United States Department of Agriculture
Cooperative State Research Service
Office for Small-Scale Agriculture
Cashmere Goats
The world is beginning to give goats-nature's
best herbicide-more attention. Leafy spurge-poisonous to some
animals-is causing even people who laughed about goats to take
a more serious look. When some Nebraska goats were taken on a
demonstration tour people could hardly believe the sight of goats
walking through high brome grass to select out spurge heads!
But while most goats go for spurge, only
cashmere goats also have the fiber of kings. And their owners
now know better than to cross them with Angoraproducing goats.
(Angora hair is another important fiber.) Australia and New Zealand
breeders experimented with a cross to try to develop heavier fleeces.
It proved to be a mistake. The crossed goats produced-cashgora-with
limited uses and characteristics of neither cashmere nor mohair.
Demand Exceeds Supply
Demand for cashmere, the fine underdown
from cashmere goats that has long been preferred by royalty, has
always exceeded supply. Garments made of cashmere are prized for
their unique feel. Cashmere is very soft, warm and long wearing.
It feels much softer to the skin than wool, and while not as strong,
cashmere outwears wool!
Cashmere goats are a type, not a breed.
Most goat breeds, except Angora, can produce this down In varied
quantities and may be called cashmere goats. There is no such
thing as a "purebred" cashmere goat.
The fleece consists of the very fine, crimpy
down and the usually longer, outside, coarse, straight guard hairs.
A goat that does not display both types of fiber should be avoided.
Cashmere fibers must be separated, either
by combing out the down or by using a commercial dehairer on sheared
fibers. The longest, finest down is used in knitted garments and
the shorter down in woven fabrics. The separated guard hairs go
into rugs or hair canvas used in tailored garments.
The majority of the world supply of cashmere
has come from Afghanistan, Iran, Outer Mongolia, India, and China.
In recent years, when these countries' political disarray disrupted
cashmere supplies, manufacturers began looking for more stable
sources.
New Zealand and Australia have been producing
cashmere for more than a decade. Breeding selection began even
some years earlier with captured feral (wild) goats.
Selecting Breeding Stock
Prospective herd members can be selected
from either dairy goat or meat goat sources. Cashmere down growth
begins on about the longest day of the year and stops on about
the shortest day. (Shortly after down growth stops it will be
shed naturally if not combed or sheared.) Best time for goat selection
is in the latter part of growth-stopping period; down quality
can be easily assessed. The guard hair is parted to determine
whether there is down underneath.
If the goat carries the gene for down, it
can, over time, be developed into saleable amounts. The crimp
is called the character or style of the fiber; a very tightly
crimped down is most desirable. The diameter (measured in microns)
of the fiber must be under 19 microns to be labeled cashmere.
Select goats may have fiber as fine as 14 microns. The usual range
is 16 to 19 microns.
A yield of at least 30 percent down is desirable,
but is not the average by any means. Buyers pay on the down weight
or weight of dehaired fiber, not the weight of the entire fleece.
Prices vary over time.
Goats come in many colors and combinations
of colors, but solid colored goats are much preferred. Cashmere
down is either white, brown, or gray in solid colored goats. The
less desirable down from mixed colored goats is classed either
as white with color or mixed color.
Some U.S, growers have imported goats from
Australia or New Zealand as a herd or as breeding stock to improve
selected native goats. This might produce greater returns more
quickly than would native stock alone.
Some Natives Are Good
There are, however, many very good goats
among native breeds. Their fiber's diameter is apt to be smaller,
but the length and yield of fiber are much less. The aim through
selective breeding is to keep the finer diameter and increase
the length and yield. Dramatic results in fiber are shown in crosses
of imported bucks and native does, these crosses are called Fl
or bred-on crosses.
The Spanish meat goats from Texas and the
Southwest provide cashmere breeding stock that also produces big
meaty goats. Of the dairy breeds, Toggenburg, Saanen, and Nubian
are being used with good results. Pygmy and Fainting goats are
being used by some growers.
Large goats with wide, thick, meaty bodies
bring in more income when sold for meat or culled. Large bodies
can also produce more hair if they also have dense hair follicles.
The gestation period for goats is usually
150 days, but it can vary several days each way. The first kids
can be expected 156 days after the buck goat is turned in the
does. Kids are usually "dropped," as the term goes,
from late February through April or early May.
As noted above, goats are browsing animals
and can be pastured with sheep and cattle, since each species
prefers different plants. Goats prefer brush, tree leaves, and
rough plants. They are used for pasture improvement and in reforestation
areas. Ranchers in the high plains find them most useful in controlling
leafy spurge. Goats will also destroy multiflora roses and red
cedars.
Breeding Does Need Extra Feed
When growing plants are not available, goats
will need to have supplemental feedings of hay and, perhaps, grain.
Does also need extra feed prior to breeding. Pregnant does need
good feed in order for the fetus to develop hair follicles. To
assure big growthy kids, nursing does need good feed.
In does, poor nutrition is the leading cause
of abortion and poor mothering, with younger
or lighter weight does most likely to abort. Stress from disease,
moving long distances, or cold wet weather also can cause abortions.
Does should be in good condition and gaining
weight at breeding time. Young does should weigh at least 55 pounds
and mature does at least 75 pounds sheared weight at breeding.
