Raising Goats For Dummies. Cheryl K. Smith

Raising Goats For Dummies

Raising Goats For Dummies - Cheryl K. Smith

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and their name is derived from the city of Ankara, which used to be called Angora. These goats were first brought to the United States in 1849. Since then their popularity has grown, so that now the United States is one of the biggest producers of mohair. Most of the producers are in Texas.

      

If you’re wondering whether anyone has tried crossing Angoras with cashmeres, the answer is yes. But the resulting goats — called Cashgoras — were a bit of a flop, producing fiber that isn’t as useful or as high-quality as the original products.

      Angoras may be raised on a range, but in that case a couple of problems arise. They are sensitive to temperature and cold, and wet weather can kill them. They also are not natural mothers and so they sometimes abandon their kids. The kids often need help to get started nursing. And with twins and triplets, the bigger kids hog all the milk if not controlled, leaving the little ones nothing to eat.

      Cashmere

      Cashmere goats are dual fiber/meat goats. Like their non-cashmere feral relatives, they are quite hardy. But like dairy goats (and the Wicked Witch of the East) they don’t like rain and will run for shelter when it comes. Refer to Figure 3-7, which shows a Spanish cashmere goat.

      U.S. cashmere goats are a little smaller than standard dairy goats but larger than Nigerians, making them a medium-sized goat. The bucks weigh about 150 pounds and does about 100 pounds at maturity. Like the Angora, they aren’t disbudded, because their horns help them regulate temperature so their heavy coats don’t overheat them.

      The cashmere is actually their downy undercoat. Their outer coat, called guard hair, is quite coarse and isn’t used for fiber.

      

Cashmere production in the United States is still a small market, so if you get cashmere goats, you will be part of an elite group. Breeders with large herds remove the cashmere once a year, between December and March. That’s because it grows in response to light — from the summer solstice until the winter solstice. If you don’t have a lot of goats, you can just comb out the cashmere when it starts to shed. The average cashmere goat produces only about 4 ounces of cashmere per year.

      Miniature fiber goats

      I haven’t yet seen or heard of a miniature meat goat (probably because they don’t make enough burger), but people seem to have a general predilection for miniaturizing animals. That tendency applies to fiber goats, as well as the dairy goats.

      You find two different breeds of mini fiber goats in the United States — the Pygora and the Nigora. As you can tell by their names, both are crosses with the Angora.

      Pygora

      The Pygora is a cross between the Pygmy and the Angora that was started by Katherine Jorgensen in Oregon. She wanted to use the fiber for hand-spinning. The Pygora is a small, easy-to-handle, and good-tempered fiber goat. These little guys are registered by the Pygora Breeders Association (PBA), which started in 1987. A Pygora can be up to 75 percent of either breed.

      Pygoras can produce up to four pounds of fleece a year, a bit less than the full-sized Angora. They are smart and can sometimes be found in petting zoos and circuses.

      Some people raise Pygoras for pets or brush-eaters and never use the fiber. Because of their longer hair, these goats are more prone to lice and should be sheared twice a year. (See Chapter 18 for more about harvesting goat fiber.)

      Nigora

      Nigoras are a cross between a Nigerian Dwarf or a mini dairy goat (Nigerian crossed with a full-size dairy goat) and an Angora. They have the advantage of producing colorful fiber, as well as milk. The American Nigora Goat Breeders (ANGBA) was started in 2007 and several groups dedicated to the breed can be found on Facebook.

      If you have trouble finding Nigora goats, you can still buy a Nigerian buck and some Angoras and start your own herd!

      CONSIDERING CROSSBREEDS

      Any of the goat breeds can be crossbred to each other, either intentionally or by accident. (Many a crossbreed has mysteriously appeared five months after a buck escape!) These inadvertent crossbreeds usually can’t be registered without genetic testing, and so they go for a bargain. ADGA accepts and records crosses between their standard size breeds into their association as “experimental” and provide classes for them at their shows. Their offspring can be graded up to “American.”

      Crossbreeds also may be cheaper than purebreds if they are from farms that don’t really care about the goat breed, but just want a milker or some meat.

      Don’t discount the crossbreeds or experimentals. They may be just what you want if you don’t care about a specific breed, or if you really care about the breed and want one of the new, experimental breeds such as a mini dairy goat or a Nigora.

      Getting Your Property Ready for a Goat

      IN THIS CHAPTER

      

Determining the right number of goats to get

      

Identifying which plants are poison

      

Becoming aware of potential predators

      

Protecting your goats with a guardian animal

      

Constructing a milk stand for your goats

      Bringing goats into your life requires a fair amount of preparation. You need to make sure that you have enough space and that the space you have is safe before you introduce goats.

      In this chapter, I tell you how to decide how many goats to get, and what to do to keep your goats safe after you bring them home. I talk about fencing, potential predators, and the pros and cons of various guardian animals that you can use to help protect your goats against predators.