Official Handbook

The American Meat Goat Registry was created to give meat goat breeders the opportunity to register and track their genetics through an independent, professionally run livestock registry. The American Meat Goat Registry's mission is to move a unified meat goat industry into the future with a seamless registry for meat goats from all breeders.
The American Meat Goat Registry is a registry service only. AMGR provides bills of sale, sire service memos and other documents on its website that breeders might want for their personal records, but these are not needed for registrations or transfers. All warranties are between individual breeders and are not the responsibility of AMGR.
It is easy to use the services of the American Meat Goat Registry. To start, simply fill out our Online Breeder Application form and use PayPal or Credit Card to pay the annual membership fee, or print off the form from the "forms" menu and mail to our office with your annual membership fee. AMGR will validate your herd prefix, herd name and other information before entering into its database. The American Meat Goat Registry reserves the right to accept or decline a breeder client without cause. All decisions by AMGR are final.
American Meat Goat Registry recognizes and accepts certificate transfers from the following registering organizations:

  • Pedigree International
  • National Kiko Registry
  • American Boer Goat Registry
  • American Kiko Goat Association
  • Spanish Goats LLC
  • Myotonic Goat Registry
AMGR reserves the right to revoke a Certificate of Registration if it is determined that the certificate was issued based upon incorrect, false or misleading information or documentation. Any client proven to have committed fraud will no longer be allowed to use AMGR services.

BREED STANDARDS

"As soon as breeders start to farm with a breed, breed standards are laid down and animals are selected for traits which mostly have no or very little economic value in order to obtain uniformity. Traits such as color, shape of the head and horns, length of leg, straight back and type are paid a lot of attention to in the selection program of the breeder. Not only do a number of these traits have very little economic value but some of these traits can also adversely influence the adaptability of goats."

— Dr. Q. P. Campbell “Performance Testing and Adaptability of Boer Goats”

However, breeders should always strive to produce and register only those goats that will thrive and function in a satisfactory manner with the focus on maximizing economic performance. A goat’s functional traits should outweigh aesthetic considerations.

REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS

HERD BOOKS — Each animal registered with the American Meat Goat Registry will be registered in one of the following herd books:
  1. Fullblood — All animals designated as Fullblood must be the offspring of Fullblood goats that can trace their pedigrees to the original imports. 100% breed purity of the sire or dam will be used when calculating the breed purity of offspring.
  2. Purebred — All male and female Savannas designated as Purebred must be at least 15/16 (94%-rounded up) Savanna blood. The exact breed purity of the sire and dam will be used when calculating the breed purity of offspring.
  3. Percentage — All goats with a breed purity of 93% or less will be registered in the Percentage Herd Book. The exact breed purity of the sire and dam will be used when calculating the breed purity of offspring. Bucks and does may be registered in the Percentage Herd Book.
  4. Foundation — AMGR offers the ability to track composite breeds by using seed stock as foundational animals. Using our registry tools, DNA analysis and herd management software, breeders and producers are able to build goats that work for them and who feel might end up being marketable on a broader scale.
  5. X-Factor — AMGR has worked with Dwight Elmore who designed the X-Factor for composite goats. The X-Factor is a method for each breeder to closely track goat generations on the way to purebred status. AMGR does not require DNA testing and microchipping/tatooing for established breeds, although we highly recommend it, we do require both forms of identification for composite breeds to ensure accurate tracking.
DOCUMENTATION FOR REGISTRATION — All required information must be submitted with the application to register an animal in any of the American Meat Goat Registry Herd Books. An AMGR Animal Registration Application form must be submitted with the appropriate fees.
To dual-register a goat that you own from another registry, copies of the front and back of the original registration certificate from the other registry must accompany the AMGR Certificate Transfer Application, along with the appropriate fees.
To register an offspring from parents from another registry, copies of the sire’s and dam’s registration certificates from an approved organization must accompany the AMGR Animal Registration Application, along with the appropriate fees.
AMGR certificates of registration are issued using information provided to the American Meat Goat Registry by its breeder clients. Information utilized from certificates of other registries is accepted at face value and is intended for documentation only. Neither American Meat Goat Registry nor its owners, officers or agents accept liability nor shall they be answerable in damages for the issuance of any certificate based on inaccurate information furnished by the applicant. AMGR has no obligation or responsibility to independently investigate or determine whether the information provided in any application for registration or transfer is correct.
TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP — Transfers can be submitted by either the buyer or seller. An Ownership Transfer Form should be completed, signed and dated by the seller. The original AMGR registration certificate and transfer of ownership form must be submitted with the appropriate fees.
RESPONSIBILITY — All contracts, agreements and verification are between buyer and seller. American Meat Goat Registry is a pedigree tracking and registry service only. Responsibility for documentation of each transaction or procedure (natural breeding, artificial insemination, semen transactions, embryo harvest and transfer, etc.) remains with the parties involved. All agreements made are strictly between those parties. American Meat Goat Registry is not responsible for determining the validity of any claims or outcome of any grievances.
IDENTIFICATION — All animals should be identified with both permanent and external identification. Acceptable forms of permanent identification are tattoos in the ear or tail web and microchips. Ear tags are not considered permanent. Animals that are permanently identified must also have some form of external identification such as a tag in the ear or on a neck chain.
TATTOOS — The herd prefix should be in the right ear; the left ear should be tattooed with a letter to indicate the year the animal was born and a unique identifying number (usually the ear tag number).
Year Indicator. AMGR uses the meat goat industry standard alphabet identifiers to indicate the year in which a goat was born. These are:

