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Angora (Mohair) Goat Basics: Identification & recording

Agriculture, animal husbandry, goats, Angora, Mohair, breeding, recording, identification, practical advice By Dr Clive Dalton Identification & recording A unique identity Good permanent ID methods Brass tags Very small plastic tags Medium plastic tags Large plastic tags Poor permanent ID methods Other temporary ID methods Raddle Chalk Neck tags Coloured clips Coloured wire twisters New … Read more

Angora (Mohair) Goat Basics: Injections

Agriculture, animal husbandry, goats, Angora, Mohair, health, giving injections, practical adviceBy Dr Clive Dalton & Dr Marjorie Orr Injections General hygiene Subcutaneous injection (under the skin) Intramuscular injection (into the muscle) Intravenous injection (into the vein) Intramammary injection (into the udder)In sheep (and goats), antibiotics for mastitis are normally given intramuscularly but you may need … Read more

Angora (Mohair) Goat Basics: Further reading & industry contacts

Agriculture, animal husbandry, goats, Angora, Mohair, information, further reading, references By Dr Clive Dalton Further readingARC Report No. 10. (1998).The nutrition of goats. Report of technical committee on responses to nutrients.ISBN 0-85199-216-1. Batten, G. (2002).Simply goats. A guide to making money from your farm with goats.A FITT project funded by New Zealand Woolpro. ISBN 0-473-07077-4. Charlton, … Read more

Angora (Mohair) Goat Basics: Feeds available for goats

By Dr Clive Dalton Feeds available to goats Pasture Supplementary feeds HayGood things about hay Bad things about hay Pasture SilageGood things about silage Bad things about silage Balage and haylage A buyer’s guide to silage Silage quality check list Send a good representative sample of the silage to a laboratory for feed analysis to … Read more

Angora (Mohair) Goat Basics: Feeding

By Dr Clive Dalton FeedingFeeding behaviour Nutrition Feed intakeA goat doesn’t eat knowing its nutritional needs. Seeking out fibrous plants or salt may prove this statement wrong, but generally they are mainly interested in feeds that are palatable and to continue eating until they are satiated. At certain times such as when they are suckling … Read more

Angora (Mohair) Goat Basics: Breeding & genetics

By Dr Clive Dalton Breeding (Genetics) Where to start Purebreds CrossbredsThese are animals that have varying proportions of Angora and some other goat types. Here is the process of “grading up” using a purebred Angora buck through four generations towards purebred status. If you cannot afford a purebred Angora buck, then you can use a … Read more

Angora (Mohair) Goat Basics: Breeding objectives

By Dr Clive Dalton Breeding objectives in Angora goatsBreeders agree that all of these traits listed below are important, but they may put them in different orders of priority. For example if you are spending hours treating goats for footrot and dealing with dirty rear ends with worms, then getting rid of these two traits … Read more

Angora (Mohair) Goat Basics: Practical recording tips

By Dr Clive Dalton Practical recording tipsNew Zealand sheep farmers, shepherds and research technicians over the years have shown amazing innovation in developing practical ways to make field recording easier. The following are some of them: Plastic tagging adult does Brass tagging adult goats Tagging kids at birthThis is the most challenging part of recording, … Read more

Angora (Mohair) Goat Basics: Legal requirements

By Dr Clive Dalton Your legal responsibilities The Five FreedomsThis is the main principle behind the Animal Welfare Act as the person responsible for the care of an animal is legally bound to provide it with “The Five Freedoms”. These are: The first four freedoms are all very straightforward and it’s only the fifth one … Read more