Maurice Shelton, Ph

1 ANGORA GOAT AND MOHAIRPRODUCTIONbyMaurice shelton , EmeritusTexas A&M UniversityTexas Agricultural Experiment StationSan Angelo, Texas AcknowledgementsThe author would like to kindly acknowledge the contribution of Billie Chisum for the typing andformatting of the material; Tim Willingham for assistance in preparation of Chapter 4, and forpreparation of many of the graphs used; Dr. Lupton for drafting of Chapter 3 and for reviewingother material. The following people also assisted by reviewing a portion of the manuscript: Huston, JakeLanders, Dale Rollins, Pat Hatfield, Butch Taylor, Andres de la Concha, Charles Livingston, BrianMay, Joe David Ross, Tilahun Sahlu, David Scarfe, Frank Craddock, Jim Bassett, Steve Byrns, Giland Sue Engdahl, Haby, Windy Smith, Dan Waldron and Allen author would also like to recognize the contribution of the Mohair Council of America forpublication of this material and acknowledge that all rights to this edition are the property of theMohair shelton FOREWORD The author, Dr.

2 Maurice shelton , has worked with Angora goats in Texas for 34 years while inthe employ of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, The Texas A&M University System. Thistime was not devoted entirely to Angora goats, but also included other types of sheep and goats, andto a limited extent, other livestock species as well. During much of this time, there were relativelyfew people working with sheep and goats and a very broad general approach to research wasundertaken in the belief that this was the best use of resources. As a result, the author has workedin all the broad subject matter areas discussed, but not necessarily in all details which are coveredin this publication. The preparation of this book was undertaken as a form of a report to goatproducers in this state, but hopefully, it may be found of interest to a broader audience.

3 Much of theinformation presented comes from the author's own efforts and experience, but information is alsoincluded from the work of colleagues within the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and thebroader academic community as well. Where the data or information presented is based on the workof others, an attempt has been made to give appropriate credit. This has required the use of asomewhat scientific approach by citing many appropriate references. Although this publication isbased largely on work conducted while in the employ of Texas A&M University, the book representsthe author's own efforts, done on his own time, and the content or opinions, where expressed, do notnecessarily carry the endorsement of Texas A&M University or the Texas Agricultural ExperimentStation.

4 In several places throughout the text product names have been utilized in the interest of beinghelpful. However, this should not be interpreted as an endorsement of these products over otherswhich might serve a similar role. The amount of research information on Angora goats is somewhat limited, especially in respectto replication of studies under different conditions. The available information is presented andutilized to the extent possible in the preparation of this publication, but the producer must make thefinal judgement concerning the appropriate use of this material. In many respects, the text is wordyas compared to presenting simplistic solution to problems. For the most part, simplistic technicalor final solutions to the problems of the industry do not exist, and producers need to consider allavailable information to make the most appropriate breeding and management decisions.

5 A reportor publication of this nature is never complete and new information or alternative interpretations ofexisting information become apparent within minutes after material is set in print, and this appliesto this effort as well. The document was prepared without the services of professional editorialassistance, and it is hoped that readers will be tolerant of shortcomings in this OF CONTENTSC hapter 1 Origin and domestication of the goat and history of the Angora goat and the mohairindustryChapter 2 Biology of mohair growthChapter 3 Mohair: Properties, evaluation, uses, preparation, marketingChapter 4 ReproductionChapter 5 Nutrition and feedingChapter 6 Genetics and SelectionChapter 7 Disease problems of Angora goatsChapter 8 The problem of cold stress or "off shear" lossesChapter 9 The problem of defect in mohairChapter 10 Control of predationCHAPTER 1 ORIGIN AND DOMESTICATION OF THE GOAT AND HISTORY OF THE ANGORAGOAT AND THE MOHAIR INDUSTRY Goats are thought to have been among the first species of farm or ranch livestock to have beendomesticated.

6 Insofar as can be determined, only the dog predates the goat as an animal to have beentamed and brought into a symbiotic relationship with man. It is unlikely that domestication can beregarded as a single or specific event or that the total population of this or any species traces to asingle instance of domestication. Thus, it is probably not logical to insist that domestication of anyspecies totally predates that of another. It is generally conceded that the species; sheep, goats anddogs were among the first to be domesticated. It has been suggested that animals which have sometype of social relationship with one another, such as the formation of flocks or herds, are more likelyor are more easily domesticated and adapt to a long-term association with man. The terms "taming" and "domestication" are used here somewhat interchangeably, but, in fact,they have quite different meanings according to Squires (1975).

7 Taming would be generally definedas "the elimination of the tendency to flee from man," whereas, domestication often involvesmorphological, physiological and behavioral changes in the animal as the result of man's control ofbreeding, feeding and activity patterns. According to this definition, an individual wild animal mightbe tamed and made into a pet, but domestication would involve a large number of animals over manygenerations. Thus, it is impossible or inappropriate to be very specific as to the date, butdomestication of the goat is thought to have occurred "at least by the eighth millennium ," or,at least 10,000 years ago perhaps at more than one site in Asia or Africa. The reader should also bereminded of the close chronological relationship of domestication of the three species mentionedearlier to the transition of man from a nomadic hunter to one who actively managed the resourcesaround him.

8 Clearly, the domestication of the sheep and goat played an important role in placing manon the long road to civilization. Over the years, and even to this date, many people have been almostself-sufficient on the products obtained from sheep and goats. Both species produce, or have thecapability to produce meat, milk, fiber and skins. At times, they are also kept for other purposes suchas sport, beasts of burden or for their manure. Goats belong to the order Artiodacgle, the family Bovidae, and subfamily Caprinae. Otheranimals comprising this subfamily are the antelope, sheep, chamois, Rocky Mountain goat (not a truegoat), musk ox and aoudad. Within the genus Capra, to which the goat belongs, there are a numberof related wild types. These include the Bezoars or Pesangs (Capra hircus), Markhor (Caprafalconer^), Turs (Capra caucasica) and Ibex (Capra pyrenaica).

9 These are not always easilydistinguished from related genera such as Ovis (sheep), Hemitragus (tahr), Ammotragus (Barbaryor aoudad) or Pseudosis(Bhara1). Within the wild types of Capra, the Ibex is most widespread, witha number of subtypes such as the Spanish Ibex, Alpine Ibex, Caucasian Ibex, Siberian Ibex, NubianIbex and Abyssinian Ibex. It is not known precisely which wild type contributed to the domesticgoat, but the Bezoars (Capra aegagrus) are thought to have been the most important. The domesticgoat (Capra hircus), especially the Angora, is sometimes referred as Capra hircus aegagrus. However,any type could have contributed, as they are all interfertile. True wild types such as the Ibex are mostoften found at higher elevations and in rough terrain. As a result, most are sure-footed and producewell-developed undercoats, thus contributing to their early exploitation as fiber producers.

10 Mostwild types are larger than domestic goats. So-called "wild goats" are found at many places in theworld in relatively large numbers, but in general, these are more properly called "feral goats" ordomestic goats which have reverted to the wild state. The Capra genera apparently did not cross the Bering Strait in prehistoric times, as did wildsheep. As a result, there were no true indigenous wild goats in the Americas. The so-called RockyMountain Goat is not a goat, but is more closely related to the antelope. Several species of Ibex havebeen introduced to the in more recent times and have been intentionally crossed with domesticgoats. In general, this crossing has been for reasons of science or novelty or to develop populationsof wild types for hunting. Up to the present time, they have apparently not been seriously introducedinto commercial types.