Practical Angora Goat Raising

by Unknown

n the mountains and in the valleys of the United States the Angora has had a variety of food. He is a natural browser, and will live almost entirely on brush, if this kind of food is to be found, but he readily adapts himself to circumstances, and will live and do well upon an exclusively grass diet. The fact that the goat is a browser has been made use of in clearing farms of brush and objectional weeds. If a sufficient number of goats are confined upon a limited area for a period of time, they will kill most of the brush upon this land. They will eat almost every kind of brush, but they have their preferences and enjoy especially blackberry vines and those kinds of brush which contain tannic acid, such as scrub oak. They do not poison easily, and if there is a variety of food they rarely eat enough of any kind of poisonous plant to prove fatal. If, however, they are hungry, and have access to places where there are poisonous plants, they will eat enough to kill themselves.

KILLING BRUSH.

If one wishes to clear brush land, he should confine the goats to a comparatively small tract. The goats kill the shrubs by eating the leaves and by peeling the bark from the branches and trunks of the trees. The brush thus deprived of lungs, soon dies and the roots rot. As fast as the leaves grow they must be consumed, so it is well to allow the goats to eat most of the leaves off of a limited tract, and then in order to give the goats plenty of feed, they should be moved to another field. As soon as the leaves on the first tract have regrown the goats should be again confined to this land. In this way the leaves are continually destroyed. This process can be continued as fast as the leaves regrow. By this method it is estimated that a bunch of one hundred to one hundred and fifty goats will clear forty acres of thick brush in about two years. In countries where the grass grows as the brush dies, goats will eat some of this grass, but they prefer the browse.

On some of the older goat ranches, where the Angora has been raised exclusively for the mohair and mutton, it has become quite a problem to prevent the goats from killing out the brush. The goats have done well where other kinds of livestock would have starved, but as soon as the brush is killed the land produces almost nothing, and even the goats cannot make a living. To prevent as far as possible their killing the brush the flocks are moved frequently from one range to another, so that the shrubs have a chance to recuperate between visits. In this way brush can be kept almost indefinitely for the goats. On some of the western ranges, where cattle and sheep have, by continual cropping, killed much of the grass, good browse remains. These ranges would have to be abandoned if it were not for the goat. Goats do not in any way interfere with the pasturage of cattle or other livestock. Cattle feed contentedly on the same range with the goats, and this fact has led many southern cattle men to invest in goats. The goats are herded on the brushy lands, and the cattle range over the same territory and eat the grass. Horses have a great fondness for goats.

SALT.

Goats, like other livestock, should have a small amount of salt. The salt should be kept where they can get it at liberty, or else it should be fed at regular intervals. If ground salt is given, care should be taken to see that individuals do not eat an oversupply of the salt.

WATER.

While Angoras do not require as much water as sheep, yet they should be given a quantity sufficient at least once a day. In winter goats will live upon snow. Men have reported that their goats have gone for a week at a time, and all summer long, without any more moisture than they could get from browse and weeds, but even if Angoras should stand this treatment, they will thrive better with water once daily. It is estimated that under normal conditions a goat will consume about one-ninetieth of its body weight (about a pint of water for a grown animal) in a day. On hot days, when the animals are on dry feed, they will frequently drink two quarts of water.

SHEDS.

To raise Angora goats most profitably one should really be provided with sheds. These sheds should be about the same as those which are provided for sheep in the same locality. For years southern and western breeders have made a success of the Angora industry, and very few of them have had any artificial protection for their goats. But even these breeders find that they can raise a larger percentage of increase, and get through the year with a smaller percentage of loss if they have sheds. Grown goats rarely need much shelter, even in the winter, if the weather is dry, but during cold, damp storms the fleece wets through and the animal chills. Just after shearing, or just before kidding season, one is liable to lose some grown animals, or to have many kids slunk, if the goats are not protected from cold storms. Young kids also require attention, and proper sheds more than pay for themselves by preventing excessive mortality. Whether the shed should be closed on all sides, or whether it may be left open, depends upon the locality. Do as one would for sheep, under the same conditions, will be a fairly safe rule to follow. Allow at least four or five square feet of shed room to each mature animal, and the danger of the goats crowding together in the corners and smothering the animals on the underside of the pile, should never be forgotten. On very cold nights large numbers, especially of the kids, may be killed by smothering, if they are not carefully watched.