Spanish Goat Breed Bloodlines

  • The Spanish Goats were dropped off along the coastal regions of the Americas over 500 years ago. They have been adapting and thriving without human management for centuries.
  • The Spanish Goat Breed is at its base a Landrace. Being a Landrace enables genetic diversity and adaptation like no other domestic goat breed.This diversity enables the goats to adapt and genetically respond to their environment.
  • As a result of this fact, when a herd of Spanish goats are raised in a closed management system, they will adapt both genetically and phenotypically.
  • In 2007 Leslie Edmundson – The Spanish Goat Association, along with Dr. Sponenberg enrolled producers to name their herds. The genetics that originate from these ranches are named for the producers and/or ranches they originated from.
  • Due to the genetic and phenotypical traits, as well as the need to preserve and protect the genetic diversity, the Spanish Goat Registry tracks the bloodlines by the original names.
  • We are working on individual descriptions and best example photos and videos of these particular bloodlines.
  • We will announce when this project is complete.

Named after the Concharty area of Oklahoma

Bill Breckinridge and Tamara Pittman-Breckinridge bought this line of Spanish goats from ranchers who brought them up from the borderlands of Mexico. Tamara says they were wild and joke that they view them with binoculars. Just about daily Tamara walks with her goats for hours a day allowing them to forage while she photographs the landscape. The goats are put up at night due to the heavy predation of their mountain region of OK.

Bill’s plan was to try to get at least two of each “type” that seemed to be represented. The assortment of colors was amazing! They were like snowflakes, no two patterns were exactly repeated. Bill also picked out one tough old, one eyed nanny goat who looked like a wise animal in an attempt to carry out the “goat culture” and acquired wisdom from living in the wild. That initial selection has served us well, as it’s plain to see the variety, hardiness, and survival sense in our goat herd. This herd has been isolated for at least two decades.

Goats were brought to our rugged hill site to help clear brush and improve the land; it has been a huge success. They have made our yard, surrounding woods and fields into a virtual parkland. I take the goats around and let them graze and browse on neighboring land when possible, and that’s their favorite activity. Many of the goats are still somewhat feral: they will come to feed and be locked up at night but just try to touch one. Some of them have become a little friendlier and allow a quick pet. There has been a fair amount of natural selection even here on our acreage because the slow or dumber goats get predated upon by coyotes or mountain lions. Good goat mothers are rewarded with a strong clan and allies. Intelligence, quick reactions and the athletic ability to run fast determine who lives and dies…even now.

History of Concharty Herd by Tamara Pittman-Breckinridge, 2020.