Downy goats: top 8 breeds, their characteristics and comparison, where they are bred

Down breed goats are bred for the sake of down. This is a light, almost weightless raw material from which warm clothes are made. Natural fluff does not cause an allergic reaction. Things from it are very fluffy, distinguished by sophistication and beauty. Down is much more valuable than wool. It is even called soft gold. Down yarn is rarely dyed. Usually keep the natural color of the down.

General characteristics and features of downy goats

These are animals, from the wool of which the most valuable raw material for the textile industry is combed - fluff. Their milk production is low.Body weight - on average, 46-76 kg. Males and females have a barrel-shaped body. Goats give birth to 1-3 kids per year. Females after lambing give 1-3 liters of milk per day. Representatives of downy breeds, as a rule, live in regions with a sharp seasonal change in climate (high-mountainous, steppe regions of Eurasia).

The coat of animals consists of coarser guard hairs and thin crimped down hairs (undercoat). All representatives of the downy breed are conditionally divided into 2 groups (depending on the structure of the coat). The first includes Orenburg, Kashmir and Dagestan goats, their down is shorter than the awn. The second group includes the Don, Gorno-Altai, black Uzbek, Kyrgyz breeds, in which downy hairs are equal to the awn or even longer than it.

Animals shed twice a year. Their first molt occurs at the end of summer and at the beginning of autumn: the awn changes almost imperceptibly, fluff begins to grow. The undercoat actively grows until January-February. In winter, representatives of this breed look like fluffy balls.Warm down keeps animals warm during the cold season.

By the end of winter and early spring, with the onset of hot weather, the need for a warm coat is lost. In goats, the second molt begins: the fluff and most of the outer hair come off. It is during this period that animals begin to be combed out mechanically, that is, with a special comb. This harvesting method helps to obtain tender and light raw materials of high quality.

Goat down can be collected not only by combing, but also by shearing wool. When shearing, a homogeneous and smooth woolen raw material is obtained, which is poorly felted and spun. Wool has too little grease, so it tends to break into separate braids during shearing.

The best breeds

There are a dozen breeds that have been bred for centuries to get fluff. Animals differ in coat color and quality of raw materials. The amount of collected (combed) fluff also depends on the sex (in goats it is higher) and on age. The peak of down productivity falls on 4-5 years of life.

Orenburg

These are horned goats from the Orenburg region. The breed was bred in the process of folk (natural) selection. Orenburg goats gained popularity thanks to the world-famous most delicate downy shawls made by local craftswomen.

Pros and consperfect thin fluff;downy raw materials of white, gray color do not require chemical staining.short downy hairs (on average, 6 cm);low productivity.I like1 Dislike

Angora

This breed comes from the steppe regions of Turkey, although goats from Ankara, or rather, Angora goats, are well known in Europe, the USA and even in Australia. Shear animals 2 times a year. They cut from 3 to 6 kg of wool from one individual.

Pros and consbelongs to the wool type;coat length - almost 25 cm.low productivity (for fluff);downy raw materials of medium quality.I like it I don't like it1

Kashmiri

The breed comes from highland Tibet, is bred in Iran, India, Mongolia. Animals have white or gray thick and long hair. The head of goats has a convex nasal septum.

Pros and consextra-class fluff;animals have excellent immunity.low productivity;guard hairs longer than undercoat.I like it I don't like it

Gorno-Altai goats

Large animals weighing 45-65 kg. In this breed, the entire body is covered with thick hair. Males and females are bred in Gorny Altai. They were bred in the 40s of the 20th century. Mountain Altai males and females have black hair, less often gray and white.

Pros and consdown length - 7.5-8 cm, thickness - only 18 microns;400-500 grams of downy raw materials are received per year.productivity indicators depend on the quality of the feed;when kept in a stall, hooves grow strongly.I like it I don't like it

Dagestan downy goats

These are animals weighing 35-55 kg with white long hair and horns on their heads. In the Dagestan breed, the awn is 2 cm longer than the down.

