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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 (goats bred for their wool). [1] Pygora goats produce three distinct kinds of fleece.
The Pygora was a purposeful cross, bred by Katharine Jorgensen of Oregon City, Oregon.[ when? ] In 1987, the Pygora Breeders Association was formed in the United States, and has since then been registering and promoting Pygoras. [2] Today, the registered Pygora goat may not be more than 75% AAGBA-registered Angora goat or 75% NPGA-registered Pygmy goat.
First generation (F1) Pygmy-Angora crosses are not considered true Pygoras; [3] however, these may be bred with other Pygora goats, F1 crosses, or back to pure Pygmy or Angora goats to produce true Pygora goats. This may be continued while maintaining the integrity of the breed as long as they have no more than 75% Pygmy or Angora ancestry.
Pygoras live for 12 to 14 years, and are commonly used for fiber, along with being show, breeding, and fiber-producing animals. The weight of a healthy Pygora depends on whether it is a male, female or kid. Most kids are about 5 pounds at birth; does range in weight from 65 to 75 pounds and bucks and wethers range from 75 to 95 pounds. Pygora fiber is frequently used by artists for spinning, spindling, knitting, crocheting, weaving, tapestries, and other fiber arts. [2] It is also commonly used in clothing. Pygoras can also be milked, [2] producing about one liter per day. Pygora wethers generally have higher quality fiber than the does and bucks because they do not spend all their energy producing young. Pygora are mainly for producing fiber, but some people also show them as a hobby, in fairs, fiber shows, and in 4H. Some pygora breeders and 4-H clubs show goats at the Oregon Flock and Fibre Festival (OFFF). Angoras can be found there as well.
Registered Pygora goats will produce cashmere-like fleece (Classified as Type-C), a mohair-like fleece (Type-A), or a combination of the two fleeces (Type-B). Type-A fleece is composed of fibers averaging 6 or more inches in length that drape in ringlets. It may occur as a single coat, but a silky guard hair is usually present. The fibers are typically less than 28 micrometers in diameter. Type-B fleece fibers average between 3 and 6 inches (150 mm) in length with one, possibly two, guard hairs. The fibers are usually less than 24 μm in diameter. Type-C fleece is very fine, typically 1 to 3 inches (76 mm) in length and less than 18.5 μm in diameter. Pygoras come in a variety of colors: white, red, brown, black, gray or a mix of the colors.
The Angora or Ankara is a Turkish breed of domesticated goat. It produces the lustrous fibre known as mohair. It is widespread in many countries of the world. Many breeds derive from it, among them the Indian Mohair, the Soviet Mohair, the Angora-Don of the Russian Federation and the Pygora in the United States.
Mohair is a fabric or yarn made from the hair of the Angora goat. Both durable and resilient, mohair is lustrous with high sheen, and is often blended to add these qualities to a textile. Mohair takes dye exceptionally well. It feels warm in winter due to excellent insulating properties, while moisture-wicking keeps it cool in summer. It is durable, naturally elastic, flame-resistant and crease-resistant. It is considered a luxury fiber, like cashmere, angora, and silk, but is more expensive than most sheep's wool.
Angora hair or Angora fibre refers to the downy coat produced by the Angora rabbit. While the names of the source animals are similar, Angora fibre is distinct from mohair, which comes from the Angora goat. Angora fibre is also distinct from cashmere, which comes from the cashmere goat. Angora is known for its softness, thin fibres, and what knitters refer to as a halo (fluffiness). It is also known for its silky texture. It is much warmer and lighter than wool due to the hollow core of the angora fibre. It also gives the wool its characteristic floating feel.
The Angora rabbit, one of the most ancient groups of domestic rabbit breeds, which is bred for the long fibers of its coat, known as Angora wool. They are gathered by shearing, combing or plucking. Because rabbits do not possess the same allergy-causing qualities as many other animals, their wool is an important alternative. There are at least 11 distinct breeds of Angora rabbit, four of which are currently recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA): the English Angora, the French Angora, the Giant Angora and the Satin Angora. Other unrecognized breeds include the German Angora, the Finnish Angora, the Chinese Angora, the Japanese Angora, the Korean Angora, the Russian Angora, the St Lucian Angora and the Swiss Angora.
