughter animals, the recommended goat breeds to use, and the advantages
on the use of the recommended breeds, among other items.

The data used in this primer were generated by the researchers of

the Small Ruminant Center - Central Luzon State University (SRC-CLSU),
namely: Dr. Emilio M. Cruz, Dr. Edgar A. Orden, Ms. Alona T. Badua, and
Ms. Precious Queenie de los Reyes.

We hope that this primer would serve your initial information

needs.

Sincerely yours,

PATRICIO S. FAYLON
Executive Director

PHILIPPINE COUNCIL FOR AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND NATURAL

RESOURCES RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (PCARRD)
Department of Science and Technology (DOST)
Paseo de Valmayor, Los Baños 4030, Laguna, Philippines
Tel. Nos. 536-0014 to 536-0015/536-0017 to 536-0020 & 536-0024
Manila Liaison Office: Rm. 103 Gr. Floor, DOST Bicutan, Tagig, Metro Manila
Tel. No. 837-1651
Fax No. (63) (094) 536-0016 /536-7922
 PCARRD Farm Primer No. 27/2007

Triple Cross Goat

Production

Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and

Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD)
Department of Science and Technology (DOST)

Los Baños, Laguna

2007
First Edition 2007

Bibliographic Citation:

Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources

Research and Development. Triple cross goat production. Los Baños,
Laguna: PCARRD, 2007. 4p. – (PCARRD Farm Primer No. 27/2007)

ii
Foreword

Goat raising is an important livelihood to about 15 million Filipinos

who are mostly smallholder farmers. It has become popular and appropriate
for these farmers because it entails low initial investment requirement, low
risk losses, low operating cost, and has relatively high profitability.

Market for goat has high growth potential as demand always

exceeds supply in certain areas such as Luzon. Since goat meat is basically
a specialty product, a certain price premium is attached to it compared with
other meat.

The increasing demand, both in quality and quantity, of institutional

markets (e.g., supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, etc.) also presents challenges
to our producers as these institutional markets have stricter product
standards. The production of slaughter/market animals out of triple crosses
is viewed to be the most viable option to address these challenges.

With this primer, we hope that we can draw the goat raisers’
enthusiasm to adopt the technology on triple cross goat production and that
they become successful in this enterprise.

Patricio S. Faylon
Executive Director

iii
Acknowledgment

PCARRD wishes to acknowledge the following persons for their valuable

contribution to the production of this primer:

 Dr. Elaine F. Lanting, the author, for writing the manuscript for this
publication;

 Dr. Edwin C. Villar, Livestock Research Division (LRD) director and

his staff for the invaluable suggestions given;

 Drs. Emilio M. Cruz and Edgar A. Orden, Small Ruminant Center

- Central Luzon State University (SRC-CLSU) director and deputy
director, respectively, and staff for the data used in this publication;

 Mr. Eric E. Perez (LRD) for the layout and artwork; and

 Dr. Lily Ann D. Lando, Applied Communication Division (ACD)

director, and her staff for the production and printing of the
publication.

iv
Contents

Foreword iii
Acknowledgment iv
What is a triple cross goat? 1
How are triple cross goats produced? 1
What is the advantage of using a native doe and an Anglo-Nubian buck
as the grand parental lines? 1
Why is Boer the breed of choice for terminal buck? 2
What are the characteristics of the parents of triple cross slaughter goats?
2
Why is raising triple cross goats beneficial? 2
How profitable is triple cross goat production? 3
Is there a recommended practice in raising triple cross goats? 4
In a community, what is the recommended approach in producing triple
cross goats? 4
Can triple cross goats be used as breeder stocks? 4

v
What is a triple cross goat?

Triple cross goat is a slaughter/market goat produced through the mating of a

two-breed crossbred doe to a terminal third breed buck. It is also referred to as
three-way cross goat.

How are triple cross goats produced?

Grand Parental
Lines

Anglo-Nubian (Buck) Native (Doe)

Parental Lines

F1
Boer (Buck) Anglo-Nubian x Native
(Doe)

Slaughter/
Market Goats

Triple Cross Goat

What is the advantage of using a native doe and an Anglo-Nubian buck as the
grand parental lines?

Compared with exotic breeds, the Philippine native goats are smaller in size but
these are adaptable to Philippine conditions, reach sexual maturity earlier, have
higher fertility, shorter kidding interval, good mothering ability, and are capable of
multiple births. These make the native does outstanding over their counterparts. On
the other hand, Anglo-Nubian goats are known for their meat and milk production

triple cross goat production 1

traits. Their offspring, therefore, would have the capacity to produce more milk
which is important when twins and triplets are born. The F1 does (Anglo-Nubian
x Native) are expected to have the qualities of their parents.

Why is Boer the breed of choice for terminal buck?

Boer is a meat-type breed of goat. It is the breed of choice for terminal buck because
of its meatiness quality that can be inherited by the offspring, the slaughter/market
goats.

What are the characteristics of the parents of

triple cross slaughter goats?

