SHEEP 



sheep, is sometimes maintained as a pro- 

 tection against dogs and wolves, as the 

 goats will defend themselves and the 

 herd against attacks of these animals. 

 Goats readily adapt themselves to a wide 

 range of conditions. They prefer, how- 

 ever, rather high, dry land and love 

 to sport about on rocks and logs. On 

 lowlands they are, like sheep, subject to 

 foot rot and lung worms, and for these 

 reasons goat raising on lowlands is 

 likely to prove unprofitable. 



Considerable interest has been man- 

 ifested in the raising of goats for skins, 

 since the United States imports about 

 $25,000,000 worth of goat skins annually. 

 Goat skins properly dried and cured 

 are worth from 30 to 40 cents a pound, 

 and it is a heavy skin that will weigh 

 4 pounds when dried. The conditions in 

 the United States where goats could 

 be raised for their skins alone are ex- 

 ceedingly limited, since the cost of rais- 

 ing them would more than equal the 

 value of the pelt. Angora pelts are not 

 as valuable as some of the other breeds, 

 as they are more tender and not suitable 

 for use in shoemaking. The skins that 

 are imported come chiefly from India 

 and other countries in which labor is 

 very cheap, and it is doubtful whether 

 under present conditons America can 

 compete with the foreign market. 



In case of death, however, the skin of 

 goats grown for mohair or for milk 

 should be saved, as it represents a large 

 part of the investment. 



American goat raising — The best con- 

 ditions for goat raising in the United 

 States are probably in the Rocky moun- 

 tains and Pacific coast states. In these 

 states the climate is generally dry and 

 foot rot and lung worm are very uncom- 

 mon. Goats apparently relish a much 

 wider range of forage plants than sheep, 

 they also travel much faster and in a 

 day get over much more territory than 

 does a band of sheep. They seem to pre- 

 fer brush, briars, weeds and other coarse 

 fodders, which are seldom eaten by cat- 

 tle or sheep, to the best pastures of 

 clover and alfalfa. This makes them 

 of greater value in clearing new land 

 than sheep. Both the common and An- 

 gora goats are equally valuable for this 

 purpose, and if combined in sufficient 

 number on the brush lot will in two or 

 three years kill out the brush entirely, 

 and by their droppings enrich the land 

 to such an extent that blue grass and 



other desirable pasture grasses will take 

 complete possession, thus fitting the 

 land for sheep or cattle that may follow. 



The general care and management of 

 goats in the eastern states is practically 

 the same as that of sheep. In the west- 

 ern states they may be herded like the 

 wool breeds of sheep in bands of 2,000 to 

 3,000. Considerable difference, however, 

 is observed in the manner of treating 

 the kids, as they are much more delicate 

 than lambs. 



Description of Angora goat — Accord- 

 ing to Thompson, it is exceedingly 

 doubtful whether there is anywhere an 

 absolutely pure bred Angora goat. This 

 is due to the fact that the Turkish grow- 

 ers in order to increase the output of 

 mohair, crossed the Angora extensively 

 on the common Kurd goat of that coun- 

 try. What is today called the pure bred 

 Angora is the product of crossing and 

 recrossing. 



According to Hoerle, the American 

 Angora goat should have a long, round 

 body, straight bnck and shoulders and 

 hip equally high from the ground, shoul- 

 ders and quarters heavy and fleshy, 

 chest broad, legs short and strong, head 

 shaped like that of the common goat but 

 less coarse and cleaner cut, the horns 

 heavy with an outward twist inclining 

 backward and to the outside. The entire 

 animal should be densely covered with 

 mohair, with the exception of the face 

 and legs, and in the finest specimens, 

 the mohair tuft on the forehead should 

 be well developed. The mohair should 

 be in long, curly ringlets. The more 

 even in length and quality the mohair 

 is on all parts of the body, the better. 

 The larger part of the Angoras shed 

 their hair annually if not sheared to 

 prevent it. Occasionally they do not. 

 The offensive odor in the common goat 

 is practically entirely absent in the An- 

 gora, except in the rutting season, and 

 even then it is noted only to a slight 

 degree. 



The female goat is called a doe and 

 the male a buck, while the young is 

 termed a kid. The term wether is used 

 in the same sense as with sheep. 



The mohair on the goat becomes 

 coarser as the animals grow older. With 

 the better bred animals the best fiber is 

 found upon the kid, followed by the 

 yearling wethers and does. Eelative to 

 the amount of mohair produced by An- 

 goras, Mr. C. P. Bailey states that "half 