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 anglicization of Kashmir, when the Kashmir shawl reached Europe in the 19th century. 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. Cashmere is a hygroscopic fiber which essentially means that it absorbs water from the air. This helps regulate the body in both warm and cool temperatures by absorbing and releasing moisture based on the surrounding environment.
A goatherd or Gadariya (Shepherd) 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.
The American Pygmy is an American breed of achondroplastic (dwarf) goat. It is small, compact and stockily built. Like the Nigerian Dwarf, it derives from the West African Dwarf group of breeds of West Africa. Between 1930 and 1960, animals of this type were imported to the United States for use either as zoo animals or for research; some were later kept and bred as companion animals and established as a breed in 1975.
The Nigerian Dwarf is a Nigerian breed of dwarf goat. Like the American Pygmy Goat, it derives from the West African Dwarf group of breeds of West Africa.
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 days get shorter 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 Romney, formerly called the Romney Marsh sheep but generally referred to by the local farmers as the Kent, is a breed of sheep originating in England. The Romney is a "long-wool" breed recognized in England by 1800. Exported to other continents, the Romney is an economically important sheep breed, especially to the sheep-meat and wool export trades of New Zealand.
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.
Animal fibers are natural fibers that consist largely of certain proteins. Examples include silk, hair/fur and feathers. The animal fibers used most commonly both in the manufacturing world as well as by the hand spinners are wool from domestic sheep and silk. Also very popular are alpaca fiber and mohair from Angora goats. Unusual fibers such as Angora wool from rabbits and Chiengora from dogs also exist, but are rarely used for mass production.
Alpaca fleece is the natural fiber harvested from an alpaca. There are two different types of alpaca fleece. The most common fleece type comes from a Huacaya. Huacaya fiber grows and looks similar to sheep wool in that the animal looks "fluffy". The second type of alpaca is Suri and makes up less than 10% of the South American alpaca population. Suri fiber is more similar to natural silk and hangs off the body in locks that have a dreadlock appearance. While both fibers can be used in the worsted milling process using light weight yarn or thread, Huacaya fiber can also be used in a woolen process and spun into various weight yarns. It is a soft, durable, luxurious and silky natural fiber.
The goat or domestic goat is a species of domesticated goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the bezoar ibex of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the family Bovidae, 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 its earliest domestication occurred in Iran at 10,000 calibrated calendar years ago.
American Lamancha, or more commonly, simply Lamancha or LaMancha, is a formally recognized breed of dairy goat, first bred in California by Mrs. Eula Fay Frey about 1927. Later she moved the herd to Glide, Oregon for further development. The Lamancha goat is a member of the Capra genus, specifically Capra aegagrus hircus, like all domestic goats.
The American Dairy Goat Association or ADGA is a United States not-for-profit corporation dedicated to dairy goats. Its purpose is to promote the dairy goat industry, by providing and circulating sound information about goats and goat's milk; maintaining and publishing herd books and production records of milk goats; and issuing certificates of registration and recordation; improving and developing the milk goat breeds; and providing publicity and service for the goat dairying industry. The principal operation of the corporation is in Columbia, Missouri, and its headquarters are in Spindale, North Carolina.
The Polled Dorset is an American breed of domestic sheep. It is a polled (hornless) variant of the British Dorset Horn. It was developed at the North Carolina State University Small Ruminant Unit in the 1950s after a genetic mutation led to the birth of a polled ram. After some years of breeding work, a true-breeding polled strain was established.
The Huacaya alpaca is a breed of alpaca that has a unique appearance and fiber quality. This breed is the most popular alpaca breed with population numbers reaching 2.8 million in Peru alone. They share biological components with other species in the Camelidae family. Their digestive tract, nutrition requirements, and herd behavior mirror that of all camelids. They also survive amidst similar predation, poison, and disease threats that endanger all camelids alike.
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.