During pregnancy and lactation, does need
almost 1/2 pound of crude protein daily. Supplement feeding must
be started as soon as the goats begin to show a loss of top condition
and/or weight. The rewards of improved nutrition are more and
better kids and heavier fleeces. However, overfeeding of protein
can cause fleeces to coarsen prematurely.
Goats should be given adequate nutrition
both before and after shearing. Goats have neither the layer of
body fat nor lanolin-laden wool that sheep have. So, goats sometimes
need shelter from cold rains and chilling winds. If shelter has
not been provided, goats may even die. Depending on weather variations,
goats may need shelter for 4 to 6 weeks after shearing.
Not Many Triplets
Twins may account for 10 percent of births,
most commonly in older does, with a much lower percentage being
triplets. With proper management it is possible to get three kid
crops within a 2-year period.
Does may be bred to kid when they are a
year old if they have sufficient growth. Since male kids usually
reach sexual maturity at 4 months of age, they should be removed
from the herd to prevent accidental breeding.
Kidding problems are nothing any experienced
livestock person would find unusual. Unless it is a breech delivery
or a tough sack that does not break and allow the kid to breath
or the doe is too small, there usually are no complications.
Due to lack of labor and facilities, large
herds are usually kidded on the range, while many small herds
use a more intensive confinement system to handle the goats. For
open kidding, small pastures with some sort of shelter, centrally
located watering and supplement feeding area, and a bedding area
are required. This arrangement reduces the number of kids that
get separated from the does.
On the range, does and kids should be left
undisturbed for several weeks, since the does may abandon the
kids. When goats are moved, pastures should be rechecked for kids
that have been left behind.
A more intensive kidding system makes use
of buildings, small individual stalls, heat lamps, and feeder
space. With this type of system kidding can be done earlier in
the year. However, such a system is much more labor intensive
and therefore more expensive. A larger kid crop can be realized
if the facility is well managed. Before kidding, the does should
be outdoors - except in cold or wet weather or at night; this
helps keep bedding clean and dry and encourages the does to exercise.
As does kid they should be moved into stalls
and the kids' navels treated with 7 percent iodine. C and D antitoxin
should be given. Cold kids will not try to suck and a heat lamp
may be needed; they will usually suck by themselves when they
are warm. Some kids may need help to begin to suck if does' teats
are not adequately open. After identification with matching paint
or ear tags, does and kids can be moved to group pens or holding
areas after the kids are well established. Twins and triplets
should not be grouped with singles since stronger kids often rob
from the usually smaller multiple-birth kids. Likewise, the groups
should contain kids of similar age.
Maintenance Pointers
As with sheep, internal and external parasites
and pneumonia are a major health problem with all kinds of goats.
Lice can be controlled by spraying after shearing. Coccidiosis
is a threat to kids, both before and after weaning, and any kid
not growing properly is probably infected.
Their hooves may need to be trimmed, depending
on the walking conditions, but wear from rocky ground sometimes
helps take care of this problem.
Working with a veterinarian, a grower should
establish a good health care program that includes vaccination
for most diseases.
Goats need special 4-foot-high fencing both
to keep them in and predators - always a threat to kids - out.
Goats like to go under or through obstacles. Five wire electric
fences constructed with three hot wires and two grounded wires
work well. Existing fences can be used with the addition of a
12-inch outrigger electric wire located about 12 inches above
the ground.
Horns Handy, Sometimes!
Other types of small-mesh fencing may be
used. Horns caught in the fence or the crotch of a tree become
life-threatening, not only because of predators but also because
of other goats. While most goats are not aggressive toward humans,
they are not always kind to other
goats who cannot defend themselves. They can quickly do serious
or lethal damage with their horns.
A goat raiser soon discovers that horns
are useful-as handles! A goat without horns is hard to control;
some shearing stands even depend on horns when securing the goat
for shearing. Unlike Angora goats, cashmere animals are sheared
standing.
Care should be taken not to damage a young
goat's horns by rough handling. A frightened or startled goat
is apt to jump or flail around and handlers should always use
caution to prevent injury from the horns-especially to eyes. For
safety, both for other animals and the handler, sharp points of
horns may be clipped off using a bolt cutter or similar device.
Sources of Information
The American Cashmere Growers
Marketing Cooperative (ACGMC), P.O. Box
1105; Castle Rock, CO 80501 (Telephone:
303-621-2874). Its trade name is Cashmere America.
Its manager, Terry Sim, is Australian-born
and an Australian fiber classer.
Cashmere Producers of America (CaPrA);
1-800-FOR-GOAT; Concerning Cashmere
(bimonthly publication from CaPrA).
Ranch Magazine; P.O. Box 2678; San Angelo,
TX 76902. (915-655-4434)
Cashmirror Magazine; P.O. Box 639; Toledo,
WA 98591. (206-864-4200)
By Harriet L. Jensen, R.R. 3, Box 144;
Cozad, NE 69130, and George B. Holcomb
of the Office of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of Agriculture, for USDA's Office for Small-Scale
Agriculture (OSSA); Howard W. "Bud" Kerr Jr., Program
Director. OSSA's address: Cooperative State Research Service,
USDA, Room 328-A, Aerospace Building, Washington, DC 20250-2200.
Telephone: 202-401-1805; Fax: 202-401-1804
Mention of commercial enterprises or
brand names does not constitute endorsement or imply preference
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
December 1992
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