Angora

The Angora is a medium goat kept above all for mohair, the soft, high-sheen fibre that grows over its whole body. It hails from the Angora district of Turkey, the area around what is now Ankara, and that is where the breed gets its name. Each animal carries a thick coat of long, curling ringlets, and this is shorn off rather than left to moult away on its own.

Where most goats are kept for milk or meat, breeders have shaped the Angora toward one job only: growing fibre. The fleece never stops growing and is usually clipped twice a year. A grown Angora is fine-boned and lighter than many goats of a similar height, with much of what you see being fleece rather than muscle.

The breed has a settled, easy-going nature. Angoras tend to hold back from handlers and are quieter than dairy goats, which suits anyone after a manageable fibre animal. That said, they are not as hardy as meat or milk breeds and need more shelter and closer minding, especially around shearing time.

Who it suits

The Angora suits anyone wanting to produce fibre who can commit to shearing twice a year and to the extra shelter the breed needs. It is a poor pick for someone after milk or meat, or for a low-input setup, because a freshly shorn Angora feels the cold and wet badly, and its kids are more delicate than those of hardier breeds. Keepers with an interest in fibre craft, or running a small mohair enterprise, get the most out of the breed.

The Angora goat takes its name from the Angora district of Turkey, the area around the city now known as Ankara. Farmers there have raised the breed for its mohair for centuries, and for a long stretch the Ottoman authorities kept a tight rein on exports of breeding stock to protect the local mohair trade.

Through the 1800s, Angoras began leaving Turkey and were established in several other countries. South Africa took delivery of its first Angoras in the mid-nineteenth century and went on to build a sizeable mohair industry. The United States imported the breed around the same period, and Texas became the hub of American mohair production thanks to a dry climate that suited the goats well.

Australia also took up Angora breeding, and between them South Africa, the United States, and Turkey have long been the main sources of mohair on the world market. Breeders in each country selected for fleece weight, fineness, and density, steadily raising the amount of fibre a single goat could produce.

Across the twentieth century the breed stayed a specialist fibre animal. Demand for mohair has risen and fallen with fashion and the textile trade, and Angora numbers have moved with it, but the breed has held on to its defining trait: a full, curling fleece grown over the entire body.

The fleece is what marks the Angora out: long, glossy ringlets of mohair covering the body, legs, and much of the head and face. The fibre falls in tight curls or wavy locks and can grow to a good length between shearings. Under the coat, the frame is on the light and fine-boned side compared with meat or dairy goats.

Both sexes usually carry horns, swept back and outward, with a buck's horns heavier and more tightly spiralled. The face is narrow, with a slightly dished or straight profile, and the ears are broad and drooping.

Coat and colours

The classic Angora is pure white, the shade most valued because undyed mohair takes dye evenly. Selective breeding has also given us coloured Angoras in black, red, brown, and grey, kept by hand-spinners after natural-coloured fibre. A good fleece is judged on shine, fineness, density, and how uniform the locks are. Fibre from younger animals, kid mohair, is finer and softer, and it generally coarsens as the goat ages.

The Angora has a gentle, easy-going temperament. It tends to be calm and quiet, less boisterous than dairy breeds and less likely to test fences or take on a handler. Many keepers find the breed a bit reserved and shy, happier within the safety of the herd than up close with people.

With family and regular handlers, Angoras settle into a routine and can turn friendly once they trust someone, though they rarely look for attention the way some dairy goats do. Around strangers they keep their distance. With other goats they are placid and usually sit low in the pecking order rather than lording it over the herd.

Because they are not naturally hardy or self-reliant, Angoras depend on steady, gentle handling. Rough treatment leaves them jumpier and harder to shear and manage. Calm, predictable routines bring out the best in them.

Keeping an Angora revolves around its fleece. The mohair never stops growing and has to be shorn, usually twice a year, since the breed does not shed its coat naturally. Between shearings, the fleece needs to be kept reasonably clean and free of burrs, hay, and bedding, all of which knock its value.

Grooming

• Shear roughly twice a year, in spring and autumn, before the fibre mats or gets dirty
• Arrange feeders and bedding so as little vegetable matter as possible gets caught in the fleece
• Check the coat regularly for tangles, parasites, and skin trouble hidden under the curls
• Handle the goat gently and often, so shearing and checking over are no bother to it

Exercise

• Give daily access to a dry paddock or field for browsing and moving about
• Let the goat browse freely on shrubs and rough forage, which suits its natural behaviour
• Keep fencing secure, since goats will test boundaries even when they are placid by nature

Environment

Angoras need a dry, draught-free shed at all times, and especially after shearing, when they have next to no protection from cold or rain. A clean, well-aired barn or three-sided shed, dry underfoot, and shade in warm weather are all essential. The breed does best in mild, dry conditions and struggles badly in the cold, wet weather common across much of Ireland.

Angoras are browsers and do well on a base of good forage: pasture, browse, and hay. Because so much of what they eat goes into fibre, they need enough protein and energy to keep producing mohair, and underfeeding shows up fast as a thin, weak fleece. A concentrate feed is often added during pregnancy, lactation, and the colder months, alongside free-choice minerals made up for goats.

Treats and supplements

Small amounts of safe produce, such as carrot or apple, can be given now and then as a treat, kept to a small share of the diet. Provide clean, fresh water at all times, along with a goat-specific mineral mix, paying attention to copper and selenium, which goats need and which sheep minerals do not supply properly. Adjust supplements to local soil and forage, ideally on a vet's advice.

With good management an Angora lives about 10 to 12 years. The breed is fairly healthy but not as tough as meat or dairy goats, and much of the veterinary care it needs comes down to its fine frame and the heavy demand of growing fibre. Cold stress after shearing, worms, and reproductive losses are the most common troubles, and good feeding matters, since the constant drain of fibre growth leaves an underfed goat exposed.

Preventive care

• Schedule routine hoof trimming and keep bedding and paddocks dry
• Follow a parasite-control plan with faecal monitoring rather than dosing blind
• Keep up vaccinations as advised by your local vet
• Feed to body condition, with extra support through pregnancy, lactation, and the cold months
• Time shearing to dodge cold, wet weather and give shelter afterward

Angora goats breed seasonally, coming into heat in the autumn, with kids born the following spring. Does typically reach breeding age in their first or second year, though many breeders hold off until a doe is well grown, since the breed puts so much energy into growing fibre. Gestation runs to about five months.

The Angora usually has a single kid, with twins less common than in many other goat breeds. Kids are born small and fairly delicate, and are sensitive to cold and damp in their first days, so warm, dry, draught-free shelter and getting them nursing promptly matter a great deal. A doe that is underfed or under stress may abort or produce a weak kid, which is why good feeding through pregnancy comes first.

Kids grow their first fleece, kid mohair, the finest and softest fibre the goat will ever produce. They are weaned at a few months old and need careful minding through their first winter, when their light frame and growing fleece leave them exposed.