new Angora goats

[dudley]

Hi,

We have been trying to decide what breed of animal to get to produce fleece for home spinning and after a lot of research decided on Angora goats rather than sheep.

We would happily travel some distance to buy two or three Doe’s for our initial breeding stock but want to compile a list of Angora goat breeders as close to home as we can to enable us to get the doe’s into kid in the future and maintain a heathy bloodline. No point buying the girls to find we cannot get them mated in the future and buying a Buck for three girls is a bit over the top.

Can anyone assist with details of any Angora keepers in the South East of England?

We have already emailed the British Goat Society and our local Kent goat club.
Thank you, Steve.

[PeterNZ]

Sorry can't really help you there since I am in New Zealand, but a couple of thoughts and most likely you know all of this already! I still thought I mention it!

Do you have a shearer who can shear Angora goats or are you able to do it yourself? We had a Shearer who was a New Zealand National Champion and he struggled with the goats! Angora is different to any sheep. And again, I am not sure about the situaton in UK.

Do you have a vet who knows about Goats? Here in New Zealand I hear too often "Just treat them like sheep!" Well here is some news for you Mr. Vet, Angora Goats are not sheep!"

Are you aware of the problems with goats especially foot problems? And here I believe, UK is no diferent to New Zealand. We need to trim/check hooves during the wet season at least every 2 - 3 weeks weather depending and still have limping goats all the time! And it is a smelly business!

Please please don't get me wrong and I apologise if you knew all of this already. I love our Angoras and I wouldn't want a different animal. But I have seen too many people who gave up because it was too much for them!

Cheers

Peter

[ina]

Are you aware of the problems with goats especially foot problems? And here I believe, UK is no diferent to New Zealand. We need to trim/check hooves during the wet season at least every 2 - 3 weeks weather depending and still have limping goats all the time! And it is a smelly business!

No idea why you should have so many problems with your goats' feet - I have two cashmere goats, and I do their feet once a year, and they aren't bad even then; just a bit of a trim is all that I've ever needed to do. I think it very much depends on the particular location, and some of it may be genetic, too.

[PeterNZ]

Are you aware of the problems with goats especially foot problems? And here I believe, UK is no diferent to New Zealand. We need to trim/check hooves during the wet season at least every 2 - 3 weeks weather depending and still have limping goats all the time! And it is a smelly business!

No idea why you should have so many problems with your goats' feet - I have two cashmere goats, and I do their feet once a year, and they aren't bad even then; just a bit of a trim is all that I've ever needed to do. I think it very much depends on the particular location, and some of it may be genetic, too.

Angora goats come from the area around Ankara in Turkey, hence the name. This is what their feet are made for. Dry hard ground. If you now put them on soft wet ground their feet get inflamed between the toes and you can get hoove rot, too. Hoove rot is a bakteria in the soil which survives in wet conditions. The idea that it is genetic and that you can breed it out of the Angora breed was common here in New Zealand. Big monitor farm schemes and foot schemes were introduced. Slowly Angora Goat Farmers realised that it isn't working. You might have a line with lower susceptibility to foot problems and then they suddenly turn and it gets worse again. It is a problem which is triggerd by environmental factors - ground wetness! Some are more robust some less. I have a doe which never has any problems and mated her to a buck which never has any problems. The kids didn't inherit any resistance against foot problems! But the doe was from parents where the buck had very bad feet. And she is fine.

I am not sure if you can compare Cashmere Goats with Angora Goats. I have Saanen cross which don't have any foot problems. But this doesn't mean that I would now expect this from the Angoras as well. And yes, everybody here in NZ breeding Angora goats has the same problems. It is a common problem.

Cheers

Peter

[ainslie]

I have only a few does that I breed for milk and don't keep a buck year-round. I don't want to either! There are ways around it but you still have to keep one around for a few months to make sure the does are in kid. I have a few ways to get a buck One: I have a good relationship with our local goat 4-H leader and if I want to I am able to borrow her buck when she is done with him (she breeds early to coincide with when her sheep lambings so she can use the goats to supplement the lambs when needed). She is very happy to get rid of him for a few months as he is a nuisance once her does are bred; I am always happy so see him come and very happy to see him leave too (he's a rank one!) Two: I have purchased 14-day-old bucks to bottle feed and raise for fall breeding - very successful and not half as stinky as the mature buck. Three: I used the current year's billy-kids to breed the does and doelings in fall - I keep careful records so there's no inbreeding. When I'm done with the breeding and confident the does are in kid, I sell the young bucks either as market kids or breeding stock (I take the old buck home to it's owner ). You might look into casterating your buck after breeding season but it's more expensive at that age and there may be other issues with that.

[ina]

I am not sure if you can compare Cashmere Goats with Angora Goats. I have Saanen cross which don't have any foot problems. But this doesn't mean that I would now expect this from the Angoras as well. And yes, everybody here in NZ breeding Angora goats has the same problems. It is a common problem.

Ah - sorry - I didn't know it was a particular Angora problem. Well, one always learns something new...