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Cashmere wool, usually simply known as cashmere, is a fiber obtained from cashmere goats, pashmina goats, and some other breeds of goat. It has been used to make yarn, textiles and clothing for hundreds of years. Cashmere is closely associated with the Kashmir shawl, the word "cashmere" deriving from an anglicisation of Kashmir when the Kashmir shawl reached Europe in the 19th century from Colonial India. Common usage defines the fiber as wool, but it is finer, stronger, lighter, softer and approximately three times more insulating than sheep wool. Both the soft undercoat and the guard hairs may be used; the softer hair is reserved for textiles, while the coarse guard hair is used for brushes and other non-apparel purposes.
A goatherd or goatherder is a person who herds goats as a vocational activity. It is similar to a shepherd who herds sheep. Goatherds are most commonly found in regions where goat populations are significant; for instance, in Africa and South Asia. Goats are typically bred as dairy or meat animals, with some breeds being shorn for wool. The top six goat industry groups in the United States include: meat, dairy, fiber or hair, 4-H, industrial, and biotech.
A cashmere goat is a type of goat that produces cashmere wool, the goat's fine, soft, downy, winter undercoat, in commercial quality and quantity. This undercoat grows as the day length shortens and is associated with an outer coat of coarse hair, which is present all the year and is called guard hair. Most common goat breeds, including dairy goats, grow this two-coated fleece.
The Pygora goat is a breed of goat that originated from crossing the registered NPGA Pygmy goat and the white AAGBA Angora goat. Pygoras, along with the Angora goat and Cashmere goat, are fiber goats. Pygora goats produce three distinct kinds of fleece.
The Nigora is an American breed of small or medium-sized dual-purpose goat, raised both for its milk and for its fiber. It is the result of cross-breeding Nigerian Dwarf bucks with does of mohair breeds such as the Angora.
The Australian Cashmere goat is a breed of Cashmere domestic goats originating in Australia. Whilst retaining the fertility and hardiness of the bush goat, the Australian Cashmere is quite different in appearance and temperament. In midwinter, it has an excellent overall coverage of long, dense cashmere.
The Bilberry goat is a breed of feral goat which is believed to have lived in one herd on Bilberry Rock in Waterford City in the south of Ireland for hundreds of years.
The Changthangi or Ladakh Pashmina is a breed of cashmere goat native to the high plateaux of Ladakh, India. The cold temperatures in the region are the primary factor in the growth of the fine pashmina grade of cashmere wool for which they are reared. It is also used as a pack animal and for meat.
The domestic goat or simply goat is a subspecies of C. aegagrus domesticated from the wild goat of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the animal family Bovidae and the subfamily Caprinae, meaning it is closely related to the sheep. There are over 300 distinct breeds of goat. It is one of the oldest domesticated species of animal, according to archaeological evidence that its earliest domestication occurred in Iran at 10,000 calibrated calendar years ago.
The Altai Mountain goat is a breed of domestic goat bred for wool production. The breed was developed during the years from 1944 to 1982 in the Gorno-Altai Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic region of the Soviet Union, by cross-breeding the Don goat with local goats for a high wool yield.
The Chigu goat breed, found north of Uttar Pradesh and northeast of Himachal Pradesh in India, is used for the production of meat and cashmere wool. The coat is usually white, mixed with grayish red. Both sexes have long twisted horns. Males body weight is approximately 40 kg, while females body weight is approximately 25 kg. Conformation is similar to Chanthangi. Live in mountainous ranges with the altitude varying from 3500 to 5000 m. This area is mostly cold and arid.
The Hexi Cashmere goat breed from desert and semidesert regions of the North Gansu province of China is used primarily for the production of cashmere fiber. About 60% of the goats are white. The Hexi cashmere can be found in the Gansu, Qinghai and Ningxia provinces. A typical adult doe produces 184 grams of down at 15.7 micrometres (µm) diameter.
Jining Grey is a goat breed from the Shandong Province of China, used for the production of its kid pelt and cashmere fiber.
Norwegian goat breeds are used for the production of milk, cheese and meat. There are two primary Norwegian goat breeds, the Norwegian milk goat and the coastal goat (kystgeit). In addition there are smaller herds of Cashmere goats, Angora goats and Boer goats.
The Zhongwei (Chung-wei) is a breed of goat from the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Gansu Province of China. It lives on arid desert steppes, and is adapted to a diet of salty and sandy plants and shrubs. It is used primarily for the production of kid pelts, and secondarily for cashmere fiber. The breed has low genetic variability, likely due to the historic selection of pelt production traits. It is closely related to the Funiu White, Hexi Cashmere, Luliang Black, and Taihang breeds.
The Zhiwulin Black goat breed from the northern Shaanxi Province of China is used for the production of cashmere fiber and meat.
The Xinjiang goat breed from the mountains of Xinjiang in China is used for the production of milk, cashmere, and meat.
The Icelandic goat, also known as the 'settlement goat', is an ancient breed of domestic goat believed to be of Norwegian origin and dating back to the settlement of Iceland over 1100 years ago. This breed of goat was on the verge of extinction during the late 19th century, but recovered prior to World War II, only to precipitously decline again. As of 2003, there were 348 goats in 48 flocks distributed throughout most parts of Iceland. At the end of 2012, the herd had increased to 849. Since this breed has been isolated for centuries, the Icelandic populations are highly inbred. The Icelandic goat is very rare outside its native land. Under its coarse, long guard hair, the Icelandic goat has a coat of high quality cashmere fiber. Icelandic goats are kept mainly as pets and their economic potential for meat, milk, cashmere and skin production remains to be explored. The Icelandic goat is currently of little economic value.
Goat farming involves the raising and breeding of domestic goats as a branch of animal husbandry. People farm goats principally for their meat, milk, fibre and skins.
References
- ↑ Kaghani Goat, Breeds of Livestock, Department of Animal Science, Oklahoma State University, retrieved 18 December 2008.
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