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 Wesley E. Sawyer, Sonora, Texas

The Sawyer Ranch out of Sonora, Texas was founded by Wesley E Sawyer decades ago. When Wesley Sawyer passed away, his nieces and nephew inherited the herd and the land. Joe Preston & Sarah Neely, Jane Davis-Sawyer, and Edwin Sawyer raised the Sawyer Bloodline Spanish goats for decades behind their uncle and continued his commitment to the Sawyer Bloodline. The family began to breed the goats to bring out their vigor and strength, developing a line that both breeders of Spanish goats and non-Spanish goats want to breed into their herds.

Even though this herd was divided into three distinct managers, one thing rang true throughout the bloodline and that was Preston Faris. Preston Faris was an extension agent in Sonora, Texas and spent the better part of the last 25 years or so working with all three Sawyer Ranches to select for the best possible genetics to retain each season and which goats to get rid of and send to slaughter.

Edwin Sawyer credits Juan L Bonilla, Jr., and Preston Faris for the success of his group of Sawyer Bloodline genetics on his ranch. Edwin also said, “We made it a point to never waver from our belief that the quality of our herd was paramount, that we would never sell anything that we wouldn’t want to keep for ourselves if we could, and to constantly strive for improvement. We believed that word of mouth, customer satisfaction, and reputation were key to our operation.”

Joe Preston Neely also ran a herd of the Foundation Sawyer on the Neely-Sawyer Ranch in Sonora, TX. Here is what Joe Preston has to say about his herd, “We seldom have a Nannie that does not have kids. We cull any goat that fails our criteria, some years it will be 1% and some years more. We keep nannies until they can no longer raise their kids. Our purpose is to breed longevity into the herd. Color does not factor into breeding choices at all, so the herd shows a great variety of colors, and there are varying levels of cashmere.” Joe Preston also did an annual buck test to ensure that he was retaining the best meat billies possible to continue the genetics of his herd.

I spoke with Preston Faris, and he said about the same as Joe Preston and Edwin. Preston Faris said the Sawyer ranch was focused on mothering, longevity, and range survivability with minimal input. This means the nannies had to have only two sound teats, with good utter structure, kid and raise the kids on the range, and the nannies were not culled until they lost their soundness around ten years. Preston Faris also focused on eliminating the cow-hocked and flat ribbed genetics from the Sawyer Bloodline. They focused on deep, big boned billies and feminine nannies.

Unfortunately, Preston Faris, Jane Sawyer-Davis, Edwin Sawyer, and Joe Preston Neely are no longer running the Sawyer Bloodline. Thankfully, there are a number of Spanish Goat Registry Certified Sawyer breeders committed to carrying on the legacy of the Sawyer Bloodline that can be found on our Breeder List. All of these ranches are dedicated to the Sawyer Bloodline and are working within their respective management styles and under their regional environmental conditions to produce the best possible Sawyer Spanish Seed Stock. Each one of these ranches have purchased their original stock from the Foundation Sawyer Ranches and are dedicated to continuing to improve upon the fine genetics they started with.

As the Sawyer Bloodline has been moved out of Texas and across the country, breeders have reported back that they have had very few issues and/or challenges adapting their Sawyers out of Texas. John Moody out of IA raised his Sawyers on grass without shelters all year long. The heavy cashmere helps keep these goats in good body condition during the winter months. C4 Livestock is raising their Sawyers in one of the most challenging environmental conditions for any breed of goat and they are adapting well. The other ranches are in Texas and these producers are working to improve the Sawyer genetics with their styles.

Sawyer genetics can be picked out of the crowd. The phenotype is a longer, deeper body with heavier bone structure. The body is rounded, and the color is varied. I personally have been to all three Sawyer ranches and saw distinct similarities. These goats were raised on the range and managed as a herd. Some of the Sawyer Bloodline Producers are still raising Sawyers in this way and other producers are raising them as individual goats. The hope of Spanish Goats, LLC is that the Bloodline continues to be an option for meat producers and the Certified Breeders continue in their commitment to stay true to the genetics while putting their personal stamp on them.

Original Story by Ed Sawyer, February 2008 ~ Updated by Donna Askew 2022