Parts of the Goat
Knowing the parts of your goat is important for many reasons, including talking with your vet or 4-H leader about potential health issues. Here we look at overall parts of the goat, and in particular, relevant body parts for dairy and meat animals.
Parts of the Dairy Goat
1. neck; 2. ear; 3. poll; 4. forehead; 5. bridge of nose; 6. nostril, 7. muzzle; 8. jaw; 9. throat; 10. dewlap; 11. point of shoulder; 12. heart girth; 13. brisket; 14. elbow; 15. chest floor; 16. barrel; 17. knee; 18. toe; 19. sole; 20. heel; 21. dewclaw; 22. milk vein; 23. fore udder attachment; 24. fore udder; 25. teat; 26. orifice; 27. floor of udder; 28. hoof; 29. pastern; 30. hock; 31. flank; 32. median suspensory ligament; 33. rear udder; 34. stifle; 35. thigh; 36. rear udder attachment; 37. escutcheon; 38. pinbone; 39. tail head; 40. tail; 41. thurl; 42. hip; 43. rib; 44. crop; 45. withers; 46. rump; 47. back; 48. loin; 49. chine; 50. shoulder blade
Parts of the Meat Goat
1. neck; 2. ear; 3. poll; 4. forehead; 5. bridge of nose; 6. nostril; 7. muzzle; 8. jaw; 9. throat; 10. dewlap; 11. point of shoulder; 12. heart girth; 13. brisket; 14. elbow; 15. chest floor; 16. barrel; 17. knee; 18. toe; 19. sole; 20. heel; 21. dewclaw; 22. sheath; 23. hoof; 24. pastern; 25. hock; 26. flank; 27. stifle; 28. thigh; 29. twist; 30. pinbone; 31. tail head; 32. tail; 33. thurl; 34. hip; 35. long ribs; 36. short ribs; 37. crop; 38. withers; 39. rump; 40. back; 41. loin; 42. chine; 43. shoulder blade; 44. scrotum
Suggested activities
Test yourself!
See how many parts you can name without looking at the answers.
Draw the outline of the goat on a large board.
Put Velcro where the names should go. Make name cards for each part with Velcro on the back. Shuffle the cards, and divide your club into teams. Members take turns drawing a card and placing it on the board.
The team scores a point for each correct positioning of a card. When a team member places a card wrong, the other team has a chance to replace it correctly for ½ a point. Teams can alternate turns until all the cards have been used. Then points are tallied up.
For Cloverbuds
Make this same activity suitable for cloverbuds!
Simplify the terms they are expected to know, holding up the cards and saying the name of the part on the card out loud, and then have them show you where to stick the card with masking tape onto a real live, gentle goat (while an adult tries to keep the goat from eating the card and tape!).
Written by Dr. E.A.B. OItenacu, revised by Dr. tatiana Stanton.