It is the responsibility of every ethical Pygmy Goat breeder to educate themselves, understand the Pygmy Goat Breed Standard and be able to identify conformation faults that can occur in the breed in order to make honest, educated breeding decisions that improve the quality of the Pygmy Goats they are producing in each generation.
A ‘fault’ is any deviation from the ideal as described in the Breed Standard that reduces the animal’s soundness, productivity, longevity or breed type. Some Breed Faults are minor and tolerable, some are mostly cosmetic whereas others are serious enough health issues to disqualify the animal from registration, showing and/or breeding.
Many faults appear on a spectrum of severity from mild, moderate, serious, very serious to disqualifying and may be judged differently between associations in Australia, so checking your own associations rules is necessary.
It’s also important to realise that no perfect, faultless Pygmy Goat exists. In fact, beyond ‘herd blindness’* it is unlikely that an absolutely perfect, faultless animal exists in any breed of dog, horse, cow, goat or sheep outside of its written Breed Standard and illustrations.
Even the best of the best can still have weaknesses and flaws, it’s just that flaws in quality animals are more nuanced and less noticeable to the inexperienced eye.
The faults or weaknesses in quality herds might be less obvious, but conscientious, educated breeders are always seeking to improve each generation of animals they breed in one way or another (especially since focussing on improving one area can lead to a weakness in another…it’s a balancing act that is achieved over years and decades, not just a couple of generations).
Herd Blindness
For those new to breeding animals, ‘herd blindness’ is the situation where breeders can assess their animals subjectively from the owner viewpoint (‘we all love our Pygmy Goats and think they are beautiful’) rather than the objective breeder viewpoint (‘see the faults and weaknesses in their herd and actively work to improve them’).
Herd Blindness can come from lack of knowledge, lack of ethics or simply from personal bias because the emotional attachment to an animal influences our ability to assess its conformation objectively (ie Love is blind).
There is nothing wrong with any of us thinking or saying that we have beautiful Pygmy Goats that we are very proud of as long as we can also objectively assess and identify the weakness or faults that need improving.
Why Faults Matter
Some faults are purely cosmetic and just detract from how closely the animal represents its breed. Other faults can negatively impact every aspect of the Pygmy Goats life, causing pain and suffering as the goat ages.
Many faults are heritable, which means they can get passed down from generation to generation and can be amplified in the progeny of parents who both exhibit the same fault.
Pygmy Goat faults and correct conformation are not about pretty goats winning ribbons in the showring – they are primarily about health, longevity and productivity and as such they should be the absolute priority of every Pygmy Goat breeder, even those breeding for the pet market who never plan to step foot in the show ring.
Breeding for the pet market where Pygmy Goats become beloved family members for 10-15 years is even more of a reason for breeders in that sector to ensure they are producing healthy, sound animals that don’t require constant vet care to keep pain free.
Body structure directly relates to Pygmy Goat overall health, longevity, fertility, ease of kidding, ability to feed kids, breed back easier, utilize their feed better and live a life free of joint and muscle pain.
Faults in bucks are a particular concern because a single buck can sire dozens of offspring in his lifetime which can spread the fault wide and far through the breeding population. For this reason, it is always recommended to use the highest possible quality bucks who express the strongest breed type, characteristics and correct conformation with minimal faults in your breeding program and learn to pair him with complementary does to avoid reinforcing shared faults.
The Golden Rule in breeding any animal, irrespective of breed is to never mate two animals that have the same fault. Likewise, two extremes of a fault should not be bred thinking they will ‘even each other out’, because they won’t. Best breeding practice is to pair an animal with a weakness or fault in one area of its conformation with a mate that is correct in that area.
To be able to do that, knowledge of the Breed Standard, correct conformation and ability to recognise breed faults is required.
This knowledge cannot be gained overnight, it can take years of study, observation and comparison of skeletal alignment, limb placement, joint structure and movement of many animals – especially for new breeders who don’t have prior experience with conformation in other four-legged mammals.
Despite the obvious differences between dogs, horses, cattle, sheep and goats, many structural and movement faults are found in different species and can be easily recognised by someone with experience with other animals and little to no experience in goats.
For those with an existing knowledge base, the learning curve is definitely easier and new Pygmy Goat breeders can focus on learning goat specific anatomy and the breed specific requirements and correct proportions set out in the Pygmy Goat Breed Standard of your preferred association.
Having a knowledgeable and experienced Pygmy Goat mentor or two is invaluable to all new Pygmy Goat breeders as they start their journey with this breed. This is particularly important at this stage of the breed’s development in Australia where new breeders have access to high percentage Pygmy Goats that are still commanding very high prices.
Breed Standard Ideals
For Structure and Conformation I personally refer to the comprehensive NPGA USA Pygmy Goat Breed Standard as that is the one I received my NPGAA Judges Accreditation under. In addition, the Illustrated Standard of the Pygmy Goat by Blackburn, Hale and Wert paired with the US Breed Standard are the most comprehensive resource for Pygmy Goat breeders available.
These two resources are particularly important because there are so many different Pygmy Goat Breed Standards in Australia all derived from the US Breed Standard (read about here).
