Seven-step process for visually determining structural correctness of meat-goat does:
1. The head of does should show feminine refinement with both eyes bright and functional. Horn growth should not affect performance or create management problems.
2. The neck should be moderate in length, blending into the shoulder at a 45° angle. The shoulders should be set well apart but laid in smooth with the rib cage.
3. The chest floor should exhibit good width between the front legs and set relatively low. Narrow-fronted, low-capacity animals should be avoided.
4. The topline — back, loin, and rump — should be long and level.
5. The rump should be long and tend to slope from the hipbone to the pin bone.
6. The hips and pin bones should be set well apart; such a rump structure can reduce kidding problems. Since the goat is a grazing ruminant that often carries more than one fetus, it is essential that the rib cage provide adequate capacity. Capacity is determined by the length and spring of the ribs. Since the rib cage extends only roughly two-thirds the distance from the shoulder to the rear leg, fullness in the area closer to the rear leg is often only gut-fill.
7. The fore and rear flanks should be relatively deep, giving a somewhat square shape to the area between the shoulder and the rear leg.
