The bone morphogenetic protein receptor IB (BMPR-IB) gene was studied as a candidate gene for the prolificacy of goats. According to mRNA sequence of ovine BMPR-IB gene, ten pairs of primers were designed to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of exon 1, exon 2, exon 6 to exon 10 and 3' untranslated region (UTR) of the BMPR-IB gene in both high prolificacy breed (Jining Grey goat) and low prolificacy breeds (Wendeng Dairy and Inner Mongolia Cashmere goats) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) method. Only the products amplified by primers P8 and P10 of the 3'UTR displayed polymorphisms. For primer P8, three genotypes (AA, AB and BB) were detected in Jining Grey and Wendeng Dairy goats, two genotypes (AA and AB) were in Inner Mongolia Cashmere goats. Sequencing revealed one mutation (71C→T) of the BMPR-IB gene in genotype BB compared with AA. The differences of least squares mean (LSM) for litter size between genotypes AA, AB and BB were non-significant (P > 0.05) in Jining Grey goats. For primer P10, three genotypes (CC, CD and DD) were detected in Jining Grey and Wendeng Dairy goats and one genotype (CC) in Inner Mongolia Cashmere goats. Sequencing revealed one mutation (130T→C) of the BMPR-IB gene in genotype DD compared with CC. The differences of LSM for litter size between genotypes CC, CD and DD were non-significant (P > 0.05) in Jining Grey goats. These results preliminarily showed that the detected loci of the BMPR-IB gene had no significant effect on prolificacy of Jining Grey goats.