Angora Goat Farming – Factors To Keep In Mind Before Raising Goats
Image by Ed Yourdon
(more details later, as time permits)
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On my way to dinner at a nearby sushi restaurant the other night, I stopped at a local playground to see if there was anything interesting to photograph. I found that a local community organizer, Darrin Dunn, had raised some contributions to provide uniform-style t-shirts for two competing teams of basketball players in the playground’s court, which has been named "Goat Courts."
Dunn is the CEO of the Earl Manigault Foundation, Inc., and you can reach him by phone at 832-660-1039 if you’d like to offer assistance; he doesn’t have a Website or email address at the moment. The foundation, and the basketball court, are named after the legendary Earl "the Goat" Manigault, who died in 1998 after playing professional basketball in France and Germany. You can learn more about Manigault, the basketball court, and the local tournaments in a July 10, 2009 Black Star News article titled Hope Dreams – Beyond Basketball, which was written by Mitch Ligon, whose chess-playing talents (in the same park) I showed in this Flickr photo.
Anyway, it was an interesting game, with lots of action. I took some 300 shots, and whittled it down to 30 keepers; I’ll upload 10 of them each day, while trying to juggle my other work demands…
Article by Ted Allen
A prime trend nowadays is angora goat farming which is considered a lucrative venture. White mohair could be sold at three to twelve dollars a pound; colored mohair at ten to twenty five dollars a pound. Angora goats are species of goats that originally came from Ankara, Turkey and Anatolia. The wonderful mohair Angora goats produce are primarily used for knitwear and clothing. These goats are infamous because their hair can be used to produce mohair. Their initial introduction to Europe in 1554 was successful so they were imported to United States by James Davis in 1849. The Angora importation rate increased until the Civil War when large flocks were affected.
Finally, the Angora goat farming prospered in the southwest were green lands were abundant for their sustenance. Today, Texas is the second biggest producer of mohair in the world. Contrary to sheep, Angoras are shorn two times in a year. At first, Angoras produce only white mohair, but today, with the efforts of the Colored Angora Goat Breeders Association, they are able to produce black, red and even brown.
The average lifespan of Angora type of goats is 9 to 11 years. It is possible to stretch this depending on the care or feeding program given to them. Imperative vaccinations for Angora goat farming are tetanus, overeating and worming. Angoras are definitely not milk givers. Aside from being poor in producing meat, these goats are poor in milk since most of their nutrients are channeled to fiber production.
Angora goat farming can be very worrisome especially when it comes to the Angoras’ health. The main goat disease for these type of goat is arthritis. The limb joints of the goats are crucial every now and then since these will be used for their food-searching activities. Inflammation of these joints will result to arthritis which could be further classified depending on the cause. Arthritis may be classified as mycoplasmic, bacterial, viral, nutritional, and traumatic.
The good thing about Angoras is that they are easy to manage in any climate. These types of goats have good resistance whether in a cold or wet weather. Angoras are only susceptible to climate in one situation, and that is after they are shorn. Angora goat farming is not an easy thing to do considering the characteristics of the goats and the environment they are subjected into. However, if one seeks to understand the true nature of Angoras, they could grow up the way one wants them to be.
