American v. Purebred v. grade
what's the difference?
Does it matter?
This is a VERY VERY VERY simplified explanation to help you understand the difference between Purebred, American and Grade Nubians.
Lets talk paperwork before we talk goats. While I have nothing but Nubians in the barn (well, not counting a fainting wether...) they are registered as 3 different things.
First are the purebreds. Once upon a time the Nubian herdbook was open. You could take any goat, breed it with any goat, and eventually after enough generations, have her registered as a purebred Nubian. Some of these animals were all Nubian without a drop of another breed in them, others were mostly Nubian but confirmed to the breed standard, but they all got to be called purebred. Sometime in the 70s or 80s, i'm not exactly sure when, they closed the herdbook and said that only goats that were already purebred nubians could have purebred nubian babies. Very simplified scenario, you had sister goats, registered one as purebred one year, but waited to register the other sister the following year, so she had to be registered as American Nubian.
American registered goats have a couple of situations
#1 - those goats were registered after the herdbook closed. They may have another breed mixed in there very far back, but by now they are all Nubian.
#2 - more recently there was a non-nubian in the pedigree or a nubian who was not registered. After several generations of breeding to registered (Purebred or American) Nubians, those goats can now be registered as American Nubians.
Once an American Nubian is introduced to the pedigree, they can never move up to purebred status. So breeding a Purebred buck to an American doe will result in American kids.
Grade Nubians are those that are either have paperwork issues like my Luna (was all nubian but never registered as a kid), are a mix of registered and unregistered goats, or a mix breed. All my Grades descend from Luna and I am working them up to American Nubian status.
So - I can line up my Purebreds, Americans and Grades and you'd never tell the difference, until I get out the papers. Some people feel that Purebreds are the best and will not have an American in their herd. It is a personal preference, I feel a good goat is a good goat. There have been many American Nubians win at the National Show or be recognized for their merit in milk production.
Americans and Purebreds show in the same class at goat shows, but Grades have their own division and compete against all the other mutt goats or ones with paperwork issues (again, simplified). 4H is a bit different and will vary by county. York County has only a small handful of Dairy Goat youth, so they don't even look at papers - my son could show grades in the Nubian class without issue. Clubs or Counties with a bigger dairy presence may have different rules. Most of the kids I sell go to home milking situations where people don't bother to update their papers, and the homesteaders do not care if they are Purebred, American or Grade. When selling to show people, some feel that Americans and Grades are worth less than Purebreds.
Lets talk paperwork before we talk goats. While I have nothing but Nubians in the barn (well, not counting a fainting wether...) they are registered as 3 different things.
First are the purebreds. Once upon a time the Nubian herdbook was open. You could take any goat, breed it with any goat, and eventually after enough generations, have her registered as a purebred Nubian. Some of these animals were all Nubian without a drop of another breed in them, others were mostly Nubian but confirmed to the breed standard, but they all got to be called purebred. Sometime in the 70s or 80s, i'm not exactly sure when, they closed the herdbook and said that only goats that were already purebred nubians could have purebred nubian babies. Very simplified scenario, you had sister goats, registered one as purebred one year, but waited to register the other sister the following year, so she had to be registered as American Nubian.
American registered goats have a couple of situations
#1 - those goats were registered after the herdbook closed. They may have another breed mixed in there very far back, but by now they are all Nubian.
#2 - more recently there was a non-nubian in the pedigree or a nubian who was not registered. After several generations of breeding to registered (Purebred or American) Nubians, those goats can now be registered as American Nubians.
Once an American Nubian is introduced to the pedigree, they can never move up to purebred status. So breeding a Purebred buck to an American doe will result in American kids.
Grade Nubians are those that are either have paperwork issues like my Luna (was all nubian but never registered as a kid), are a mix of registered and unregistered goats, or a mix breed. All my Grades descend from Luna and I am working them up to American Nubian status.
So - I can line up my Purebreds, Americans and Grades and you'd never tell the difference, until I get out the papers. Some people feel that Purebreds are the best and will not have an American in their herd. It is a personal preference, I feel a good goat is a good goat. There have been many American Nubians win at the National Show or be recognized for their merit in milk production.
Americans and Purebreds show in the same class at goat shows, but Grades have their own division and compete against all the other mutt goats or ones with paperwork issues (again, simplified). 4H is a bit different and will vary by county. York County has only a small handful of Dairy Goat youth, so they don't even look at papers - my son could show grades in the Nubian class without issue. Clubs or Counties with a bigger dairy presence may have different rules. Most of the kids I sell go to home milking situations where people don't bother to update their papers, and the homesteaders do not care if they are Purebred, American or Grade. When selling to show people, some feel that Americans and Grades are worth less than Purebreds.