Philippine Native

Characteristics: small, stocky and low set

Colors and markings: red, white, black or
combination of these colors
Mature weight: 20 kg
Average milk production: 0.4 L
Lactation period: 187 days

Anglo-Nubian

Characteristics: dual purpose type; “proud”

and “graceful” in appearance; long, wide, and
pendulous ears; Roman nose
Colors and markings: black, gray, cream, white
shades of tan, reddish brown, facial stripes
Mature weight: 75 kg
Average milk production: 1.5–2 L
Lactation period: 250 days

Boer

Characteristics: meat type with short to medium

hair and horns are prominent
Colors and markings: reddish brown head and
neck with white body and legs
Mature weight: 80 kg
Average milk production: 1.5–2 L
Lactation period: 200 days

Why is raising triple cross goats beneficial?

Three-breed crossbreeding, as illustrated above, maximizes performance potentials

2 triple cross goat production

of the three breeds. Triple cross goats, therefore, are expected to perform better
than a single-breed or a two-breed crossbred goat. As shown in Table 1, triple cross
goats perform better compared with native or Anglo-Nubian upgraded goats.
Recent studies also showed that triple cross has an advantage in terms of carcass
yield, dressing percentage (Table 2), and meat quality (Table 3) over upgraded and
Table 1. Performance of different goat breeds under CLSU condition.
Weight (kg) ADG
Mature (g)
Breed Birth 1 mo. 3 mos. 8 mos. Gain

Philippine native 1.78 3.15 5.59 15.40 13.63 56.78

Upgrades
F1 (Anglo-Nubian [AN] x Native) 2.62 5.43 10.25 19.87 17.25 71.87
F2 (AN x Native x AN) 2.77 5.99 12.69 21.13 18.36 76.49

Triple cross
F1 (AN x N) doe x Boer buck 3.34 8.16 13.27 22.74 19.40 80.03

Table 2. Carcass yield in goats, by breed under CLSU and off-campus

Dressing
Slaughter Hot Carcass Chilled Carcass Percentage
Breed Weight (kg) Weight (kg) yield (kg) (%)

CLSU
Triple cross 22 10 9.5 45.45
Upgrades 20 9 9 45.00
Native 13 5.5 5.5 42.31

Off-campus
Triple cross 20.25 10.5 10.25 51.85
Upgrades 15.75 7 7 44.44
Native 14.50 7 7 48.27

native goats raised under CLSU and off-campus conditions.

How profitable is triple cross goat production?

Compared with native and upgraded goat production, triple cross goat production
is more profitable considering that triple cross goats have higher gain in weight,
higher carcass yield and better meat quality as compared with its counterparts.
Moreover, marketable age of triple cross goats is shorter than that of the native or
upgraded goats (6 months vs. 8–10 months).

triple cross goat production 3

Table 3. Goat meat quality, by breed under CLSU and off-campus conditions.
Lean (L) - Bone (B) -
Fat (F) Yield (kg)
Rib Eye Area Marbling Lean : Bone : Fat
Breed (cm2) Score* L B F Ratio
CLSU
Triple cross 10.92 4.0 5.76 3.08 0.66 8.73 : 4.67 : 1
Upgrades 8.76 3.0 5.54 3.06 0.40 13.85 : 7.65 : 1
Native 8.48 3.0 3.24 1.92 0.34 9.53 : 5.62 : 1

Off-campus
Triple cross 7.65 4.0 5.67 3.33 1.25 4.54 : 2.66 : 1
Upgrades 4.60 3.0 4.42 2.33 0.25 17.68 : 6.32 : 1
Native 5.20 3.0 4.48 2.14 0.38 11.78 : 5.63 : 1
* Desired marbling score: 5.0

Is there a recommended practice in raising triple cross goats?

The recommended management practice in raising triple cross goats is essentially

the same with those of other breeds.

In a community, what is the recommended approach in producing triple cross

goats?

It would be best if different sets of farmers will concentrate in raising good quality
native stocks, F1 does (AN x Native), and triple cross goats, separately. In this case,
the farmers in-charge of producing the F1 does should have a purebred Anglo-
Nubian buck while those producing the three-way crosses should have a purebred
Boer buck.

In another scheme, farmers producing good quality native stocks would also have a
purebred Anglo-Nubian buck. In this way, this group of farmers, aside from being
the source of good quality native goats, would also be the producers of F1 does.

Farmers can also be both the producer of the grandparental lines, the parental lines
and the three-way crosses or slaughter/market goats. These, however, depend
on one’s resources.

Can triple cross goats be used as breeder stocks?

The use of triple cross goats as breeder stocks is not recommended as they are
not appropriate for breeding. Offspring of triple cross goats have very variable
performance.

4 triple cross goat production

 PRODUCTION TEAM

Writer Dr. ELAINE F. LANTING

Asst. Director
Livestock Research Division (LRD)-PCARRD

Editor Mr. JOEL ENERISTO A. JOVEN
Senior Science Research Specialist
Applied Communication Division-PCARRD

Consultant Dr. EDWIN C. VILLAR

Director, LRD-PCARRD

Layout Mr. ERIC E. PEREZ

Science Research Specialist
LRD-PCARRD

For more information please contact/call:

Livestock Research Division (LRD), PCARRD, Los Baños, Laguna,

Tel. Nos. (049) 536-0014 to 536-0015, 536-0017 to 536-0020, 536-0024,
536-5896 to 536-5899 Loc. 236

e-mail us at pcarrd@pcarrd.dost.gov.ph

or visit us at http://www.pcarrd.dost.gov.ph
ISO 9001-2000