For most Australian Associations, non-traditional colour patterns and markings are not considered faults, at least not in foundation animals, so are not included them in this list.
I will say that irrespective of association membership and colour acceptance, it would benefit Australian breeders to educate themselves on Traditional Pygmy Goat Colours, in particular what qualifies as a Caramel pattern Pygmy Goat (hint it is not just a goat that happens to be cream, brown or caramel in colour, there are specific required black or brown markings that make it Caramel pattern.)
Pygmy Goat Anatomy
Before starting to learn to identify conformation faults, it is helpful to learn Pygmy Goat anatomy.
A good resource for this are the Pygmy Goat Anatomy diagrams from the Judges Training Handbook that can be viewed on the National Pygmy Goat Association (USA) website.
Structural and Conformation Faults
The following list of faults is intended as a starting point for new breeder education to predominantly help identify the major structural faults that can cause health, longevity or reproduction issues rather than aesthetic faults that detract from breed character and appearance that are Pygmy Goat specific.
Written explanations are not a replacement for visual examples, and the more physical examples you can see (even in other/bigger animals) the easier the fault will be to identify when you are assessing Pygmy Goats.
Some faults are known by multiple names so I have included alternative terminology indicated by after a / where relevant.
HEAD AND JAW FAULTS
• Overshot/Overbite/Parrot mouth
• Undershot/Monkey Mouth
• Malocclusions
• Wry face
• Roman/Convex Nose
• Overly straight profile
• Snipey muzzle
• Protruding eyes
• Eyes set too far apart
• Eyes set too close together
• Incorrect head carriage
• Pendulous ears
• Helicopter ears
NECK, TOPLINE AND BODY FAULTS
• Poorly attached neck
• Weak/Thin neck
• Ewe Neck
• Weak shoulder attachments
• Straight shoulder attachment
• Incorrect shoulder angulation
• Dip/weak in the chine
• Dip behind the withers
• Slab-sided/poor spring of rib
• Overly sprung ribs
• Shallow body
• Narrow or weak chest
• Weak topline
• Roach back
• Sway back
• Roached loin
• Short rump
• Long rump
• Steep rump
• Steep hips
• Narrow hips
• Close thurls
• Narrow pelvis
• Lack of muscling
• Weak hindquarters
• Long bodied
• Short bodied
• Shallow heart girth
• Pinched heart girth
• Umbilical hernia
• Wry tail
• Lack of overall balance
• Over or Under height
LEG, FEET AND GAIT FAULTS
• Weak/long/soft/dropped/low in the pasterns
• Upright/tight/steep pasterns
• Unsound limbs
• Over or Under sized front canons
• Over at the knee/Buck-kneed
• Back at the knee/Calf-kneed
• Pigeon-toed/Toe-in
• Splay-footed/Toe-out/East-West feet
• Offset/Bench/Knock knees
• Loose/winged elbows
• Loose/winged shoulders
• Weak shoulder attachment
• Bow legs
• Post legged/Straight in the hock/poor hock angulation
• Sickle hocks/Over angulated hocks
• Cow hocks
• Camped out/Behind the vertical
• Camped under/In front of the vertical
• Gait abnormalities/stiff or laboured movement
• Fine bone
• Splayed toes
• Poorly shaped feet
MAMMARY AND REPRODUCTIVE FAULTS – DOES
• Bifurcal/Double teats
• Multiple teats
• Supernumerary teats
• Any other teat deformity – Spurs, Sprigs Needle, Pin, Pencil, Bottle, Bulbous, blown teats
• Uneven teats
• Close teats
• Sideways teats
• Teats too small
• Teats too large
• Multiple teat orifices
• Blind/non-functional teats
• Blind/non-functional udder
• Udder pocket
• Uneven/Unbalanced/Asymmetrical udder
• Pendulous udder
• Lumpy or Hard udder
• Poorly blended udder
• Weak or undefined medial suspensory ligament
• Weak attachments
• Incorrect Escutcheon width, height and shape
MAMMARY AND REPRODUCTIVE FAULTS – BUCKS
• Split/Divided scrotum
• Twisted Scrotum
• Scrotal hernia
• Underdeveloped scrotum for age
• Hermaphrodism
• Uneven testicles
• Undersized testicles
• Undescended testicles
• Bifurcal teats
• Multiple teats
• Supernumerary teats
• Functional teats
• Multiple teat orifices
• Any other teat deformity
There are additional faults specific to the Pygmy Goat breed character and type – some faults appear in some Australian association Breed Standards and not others, such as pink skin in our Australian climate due to the cancer risk.
Most faults occur on a spectrum and I have not classified the scoring of these faults as Australian associations all differ in their standards and fault scoring severity, so please cross-reference with your chosen association’s requirements.
I hope this is a useful reference to give new breeders the terminology they need to start their own educational journey with their Pygmy Goats.
This article is provided for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional veterinary advice, consultation, diagnosis or treatment. The information contained herein should not be used to diagnose or treat any health problem or disease. Always consult a qualified veterinary professional regarding the health and treatment of your animals.
© 2025 Michelle Wrighton – Eagleburra Pygmy Goats. All rights reserved.
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