The Angora goat is a breed of domesticated goat that produces the lustrous fiber known as mohair. Angora goats grow 1 inch of hair per month and can produce white, gray, black, or colored hair.
Angora goats are smaller in size when you compare them to dairy goats or sheep and have long ringlets of hair that are fine, silky, lustrous, and dazzlingly white in color.
Their hair is a valuable fiber used in sweaters and other garments. This breed of goat are well known all over the world for its soft, long curly hair.
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Angora Goat Facts for Kids
- Angora goats live for over 10 years
- Angora goats are around 42 inches tall.
- Adults can weigh 200 pounds when they mature.
- They eat a wide variety of weeds, shrubs, and plants
- They are bred for their hair, called mohair
Angora Goat Scientific Name
Capra aegagrus hircus is the scientific title for Angora goats
Appearance
They have tannish-brown horns that are pointed backward towards their bodies.
Angora goats should have even hair covering their body, a broad chest, and a level back, and the hair should grow at a rate of about 1 inch per month.
They’re bred for their soft, luxurious coats suitable for human clothing.
Mohair
Mohair is a valuable fiber that looks similar to hair and grows all over the body of Angora goats. It is softer and has a sheen to it more than sheep’s wool and takes dyes very well.
They have long ringlets of hair that are fine, silky, lustrous, and dazzlingly white in color. The fiber is graded on the basis of fiber thickness.
The average adult produces roughly 10.6 pounds of mohair every year. Mohair fibers are long, strong, resilient, and very durable
Behavior
Angora goats are friendly animals that like to explore new areas. Most farmers will use a five-strand electric fence to keep them where they belong.
These animals have a more chill demeanor when contrasted with many other goat breeds due to their genetic make-up.
Habitat
South Africa is the largest country that produces mohair, and Texas is the largest exporter. Farmers need to make sure that the goats live in clean conditions.
It is common practice for farmers to rear Angora goats in the same pastures as domestic cattle and sheep because of the Angora goat’s ability to keep weeds under control.
They are most successful in climates that are semi-arid and have dry, hot summers and freezing winters.
They are often artificially inseminated, dehorned, and otherwise controlled and are susceptible to cold and wet weather after they have been sheared.
They have the potential to be rather fragile. Thus they require ready access to a shelter that can protect them from the adverse effects of the cold weather.
Diet
They eat brush, tree leaves, and tough vegetation. They can enhance pastures by eliminating leafy spurge and killing nuisance plants.
They must get a good diet because their body is designed to grow hair first.
When weaning, throughout the breeding cycle, and in the weeks leading up to kidding, supplemental food may be required.
Predators and Threats
Many farmers keep dogs and coyotes away from the region where they raise goats by installing electric fences and barbed wire fences around the perimeter of their property.
Roundworm is a significant threat to these goats, so farmers must deworm their animals regularly.
Reproduction and Offspring
Many goat raisers artificially inseminate their animals to increase genetics and introduce weak traits. They should clip the ewe’s hair and increase the nutrients in the feed before breeding.
When a farmer decides to breed is a personal decision. The majority of goats will begin to come into heat sometime in the early fall. When this time comes, most ranchers will herd their goats into a restricted space so that they can carefully observe them kid.
