Keeping Goats For Their Hair

Success Guide For Raising Healthy Goats
Felicity McCullough

Goat's Hair

One of the reasons why goats are kept is to sell their hair, which is also called fibre.

There are two types of goat fibres produced, Mohair and Cashmere. This Cashmere is not the one that comes from rabbits; however it is still a highly valued material to make clothes.

The quality of the coat will change as the goat ages.  A young goat produces a finer fleece, whereas an older goat produces more yield.

Mohair is a type of hair, it is not wool, which is produced by Angora goats.  Angora is a type of goat breed specifically bred for their hair. It is said that Angora fleeces can shimmer in the sunlight and that mohair is the hardest wearing of all natural fibres. It is often combined with lamb's wool, to produce hard-wearing woollen garments.  

Mohair is collected by shearing the goat with clippers twice a year. You can get 7 - 7.5 kilos of hair, per clipping.  One goat can therefore give you an approximate annual yield of 14 kilos. Goats have quite a thin skin and very little fatty insulation, therefore sheared goats should be provided with goat coats, especially in the winter.

Another time when goats are normally clipped, is right before kidding. This is especially true for all goats with long hair, not only Angoras. It is done in order to make clean up after kidding easier, and also so that the kids can find the teats easily.

Cashmere originates from the goat's undercoat. It is highly valued, because so little is produced and also because the work involved to obtain the end product, is much more labour intensive.  It is combed out of the coat, rather than being sheared off.  There can be no outer coarse hairs mixed in with the finer cashmere hairs, or it will produce an inferior product.

It takes approximately 3 to 4 goats per annum, to create enough cashmere for one sweater!

There is no specific breed that produces Cashmere.

Felicity McCullough

11^th August 2016

Success Guide For Raising Healthy Goats
Felicity McCullough

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