Goat is an animal that has provided people with milk, meat, and wool since prehistoric times. Goats were probably first tamed more than 9,000 years ago by peoples in Asia and in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Today, domestic (tame) goats are important farm animals throughout the world, especially in mountainous areas and in dry or semitropical climates. Unlike most other kinds of livestock, goats thrive in these harsh environments.
Various terms are used to classify goats according to their sex and age. An adult male goat is called a buck or a billy goat, and an adult female is a doe or a nanny goat. A goat less than a year old is called a kid.
Kinds of goats
Wild goats
can survive in almost any kind of environment. However, they thrive in rocky and mountainous areas. The does and kids travel in herds of up to about 50 animals. Bucks live alone or in separate groups except during the mating season, when they join the herd. Wild goats eat almost any kind of vegetation, including bushes, leaves, and tree bark.
There are several species of wild goats, and most of them live in Asia. The true wild goat, or bezoar goat, is found in the Near East and on the Greek islands. Another species, the ibex, lives in the mountainous areas of Sudan and Siberia, and in the Alps and Caucasus Mountains.
The Rocky Mountain goat, which lives in parts of Canada and the United States, is not a true goat. Rather, it is classified as a goat antelope. See Mountain goat .
Domestic goats
probably descended from the wild goats of the Near East. There are about 600 breeds of domestic goats, many of which are commercially important. Domestic goats produce great quantities of milk and meat yearly. They also provide large quantities of leather and wool.
The major breeds of dairy goats are the Saanen, Toggenburg, and Alpine, all of which were developed in Switzerland. The Anglo-Nubian goat, also called the Nubian goat, is the most popular milk-producing goat in Canada and the United States. It was developed by breeding British dairy goats with goats imported from Africa and India.
Goats raised for meat include the Boer of South Africa and the Red Sokoto of Nigeria. The Red Sokoto is also raised for leather. Pygmy goats are used for meat in West Africa, and they are also kept as pets in the United States.
Major breeds of wool-producing goats include the Angora and the Cashmere. The Angora goat originated in the Turkish province of Ankara (formerly Angora). From the Angora’s outer coat of soft, shaggy, white wool comes mohair wool. The Cashmere goat originated in the Himalaya and supplies cashmere wool. The wool is taken from the Cashmere goat’s fine, silky undercoat.
How people use goats
Products.
Goat meat, sometimes known as chevon << CHEHV uhn >> , is a popular food in Greece, Italy, the Caribbean, Latin America, and many African and Asian nations. It is often used in curries (dishes with a spicy sauce).
In North America and western Europe, people often raise goats for dairy products, rather than meat. Goat’s milk differs only slightly in composition from cow’s milk. It has a higher content of vitamin A than does cow’s milk, but it has smaller quantities of vitamin C and certain B vitamins. Goat’s milk is easier to digest than cow’s milk. It is, therefore, an important source of milk for many babies, elderly people, and people with stomach ailments. People who are allergic to the protein in cow’s milk may be able to safely drink goat’s milk. However, people who are allergic to the lactose in cow’s milk cannot drink goat’s milk, because this milk sugar is the same in milk from both animals.
Goat’s milk cheese has become quite popular. These cheeses have a creamy consistency and a wide range of flavors. They are widely used in gourmet cooking. Popular cheeses made from goat’s milk include blue, chevre, feta, and riccota.
Another important goat product is wool. Mohair wool is used to make clothes, draperies, upholstery, and other articles. Cashmere wool is used to make warm, soft garments, including sweaters, dresses, and scarves. Other goat products include leather, fertilizer, goat’s milk soap, goat’s milk fudge, and cajeta, a goat’s milk caramel that is popular in Mexico.
Other uses.
Although goats are raised chiefly for the products they provide, people also keep goats for other purposes. Goats are popular pets because of their curious and friendly nature and their ability to produce family-sized quantities of milk. In some African and Asian cultures, people own large herds of goats as an indication of wealth. Scientists use goats as laboratory test animals, because they are easy to manage, smaller and less expensive than cows, and similar in body size to human beings. Cattle and sheep ranchers use goats to clear brush and other unwanted plants from their pastures. However, goats can destroy all plant life in an area if they are not carefully controlled.
