The down breed of goats is bred for their down. This is a light, almost weightless raw material from which warm clothes are made. Natural down does not cause an allergic reaction. Things made from it are very fluffy, distinguished by sophistication and beauty. Down is valued much more than wool. It is even called soft gold. Down yarn is rarely dyed. Usually the natural color of the down is retained.
General characteristics and features of downy goats
These are animals from whose wool the most valuable raw material for the textile industry - fluff - is combed. Their milk productivity is low. Body weight is on average 46-76 kg. Males and females have a barrel-shaped body. Goats give birth to 1-3 kids per year. After lambing, females give 1-3 liters of milk per day. Representatives of downy breeds, as a rule, live in regions with sharp seasonal climate changes (high-mountain, steppe regions of Eurasia).
Animal fur consists of coarser guard hairs and fine, crimped downy hairs (undercoat). All representatives of the downy breed are conventionally divided into 2 groups (depending on the structure of the coat). The first group includes Orenburg, Kashmir and Dagestan goats; their fluff is shorter than their spine. The second group includes the Don, Gorno-Altai, black Uzbek, Kyrgyz breeds, in which the downy hairs are equal to the spine 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 spine changes almost imperceptibly, and fluff begins to grow. The undercoat grows actively 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 warm wool is lost. Goats begin their second moult: down and most of the guard hair comes off. It is during this period that animals begin to be combed mechanically, that is, with a special comb. This harvesting method helps to obtain delicate and light raw materials of high quality.
Goat down can be collected not only by combing, but also by cutting the wool.When shearing, a homogeneous and smooth wool raw material is obtained, which is poorly felted and spun. There is too little grease in the wool, so during the cutting process it usually breaks up into separate braids.
The best breeds
There are a dozen breeds that have been bred for centuries to produce fluff. Animals differ in the color of their fur and the quality of their raw materials. The amount of collected (combed) fluff also depends on gender (higher in goats) and age. Peak down production occurs at 4-5 years of age.
Orenburgskaya
These are horned goats native to the Orenburg region. The breed was developed through the process of folk (natural) selection. Orenburg goats gained popularity thanks to the world-famous delicate down scarves made by local craftswomen.
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. Animals are shorn twice a year. They cut from 3 to 6 kg of wool from one individual.
Kashmiri
The breed comes from the highlands of Tibet and is bred in Iran, India, and Mongolia. The animals have white or gray thick and long hair. The head of goats has a convex nasal septum.
Gorno-Altai goats
Large animals weighing 45-65 kg. This breed has a thick coat all over its body. Males and females are bred in the Altai Mountains. They were bred in the 40s of the 20th century. Mountain Altai males and females have black fur, less often gray and white.
Dagestan downy goats
These are animals weighing 35-55 kg with long white hair and horns on the head. In the Dagestan breed, the spine is 2 cm longer than the down.
Volgograd
The Pridonskaya, or Volgograd, breed has long been familiar to residents of the Volgograd, Voronezh, and Rostov regions. The animals are squat, with a strong constitution; males and females have horns.
Black downy goat
These are animals with long black hair and a body weight of 40-50 kg. The dark-colored downy breed was obtained by accident in the last century, during the breeding of the Soviet wool goat. Moreover, Angora females of white color took part in the selection.
Kyrgyz
These are goats obtained by crossing with the Don breeding goats. Coat color - light or dark. The weight of the animals is 40-58 kg.
Comparison of furry goats
Table of the main characteristics of downy goat breeds:
| Breed | Down length | Down fineness | Fluff fineness group | Down color | Amount of combed fluff per year (in grams)
males/females |
Percentage of fluff in wool mass |
| Orenburgskaya | 5.5-6 cm | 16 µm | thin | Dark grey, grey, white | 500/300 | 35-46 % |
| Pridonskaya (Volgograd) | up to 11 cm | 20 µm | average | Grey, white | 1500/750 | 64-75 % |
| Gorno-Altai | 7-8 cm | 18 µm | thin | Black,
grey |
850/470 | 60 % |
| Dagestan | 3.5 cm | 13 µm | thin | white | 850/400 | 23 % |
| Uzbek, Kyrgyz, black down | 6-10 cm | 16-20 microns | Thin,
average |
black gray | 550/350 | 54 % |
| Angora | 15 cm | 19 µm | average | White gray | 500/200 | 30 % |
| Kashmiri | 3-9 cm | 16 µm | thin | White gray | 150/120 | 20 % |
Care and maintenance
In the summer, representatives of downy breeds must be grazed in the meadow. Animals should eat green grass and be exposed to sunlight. Throughout the warm period of the year, goats replenish their bodies with useful substances by eating medicinal plants in the pasture. The main food in summer is grass, legumes and cereals.
To keep goats and goats, it is necessary to build a special room (shed, shed). There should be 2 square meters per animal. meters of area.Males and females are grazed in the pasture all day and driven into a stable at night. The shed must be kept clean and dirty bedding must be changed daily.
In winter, animals are not taken to the meadow. During the entire cold period, goats and female goats should be kept 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. As a top dressing, they give finely chopped vegetables, some grain mixtures, spruce branches, pharmacy vitamins and minerals, salt, premixes, meal, sunflower cake. Give the animals water twice a day. To prevent diseases, goats are vaccinated at 3 months of age.
Advantages and disadvantages
Where do they breed?
Breeding downy goats has long been practiced 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 before winter are densely overgrown with warm undercoat. With the arrival of spring, their fluff disappears. At the beginning of molting, people comb out the undercoat and make warm clothes from it.
