Any fiber goats out there???

wooly1s · #1 04/27/06, 03:43 AM

Love this chat...but haven't heard from any fiber farms...are you out there?

If you are, I just want to share that I sheared my first Pygora today - all by myself!!! I'm doing a happy dance! The fleece is probably in sorry shape - don't know - don't have any to compare it to - but the goat looks great and not one cut! I don't know how long it took me (hours? just kidding) with majorly dull clippers, but the little girl was a gem and sat through it. I think once it started coming off (her first shearing too!) it felt so good she wanted to feel that way forever, so she put up with me!

Must say, I prefer the Angoras, These little Pygoras have way too much fiber (is there such a thing???) and it all drags the ground...we should have named her "Swiffer"!

kathy H · #2 04/27/06, 04:05 PM

Thats cool. They look so funny after there hair cut. Our pygora is going to get sheared in about three weeks. She is so funny when she sees me coming with the shears she takes off.

JoAnne in CA · #3 04/27/06, 04:15 PM

Hey, I have pygoras, too! Nice to meet another fiber goat owner. We had our first kiddings this spring, and I don't think there's anthing cuter than a pygora kid! We also have one angora buck. My feelings about the angora vs pygora fleece is just the opposite. I don't know how we're going to shear all that fleece on the angora, and he was sheared about 5 months ago. We've sheared our pygoras for the last year, and it gets easier every time. I've learned to hand spin and I love the pygora fiber. We have all three fleece types. One of my PCA wethers won a Grand Champion for his fleece at the Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival last fall (just had to brag a little...

) Where are you located?

wooly1s · #4 04/27/06, 05:36 PM

Congratulations! I'm in North Idaho...Do you cross your Angora with your Pygora or breed straight Pygora? We had a dairy herd, and we're downsizing dairy and increasing fiber...You wouldn't know to look at us though we have two sets of twin dairys born this week (one set just a couple of hours ago!) and another due...I'm beat - I just came in from the barn. Everybody is doing well, so it's a contented exhaustion...

Jen H · #5 04/28/06, 01:00 AM

Pygoras are awfully cute! The only thing that stopped me from coming home with a sweet little doeling a few weeks ago was the logistics of getting her over the Canadian border. Dang regulations!

I have cashmeres I just brush out when they start to shed. I loose some undercoat that way, but it's so much easier than shearing it's worth it. I am thinking about getting an angora, though. Every time I see an angora I just want to cuddle them and run my fingers through that amazing fiber.

I fell in love with cashmeres because they're soft fluff balls at the end of winter. Now I'm falling in love with angoras because they're soft fluff balls. The pygoras would be smaller soft fluff balls. Basically, I'm hopeless.

KSALguy · #6 04/28/06, 08:53 AM

does anyone have what they call Cashgoras? cross between the cashmear and the angora? this is supposed to be a great mix, combineing the fine soft fiber from the cashmear and the longer coat of the angora, winds up being some where inbetween i think??

JoAnne in CA · #7 04/28/06, 10:55 AM

When you breed a pygora with a colored angora (which is what we have), you get what's called a PCA (Pygora Colored Angora), meaning the color comes from the angora, rather than the pygmy. And they are more likely to have an A or A/B type fiber (because of the higher percentage of angora). Because pygoras have three different types of fiber, you can breed for whatever you like best. Type A: long curly locks, very fine mohair that must be shorn; Type B: a blend between the pygmy undercoat which is cashmere and the angora mohair which can be shorn, combed or plucked; Type C: cashmere that can be shorn or combed. I have all types and still haven't decided which I like best. The advantage of the "A" type is that there is little to no guard hair so there is little preparation needed before spinning. For me, the pygora is the best of all worlds. And pygoras fleeces tend to stay fine as they age. There's lots of info on the Pygora Breeders Association website for anyone interested. www.pba-pygora.com. Of course, they can be milked and used for meat, if you're so inclined. While researching, I found them to be the perfect homestead goat for an old lady that also wanted something small enough for me to handle!

delphinium · #8 04/29/06, 06:51 AM

Anyone have Nigoras? Nigerian Dwarf/Angora cross.

wooly1s · #9 04/29/06, 09:30 AM

My daughter is selling her little Pygora and going to a straight Angora herd...however we could very much be persuaded to add Cashmere to the flock...Where in Washington are you, Jen? Do you have a farm website?
Daughter is afraid to keep and cross her Pygora with her Angora buck...doesn't want to have kidding disaster with a baby that won't deliver...Has anybody done the cross with the buck as the Angora successfully?

