09/23/13, 08:41 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 1,297
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Goats have both eumelanin and pheomelanin modifiers. Eumelanin is the appearance of black-brown. Pheomelanin is the appearance of red-tan. Saanens, like white leghorns in chickens, have a number of these modifiers. It only takes a few to mask color (phenotype) but more of them(genotype) increase the chance that offspring will be white when bred to a goat with color. Sables are a result of combining parents who are both white but have fewer modifiers. On the other hand Saanen white can be very strong in cases where one parent has lots of modifiers even though the other parent may be very colorful. Sounds like daddy is masking most of his color already, so thats a very good start. But it will also depend on how "white" mamma's genotype is.
I have two Snubians from a similar combination: light buckskin Nubian mamma and Saanen daddy. One is pure white, the other the very faintest of tan in some places.
As Alice noted, there are also lots of modifiers that develop over time. Some color appears later on and some, like ticking and moonspots, lighten over time. What is really interesting is patterns within the single hair. Have you ever had a goat that looked one color and became a completely different goat when you clipped it? My lightly tan Snubian is this way. A bit annoying because if you look at her closely she just looks slightly dirty, the hair is actually white underneath. Genetics is fascinating, especially color. Because when it all comes down to it, it is simply the structure and texture of the hair absorbing or refracting light in a particular way. Just an illusion.
Here's a pretty good description:
http://kinne.net/pygcolor.htm
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