a hardy domesticated ruminant mammal that
has backward-curving horns and (in the
male) a beard. It is kept for its milk and
meat, and noted for its lively behaviour
tamed by humans and were being
herded 9,000 years ago.
Goat meat is the most consumed meat
per capita worldwide
Goats can be taught their name and to
come when called
The life span of a goat is about that of a
dog
Goats have a gestation period
(pregnancy) of five month and the
average birth rate for goats is 2.2 kids
per year.
Baby goats (kids) are standing and
taking their first steps within minutes of
being born.
Each kid has a unique call, and along
with its scent, that is how its mother
recognizes it from birth – not by sight.
Counter to the dominant stereotype
about goats being willing to eat anything,
they are actually very picky eaters.
They have very sensitive lips, which
they use to “mouth” things in search of
clean and tasty food. They will often
refuse to eat hay that has been walked
on or lying around loose for a day.
Goats are herd animals and will become
depressed if kept without any goat
companions. So, it is unhealthy for a
goat if a family just owns one as a pet.
Goats, being mountain animals, are very
good at climbing; they’ve been known to
climb to the tops of trees, or even dams!
Goats’ pupils (like many hooved
animals) are rectangular. This gives
them vision for 320 to 340 degrees
(compared to humans with 160-210)
around them without having to move and
they are thought to have excellent night
vision.
Goats are foragers, NOT grazers. It is
actually unnatural to graze a goat on
grass and increases the likelihood of
them picking up harmful parasites. In
their natural habitat, they roam
mountaintops and reach up as high as
possible to pick out choice bits of forage
around them.
Goats have four “stomachs.” Their food
moves first into the rumen (from which it
is periodically regurgitated for more
“cud chewing”), then to the reticulum,
later to the omasum, and finally to the
abomasum (which is most like a more
sensitive human stomach).
Goats are burpers! This is due to the
role of their rumen. The rumen, which in
a mature goat holds four to five gallons
of plant material, breaks down cellulose
and acts as a fermentation vat. Of
course, fermentation produces gas, and
this gas escapes in the form of loud,
healthy burps. Our goats can frequently
be heard burping in the barn.
The domestic goat ( Capra aegagrus hircus ) is a
subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild
goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe .
The goat is a member of the family Bovidae and
is closely related to the sheep as both are in the
goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae . There are
over 300 distinct breeds of goat.Goats are
one of the oldest domesticated species, and
have been used for their milk , meat , hair, and
skins over much of the world. In 2011, there
were more than 924 million live goats around the
globe, according to the UN Food and Agriculture
Organization .
Female goats are referred to as “does” or
“nannies;” intact males are called “bucks” or
“billies;” and juveniles of both sexes are called
“kids”. Castrated males are called “wethers”.
Goat meat from younger animals is called “kid”
or cabrito (Spanish), while meat from older
animals is known simply as “goat” or sometimes
called chevon, or in some areas ” mutton ” (which
more often refers to adult sheep meat)
Goats are among the earliest animals
domesticated by humans. The most recent
genetic analysis confirms the archaeological
evidence that the wild Bezoar ibex of the Zagros
Mountains is the likely original ancestor of
probably all domestic goats today.
Neolithic farmers began to herd wild goats
primarily for easy access to milk and meat, as
well as to their dung, which was used as fuel,
and their bones, hair and sinew for clothing,
building and tools. The earliest remnants of
domesticated goats dating 10,000 years before
present are found in Ganj Dareh in Iran. Goat
remains have been found at archaeological sites
in Jericho , Choga Mami Djeitun and Çayönü ,
dating the domestication of goats in Western
Asia at between 8000 and 9000 years ago.
Studies of DNA evidence suggests 10,000 years
BP as the domestication date.
Historically, goat hide has been used for water
and wine bottles in both traveling and
transporting wine for sale. It has also been used
to produce parchment . Goats are considered small livestock animals,
compared to bigger animals such as cattle ,
camels and horses, but larger than
microlivestock such as poultry, rabbits , cavies,
and bees . Each recognized breed of goats has
specific weight ranges, which vary from over
140 kg for bucks of larger breeds such
as the Boer, to 20 to 27 kg for
smaller goat does. Within each breed,
different strains or bloodlines may have different
recognized sizes. At the bottom of the size range
are miniature breeds such as the African
Pygmy, which stand 41 to 58 cm at
the shoulder as adults.
