I've designated this page for miscellaneous information concerning goats & farm life in general, I've always found it nice to be able to come across webpages that were very informative & had information to further my knowledge or even learn about new things I'd never heard of. I hope this helps one of you along your farm life journey, enjoy! (:
G6S - A Genetic Defect sometimes found in Nubians or Nubian crosses.
G6S is the abbreviation for G-6-Sulfase deficiency, a genetic defect that can occur in Nubians or Nubian crosses. It can be easily managed when the proper precautions are applied & it's my belief that a responsible owner should know the G6S status of any goat containing Nubian blood, so that the defect can be managed and handled correctly. In short there are three possible "Status" of the defect, being
N/N Normal - Goat does not have G6S mutation.
N/G Carrier - Goat has one copy of G6S mutation, but is unaffected.
G/G Affected - Goat has two copies of G6S mutation, therefore is affected.
G6S should not scare people away from well bred animals, if the genetics are worth breeding & furthering then having a G6S carrier shouldn't be an issue, as long as the carrier animals is only ever bred to one of normal status. Also just as a rule of thumb carrier bucks are usually culled while carrier females are kept, the reason for this is because a buck can be bred to many does in a lifetime while a doe can only be bred usually once a year. Therefore the testing required for kids from the carrier doe will be much less in a lifetime VS how much testing would be required from using a carrier buck on multiple does every year, through out his entire life. It is strongly recommended to do testing on ALL kids produced from a carrier animal, so the buyers will know the status & can breed accordingly making certain to only ever use a normal animal with a carrier. Kids from two normal parents do not need to be tested because there is no possibility of the kids being able to inherit a copy of the G6S gene, below is a link that goes more in depth and also explains a management program which is what I explained above briefly.
"G-6-S - A Genetic Defect and its Management"
http://www.goatworld.com/articles/g6s.shtml
Also I am attaching links to the labs that offer testing for G6S. if you are testing a purebred Nubian you can go through ADGA for cheaper than the labs offer when ordering the test yourself.
U.C. Davis Veterinary Medicine
https://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/G6S.php
Texas A & M
Texas Veterinary Medicine Diagnostic Lab (TVMDL)
tvmdl.tamu.edu/tests/g6s-detection-qpcr/
N/N Normal - Goat does not have G6S mutation.
N/G Carrier - Goat has one copy of G6S mutation, but is unaffected.
G/G Affected - Goat has two copies of G6S mutation, therefore is affected.
G6S should not scare people away from well bred animals, if the genetics are worth breeding & furthering then having a G6S carrier shouldn't be an issue, as long as the carrier animals is only ever bred to one of normal status. Also just as a rule of thumb carrier bucks are usually culled while carrier females are kept, the reason for this is because a buck can be bred to many does in a lifetime while a doe can only be bred usually once a year. Therefore the testing required for kids from the carrier doe will be much less in a lifetime VS how much testing would be required from using a carrier buck on multiple does every year, through out his entire life. It is strongly recommended to do testing on ALL kids produced from a carrier animal, so the buyers will know the status & can breed accordingly making certain to only ever use a normal animal with a carrier. Kids from two normal parents do not need to be tested because there is no possibility of the kids being able to inherit a copy of the G6S gene, below is a link that goes more in depth and also explains a management program which is what I explained above briefly.
"G-6-S - A Genetic Defect and its Management"
http://www.goatworld.com/articles/g6s.shtml
Also I am attaching links to the labs that offer testing for G6S. if you are testing a purebred Nubian you can go through ADGA for cheaper than the labs offer when ordering the test yourself.
U.C. Davis Veterinary Medicine
https://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/G6S.php
Texas A & M
Texas Veterinary Medicine Diagnostic Lab (TVMDL)
tvmdl.tamu.edu/tests/g6s-detection-qpcr/