The bodies of goats
Size and general appearance.
Goats vary greatly in size. Pakistani dwarf goats weigh as little as 20 pounds (9 kilograms) and stand only about 11/2 feet (46 centimeters) tall. But some ibexes weigh about 300 pounds (135 kilograms) and stand about 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall. Modern dairy breeds weigh between 130 and 200 pounds (60 and 90 kilograms).
A goat’s body is covered with wool. The wool can be of one color or a combination of colors. Common colors include black, brown, gray, red, and white. Goats have cloven hoofs–that is, hoofs that are divided into two toes. The animals have short tails that usually stand straight up. The ears are long and drooping in most Indian and African goats, but short and erect in the European breeds. Most goats have horns, which they use in fighting. Some horns curve backwards, but others are straight and spiral like a corkscrew. Both sexes may have beards.
Digestive system.
Goats are grazing animals with specialized teeth and digestive organs. On the front of its upper jaw, the animal has a hard pad instead of teeth. Eight incisors (biting teeth) on the goat’s lower jaw bite and cut food against the pad. A goat chews its food with its molars (back teeth). The animal has 12 pairs of upper and lower molars.
A goat’s stomach system has four chambers for digesting food. The first three stomach chambers have bacteria and other microorganisms that help break down the tough plant matter that makes up a goat’s diet. After the animal swallows, the slightly chewed food is temporarily stored in the first stomach. Later, the food passes into the second stomach. There, it softens and forms a ball-like mass called cud, which then returns to the mouth. After the goat chews and swallows the cud, it goes to the other two stomachs and to the intestines for further digestion. Animals that digest their food in this way are called ruminants.
Unlike other ruminants, such as cows and sheep, goats can eat a wide variety of plants and select from them the most nourishing parts. They use their small mouths and flexible lips, which are adapted to grasping, to pick off leaves, flowers, fruits, and other plant parts. Goats actively hunt for food, and they can cover a wide area in search of scarce plant materials.
Raising dairy goats
Dairy goats can be raised on a small number of acres. The animals need an exercise area and a well-built shelter, without drafts. Goats are clever and will continually try to escape from fencing and enclosures. The best way to prevent them from escaping is to use solid board fencing or electric fencing.
Adult dairy goats should be fed good quality hay and grain. Abundant, clean water and salt must be available at all times. Does should be milked two times a day on a regular schedule. Good dairy goats produce a maximum of 3 to 8 quarts (2.8 to 7.6 liters) of milk a day, with an average of 2 quarts (1.9 liters) a day over 10 months. Most dairy goats live from 8 to 10 years.
Breeding.
The mating season of a goat depends on where it lives. In the hot, tropical areas near the equator, goats mate throughout the year, while in the temperate regions, they breed only from late summer to late winter. They begin breeding as the days become shorter. During the mating season, glands on the buck produce an oily substance whose odor attracts the does. A doe gives birth to two or three kids about five months after mating.
Feeding kids.
Kids can either get milk from their mothers or be raised by hand using a bottle or pan. They should be fed 1 to 2 quarts (0.95 to 1.9 liters) a day of goat’s milk, cow’s milk, or goat- or sheep-milk replacer. They need milk three to four times per day the first week and then two times a day for six weeks to three or four months. Kids should be offered leafy hay and grain starting at a week of age. After weaning, kids should get 1 pound (0.45 kilogram) of grain a day and all the hay they will eat.
Disease.
Most goat keepers vaccinate their animals against two serious diseases–tetanus, which affects the muscles, and enterotoxemia, which affects the intestine. Goats receive selenium shots in areas where there is a lack of this mineral. Worms cause many problems in goat herds, so regular worming is usually necessary. Several contagious diseases are widespread in the United States goat population. Sore mouth is a highly contagious disease that causes ugly sores on the mouth area of goats. Caprine arthritic encephalitis (CAE) is a virus that causes arthritis in goats of all ages. It can cause paralysis in goat kids and may reduce milk production among does. About 80 percent of the goats tested within the United States have CAE, though many show no symptoms.