Most goats naturally have two horns, of various
shapes and sizes depending on the breed. Goats
have horns unless they are “polled” (meaning,
genetically hornless) or the horns have been
removed, typically soon after birth. There
have been incidents of polycerate goats (having
as many as eight horns), although this is a
genetic rarity thought to be inherited. The horns
are most typically removed in commercial dairy
goat herds, to reduce the injuries to humans and
other goats. Unlike cattle, goats have not been
successfully bred to be reliably polled, as the
genes determining sex and those determining
horns are closely linked. Breeding together two
genetically polled goats results in a high number
of intersex individuals among the offspring,
which are typically sterile. Their horns are
made of living bone surrounded by keratin and
other proteins , and are used for defense,
dominance, and territoriality.
Goats are ruminants. They have a four-
chambered stomach consisting of the rumen , the
reticulum , the omasum, and the abomasum . As
with other mammal ruminants, they are even-
toed ungulates. The females have an udder
consisting of two teats, in contrast to cattle,
which have four teats. An exception to this is
the Boer goat, which sometimes may have up to
eight teats.
Goats have horizontal, slit-shaped pupils.
Because goats’ irises are usually pale, their
contrasting pupils are much more noticeable
than in animals such as cattle, deer, most
horses and many sheep, whose similarly
horizontal pupils blend into a dark iris and
sclera.
Both male and female goats have beards, and
many types of goat (most commonly dairy
goats, dairy-cross Boers, and pygmy goats )
may have wattles , one dangling from each side
of the neck.
Some breeds of sheep and goats look similar,
but they can usually be told apart because goat
tails are short and usually point up, whereas
sheep tails hang down and are usually longer
and bigger – though some (like those of
Northern European short-tailed sheep) are
short, and longer ones are often docked .
Goats reach puberty between three and 15
months of age, depending on breed and
nutritional status. Many breeders prefer to
postpone breeding until the doe has reached
70% of the adult weight. However, this
separation is rarely possible in extensively
managed, open-range herds.
In temperate climates and among the Swiss
breeds, the breeding season commences as the
day length shortens, and ends in early spring or
before. In equatorial regions, goats are able to
breed at any time of the year. Successful
breeding in these regions depends more on
available forage than on day length. Does of any
breed or region come into estrus (heat) every 21
days for two to 48 hours. A doe in heat typically
flags (vigorously wags) her tail often, stays near
the buck if one is present, becomes more vocal,
and may also show a decrease in appetite and
milk production for the of the heat.
Bucks (intact males) of Swiss and northern
breeds come into rut in the fall as with the does’
heat cycles. Bucks of equatorial breeds may
show seasonal reduced fertility, but as with the
does, are capable of breeding at all times. Rut is
characterized by a decrease in appetite and
obsessive interest in the does. A buck in rut will
display flehmen lip curling and will urinate on his
forelegs and face. Sebaceous scent glands at
the base of the horns add to the male goat’s
odor, which is important to make him attractive
to the female. Some does will not mate with a
buck which has been descented.
In addition to natural, traditional mating, artificial
insemination has gained popularity among goat
breeders , as it allows easy access to a wide
variety of bloodlines .
Gestation length is approximately 150 days.
Twins are the usual result, with single and triplet
births also common. Less frequent are litters of
quadruplet , quintuplet, and even sextuplet kids.
Birthing, known as kidding, generally occurs
uneventfully. Just before kidding, the doe will
have a sunken area around the tail and hip, as
well as heavy breathing. She may have a worried
look, become restless and display great
affection for her keeper. The mother often eats
the placenta , which gives her much-needed
nutrients, helps stanch her bleeding, and
parallels the behavior of wild herbivores, such as
deer, to reduce the lure of the birth scent for
predators.
Freshening (coming into milk production) occurs
at kidding. Milk production varies with the breed,
age, quality, and diet of the doe; dairy goats
generally produce between 680 and 1,810 kg
of milk per 305-day
lactation . On average, a good quality dairy doe
will give at least 3 kg of milk per day while
she is in milk. A first-time milker may produce
less, or as much as 7 kg or more of milk
in exceptional cases. After the lactation, the doe
will “dry off”, typically after she has been bred.
Occasionally, goats that have not been bred and
are continuously milked will continue lactation
beyond the typical 305 days. Meat, fiber, and
pet breeds are not usually milked and simply
produce enough for the kids until weaning.
Male lactation is also known to occur in
goats.
Diet
Goats are reputed to be willing to eat almost
anything, including tin cans and cardboard
boxes. While goats will not actually eat inedible
material, they are browsing animals, not grazers
like cattle and sheep, and (coupled with their
highly curious nature) will chew on and taste
just about anything remotely resembling plant
matter to decide whether it is good to eat,
including cardboard, clothing and paper (such as
labels from tin cans). The unusual smells of
leftover food in discarded cans or boxes may
further stimulate their curiosity.
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