BOOK VII. VI. 3-5 



The he-goat is quite ready for breeding purposes 3 

 at the age of seven months ; for it is immoderate in 

 its desires and, while it is still being fed at its 

 mother's udder, it leaps upon her and tries to do her 

 violence. Hence, before it has reached six years of 

 age, it is fast becoming old, because it has worn itself 

 out in early youth by premature indulgence of its 

 desires ; and so, when it is only five years old, it is 

 regarded as unfit for impregnating the female. A 4 

 she-goat is most highly approved which most closely 

 resembles the he-goat which we have described, if it 

 also has a very large udder and a great abundance of 

 milk. If we live in a calm climate we shall acquire 

 a she-goat without horns ; for in a stormy and rainy 

 climate we shall prefer one with horns ; but always 

 and in every district the fathers of the herd will have 

 to be hornless, because those which have horns are 

 generally dangerous because of their viciousness. 

 One ought not to keep a larger number than a hundred 5 

 head of goats in one enclosure, though one can equally 

 easily keep a thousand sheep in the folds. When one 

 is acquiring she-goats for the first time, it is better to 

 buy a whole herd at once than to purchase them one 

 by one from a number of sources ; this prevents them 

 from splitting up into small groups while they are 

 pasturing and makes them settle down quickly and in 

 greater harmony in goat-stalls. The heat is harmful 

 to this creature, but the cold is even more so, 

 especially to pregnant she-goats, for an unusually 

 frosty winter destroys the embryo. But not only the 

 abnormally frosty winter causes abortion ; it also occurs 

 if less than a sufficiency of mast is given them ; and so 

 the herd should not be allowed to eat mast unless a 

 plentiful supply can be provided. 



279 