Pros and cons450-800 grams of downy raw materials per year;fine quality fluff.down length is only 3.5 cm;productivity is reduced in case of poor feeding.I like it I don't like it

Volgograd

Pridonskaya, or Volgograd, breed has long been familiar to residents of the Volgograd, Voronezh, Rostov regions. Animals are squat, with a strong constitution, males and females have horns.

Pros and consaverage weight - 40-65 kilograms;the down is almost twice as long as the awn;downy hair length - 8-10 cm;600-1500 grams of down per year per individual.the quality of downy raw materials belongs to the middle class;productivity depends on feed and care.I like it I don't like it

Black downy goat

These are animals with long black hair and a body weight of 40-50 kg. Downy breed of dark color was obtained by chance, in the last century, during the breeding of the Soviet woolen goat. Moreover, Angora females of white color participated in the selection.

Pros and consdowny hairs longer than awn;down length - 8-10 cm.low productivity;dependence of the quality of raw materials on feed and conditions of detention.I like it I don't like it

Kyrgyz

These are goats obtained by crossing with Don goats-producers. Coat color - light or dark. Weight of animals - 40-58 kg.

Pros and consexcellent quality downy raw materials;long fluff.low productivity (200-300 grams per year);dependence of the quality of raw materials on feed and conditions of detention.I like it I don't like it

Fluffy goats comparison

Table of the main characteristics of downy breeds of goats:

Down Combed Amount per year (in grams)Black, Slim,Kashmiri3-9cm16umthinWhite, gray150/12020 %

Breed	Down length	Down Fineness	Down Fineness Group	Down Color	males/females	Percentage of down in wool mass
Orenburg	5.5-6 cm	16 microns	thin	Dark grey, grey, white	500/300	35-46 %
Pridonskaya ( Volgograd)	up to 11 cm	20 microns	medium	Gray, white	1500/750	64-75 %
Mining Altai	7-8 cm	18 microns	thin	grey	850/470	60 %
Dagestanian	3.5 cm	13 microns	thin	white	850/400	23 %
Uzbek, Kyrgyz, black down	6-10 cm	16-20 µm	medium	black, gray	550/350	54 %
Angora	15cm	19um	medium	White, gray	500/200	30 %

Final Breed Ranking TableOrenburgoneKashmiriGorno-Altai goatsDagestan downy goatsVolgogradBlack downy goatKyrgyzAngorskaya-one

Care and maintenance

In summer, representatives of downy breeds must be grazing in the meadow. Animals should eat green grass and be exposed to sunlight. Throughout the warm period of the year, goats replenish their body with useful substances by eating medicinal plants in the pasture. The main food in summer is grass legumes and cereal plants.

For the maintenance of goats and goats, it is necessary to build a special room (shed, barn). One animal should have 2 square meters. meters of area. Males and females are grazed in the pasture all day, and driven into a barn at night.The barn needs to be kept clean, with dirty bedding changed daily.

In winter, animals are not taken out to the meadow. The entire cold period goats and goats should be in the barn. The air temperature in the room is maintained at 15-20 degrees Celsius. Pets are fed three times a day.

In winter, the basis of their diet is hay. Finely chopped vegetables, some grain mixtures, spruce branches, pharmacy vitamins and minerals, s alt, premixes, meal, sunflower cake are given as top dressing. Water the animals twice a day. To prevent diseases, goats are vaccinated at 3 months of age.

Advantages and disadvantages

Pros and conspets give expensive fluff;all downy goats are milked after the first lambing and give 1-3 liters of milk per day;annually females give birth to 1-3 kids;can be grown for meat (young animals are sent for slaughter at 8-10 months).combing down is a laborious process;goats give the most downy raw materials, they do not comb out the females.

Where are they bred?

Downy goats have long been bred in Russia, especially in the Orenburg, Volgograd, Voronezh and Rostov regions, as well as in Turkey, Mongolia, Iran, Pakistan and India. These are animals of a temperate continental climate, which are densely overgrown with a warm undercoat before winter. With the advent of spring, their fluff comes off. People at the beginning of the molt comb out the undercoat and make warm clothes from it.

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