Jen H · #10 04/29/06, 10:49 AM

I'm in Western WA, right up near the Canadian border.

We haven't updated our site in a while, but we're brownsnout.com. We'll be breeding our doe this fall and starting to increase the herd.

wooly1s · #11 04/29/06, 03:32 PM

Figures...was hoping you were in Eastern Washington...Samson looks like your Esmeralda, and we have an Ava that looks just like NewGoat (love the name). Betcha NewGoat was somebody's pack goat - he's a NubianXTogg - great packers. You say he was found solo in the mountains?
We also have an Indian Runner duck (but just one...the rest are khaki Campbells - the feed store ran out). Thanks for posting the nutrition chart on free-range eggs - I wonder if they've seen it on the poultry thread. I digress...Back to goats...
Would you care to share your goat milk soap directions? My daughter is in 4-H dairy goat, and wanted to do a demo on soap...

kesoaps · #12 04/29/06, 04:39 PM

Hey, Wooly1, where in N Idaho are you? Jen and I will be at Ride the West in a month...but don't bring along anything cute as she's driving and the rest of us and we won't be able to fit in her car if she's got a goat!

wooly1s · #13 04/30/06, 12:14 AM

kesoaps:
What is "Ride the West"? We're just south of Coeur d'Alene...Rebecca is lap-sized =) Stop by!

kesoaps · #14 04/30/06, 02:00 AM

A big horse and ranch expo in Spokane...and no lap-sized critters unless Jen hands over the wheel and offers up her lap, lol!

Jen H · #15 04/30/06, 02:09 AM

Yeah, NewGoat was found up a logging road by some neighbors who were riding their horses. This goat came barreling out of the bushes and followed them home. The neighbors brought him here and we put up fliers and went door-to-door looking for his people. He was in sad shape - way too skinny, a really infected ear where his tag pulled part way out, I don't think his feet had ever been trimmed... After a week with no bites we figured he was ours. He's great on the trails - just tracks right along and hauls whatever I want him to. He's good in the truck, too - just settles right in. He's currently 150 lbs and still growing. Thanks on the ID - I figured he had some nubian in him but wasn't sure about the rest.

You say you have a goaty that's lap sized?!!!!!! A goat's easier to fit in the car than a horse would be.

Ride the West is a horse convention. The BLM wild horse auction is there this year. Kesoaps and I'll be manning a no-NAIS booth there along with some other folks. It's in Spokane, May 19-21 (we'll be driving over on the 19th, so count on us at the booth on the 20th). http://www.ridethewest.net/

If you're interested in getting into the cashmeres, Breezy Meadow Farms over here has a nice operation and I have had absolutely no problems with the stock I've bought from them. They know their business.

wooly1s · #16 04/30/06, 11:01 AM

I just saw the ad in the paper for the auction. It would be fun to meet while you're here, but you'll probably be really busy with the convention... We're about 30-45 min east of Spokane.
Yes, the goaty is a pygora. =)Here's a pic of Ava, our NubianXTogg: Any fiber goats out there??? - Goats

Jen H · #17 04/30/06, 11:49 AM

Yep, she and NewGoat could be twins. What a sweet photo!

On the soap question, check your pm. Top of the screen, in the right corner.

A pygora, hmmmm..... I'll have to give that some thought.

kesoaps · #18 04/30/06, 12:24 PM

Oh, you should come visit us! I've already told everyone that I'd offered to help with the BLM prior to setting up the convention thing...which of course is why I'm pressed to find people to sit and keep Jen company while I'm out playing (um, working) with the pretty ponies, lol!

Jen, no horns coming home with us! Hooves, either! You told me you could restrain yourself, remember? That's why we're not bringing your dh...

Jen H · #19 04/30/06, 05:32 PM

Admit it, kesoaps, this is just your anti-goat bias coming through. If we were talking about a little icelandic lamb you'd be all over that bugger! 4 women and a goat driving across WA - it just doesn't get more homesteady than that!

Seriously, if I do get a goat I'd put the topper on the truck bed and head back over to pick her up. That way the little bugger would have some wiggle room on the drive home. Same thing I'd have to do if I actually got a horse. Somehow, I don't think the Subaru is up to towing a stock trailer... We could still go look!

kesoaps · #20 04/30/06, 08:01 PM

Anti-goat? Moi???