2012 — B

2013 — C

2014 — D

2015 — E

2016 — F

2017 — G

2018 — H

2019 — J

2020 — K

2021 — L

2022 — M

2023 — N

2024 — P

2025 — R

The letters I, O, Q and U are not used.

NAMING OF ANIMALS — All animals registered in the Fullblood, Purebred, Percentage, Foundation or X-Factor Herd Books must be named. Names must be preceded by the breeder’s farm name or herd prefix. Ear tag numbers or other identifiers can be used as names. We encourage everyone who can to save time and money buy using our Website to submit all forms for registrations, transfers and DNA request.
OFFICIAL AMGR FORMS — Forms for all AMGR transactions are available for download on the company website (www.amgr.org).
Client Application: All persons wishing to do business with AMGR must complete and submit/sign a Client Application. The registrar will assign a Client File Number and create a database file for future transactions. The applicant also uses this form to register a herd prefix. The herd prefix is a series of numbers and/or letters that is unique and identifies each individual herd in the database. Once assigned, the prefix is used for animal identification by tattooing the herd prefix in the right ear of each animal registered by the applicant. The American Meat Goat Registry reserves the right to accept or decline clients without cause.
Animal Registration Application: This form is used when applying for a certificate of registration for an animal. A new owner’s information can be included if the animal was sold prior to registration. Fees for both registration and transfer must be included if both transactions are desired.
Ownership Transfer Form: Use this form to transfer an AMGR-registered goat to a new owner. This form, the original certificate of registration and the correct fee can be submitted by either the buyer or seller. The application must be electronically or manually signed by the seller.
Certificate Transfer (Dual Registration) Use this form to transfer registered goats that you own from another registry to AMGR. Copies of the front and back of the original registration certificates from the other registry must accompany the application. This can be done by uploading scanned PDF's / images of the pedigree or physically maling a copy of the documents to the AMGR.
DNA Request Use this form when requesting a DNA test for an AMGR- registered animal. A hair sample and the animal’s original certificate of registration must be submitted at the time of application. Instructions for collecting a DNA hair sample are printed on the bottom of the form. The sire’s DNA information (UC-Davis VGL#) must be in the AMGR database or a breeder’s personal VGL file for an animal to be sire-verified. The sire’s and dam’s DNA must be in the database for an animal to be parentage verified. If the sire and dam are registered with another registry, their registration numbers and UC-Davis VGL numbers must be included on the application. If the sire’s and dam’s DNA information is not available, the animal will be genotyped and its DNA information will be filed in the AMGR database for reference. The animal’s DNA status (SV, PV or GT) will be printed on the certificate of registration.
Order Form/Fee List (manual only) Complete and mail this form with each order. Attach check or money order. Customer must be a registered AMGR client. View the form online for current pricing. If you prefer, we can e-mail an invoice with a secure link for entering your credit card information.

How to read our registration numbers

Our numbers tell a story if you know how to read them. Example: A15M705ABC7

AR, A, B, C, K, M, S = AMGR Breed types

15 = Year born (2015) M = Male

705 = Eartag/Tattoo number

ABC = Breeder’s herd prefix

7 = computer-generated security code

X-Factor Example: A16F604ABC18X3-R  X-Factor Chart

AR, A, B, C, K, M, S = AMGR Breed types

16 = Year born (2016) F = Female

604 = Eartag/Tatoo number

ABC = Breeder’s herd prefix

3 = Computer-generated security code

X? = Computer-generated generation based on parents' X-Factor

-R = American Reds will have color represented by R=All Red, F=Fifty+ % Red, or C=Color (only in foundation)

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