Kmbartels's List: History of goats

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• Kingdom: Animalia  Phylum: Chordata  Class: Mammalia  Order: Artiodactyla  Family: Bovidae  Subfamily: Caprinae  Genus: Capra  Species: C. aegagrus  Subspecies: C. a. hircus
• Capra aegagrus hircus
   (Linnaeus, 1758)

• Goats seem to have been first domesticated roughly 10,000 years ago in the Zagros Mountains of Iran.^[3] Ancient cultures and tribes began to keep them for easy access to milk, hair, meat, and skins. Domestic goats were generally kept in herds that wandered on hills or other grazing areas, often tended by goatherds who were frequently children or adolescents, similar to the more widely known shepherd. These methods of herding are still used today.

   

  Historically, goat hide has been used for water and wine bottles in both traveling and transporting wine for sale. It has also been used to produce parchment, which was the most common material used for writing in Europe until the invention of the printing press.
• Goats are ruminants. They have a four-chambered stomach consisting of the rumen, the reticulum, the omasum, and the abomasum.

• Goats have horizontal slit-shaped pupils, an adaptation which increases peripheral depth perception.^[4]. Because goats’ irises are usually pale, the pupils are much more visible than in animals with horizontal pupils but very dark irises, such as sheep, cattle and most horses.

   

  Some breeds of sheep and goats appear superficially similar, but goat tails are short and point up, whereas sheep tails hang down and are usually longer (though some are short, and some long ones are docked).

• Reproduction

   

  In some climates, goats are able to breed at any time of the year. In temperate climates and among the Swiss breeds, the breeding season commences as the day length shortens, and ends in early spring. Does of any breed come into heat every 21 days for 2 to 48 hours. A doe in heat typically flags her tail often, stays near the buck if one is present, becomes more vocal, and may also show a decrease in appetite and milk production for the duration of the heat.

   

  Bucks (intact males) of Swiss and northern breeds come into rut in the fall as with the doe’s heat cycles. Rut is characterized by a decrease in appetite and obsessive interest in the does.

• In addition to natural mating, artificial insemination has gained popularity among goat breeders, as it allows easy access to a wide variety of bloodlines.

   

  Gestation length is approximately 150 days. Twins are the usual result, with single and triplet births also common. Less frequent are litters of quadruplet, quintuplet, and even sextuplet kids. Birthing, known as kidding, generally occurs uneventfully. Right before kidding the doe will have a sunken area around the tail and hip. Also she will have heavy breathing, a worried look, become restless and show great display of affection for her keeper. The mother often eats the placenta, which gives her much needed nutrients, helps stanch her bleeding, and is believed by some to reduce the lure of the birth scent for predators.

   

  Freshening (coming into milk production) occurs at kidding. Milk production varies with the breed, age, quality, and diet of the doe; dairy goats generally produce between 660 to 1,800 L (1,500 and 4,000 lb) of milk per 305 day lactation. On average, a good quality dairy doe will give at least 6 lb (2.7 l) of milk per day while she is in milk, although a first time milker may produce less, or as much as 16 lb (7.3 l) or more of milk in exceptional cases. Meat, fiber, and pet breeds are not usually milked and simply produce enough for the kids until weaning.

• Diet

   

  Goats are reputed to be willing to eat almost anything. The digestive systems of a goat allow nearly any organic substance to be broken down and used as nutrients.

   

  Contrary to this reputation, they are quite fastidious in their habits, preferring to browse on the tips of woody shrubs and trees, as well as the occasional broad leaved plant. However, it can fairly be said that goats will eat almost anything in the botanical world. Their plant diet is extremely varied and includes some species which are toxic or detrimental to cattle and sheep. This makes them valuable for controlling noxious weeds and clearing brush and undergrowth. They will seldom eat soiled food or contaminated water unless facing starvation. This is one of the reasons why goat rearing is most often free ranging since stall-fed goat rearing involves extensive upkeep and is seldom commercially viable.
   

  A goat feeding on weeds.

   

  Goats do not usually consume garbage, tin cans, or clothing, although they will occasionally eat items made primarily of plant material, which can include wood. They have an intensely inquisitive and intelligent nature: they will explore anything new or unfamiliar in their surroundings. They do so primarily with their prehensile upper lip and tongue. This is why they investigate items such as buttons, camera cases or clothing (and many other things besides) by nibbling at them, occasionally even eating them.

   

  The digestive physiology of a very young kid (like the young of other ruminants) is essentially the same as that of a monogastric animal. Milk digestion begins in the abomasum, the milk having bypassed the rumen via closure of the reticular/esophageal groove during suckling. At birth the rumen is undeveloped, but as the kid begins to consume solid feed, the rumen soon increases in size and in its capacity to absorb nutrients.

   

  Goats will consume, on average, 4.5 units of dry matter per 100 units of body-weight per day.

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• he earliest domesticated animals.
• have been found at archaeological sites in western Asia, such as Jericho, Choga, Mami, Djeitun and
• dated at between 6000 and 7000 B.C.
• Cayonu,
• major contributor
• Middle East to Sind
• mountains of Asia Minor
• Bezoar goat
• Pygmy, Boer, Cashmere, and
• six traditional breeds of goats are Nubian, Alpine, Saanen, Toggenburg, LaMancha, and Oberhasli.
• most goats (
• Almost all goats are born with horn
• ehorned at a young
• Angora. 
• rotect both the goat and humans.
• Six Primary Breeds:
• Nubian
• This is the  most popular breed. This breed is large, has long, wide, pendulous  ears, and a roman nose. Goats of this breed usually are brown, but can  be almost any color. The Nubian breed originated in the United Kingdom  from British and Near-East descendants. Nubians have a high butterfat  content in their milk. Nubian milk is therefore good for cheese  making.
• Alpines
• Alpines  originated in Switzerland. They were later imported to France and  England, and then to the United States. Most Alpines are either black  and white, brown and white, but can have various other color patterns.  This breed has dished, or curved, noses, and upright ears.
• Saanens
•                       

  Saanens  are another Swiss breed. These goats are large, kind, and friendly.  This breed of goats is generally all-white, with forward-facing ears.
  	Toggenburgs   Toggs are  medium-sized chocolate animals who also originated in Switzerland's  Toggenburg Valley.
  	La  Mancha   This breed  was developed in the United States of a Spanish breed that was  crossbred with other breeds. This breed is distinguished by having  very short ears.
  	Oberhasli   Oberhasli,  another Swiss breed, is colored Chamoisee, ranging from light  to a deep red bay with black facial stripes, muzzle and forehead.  Oberhaslis can also be black in color.
• Other Breeds Include:
• The  Pygmy Goat
• The  Boer Goat
• Cashmere
• Angora:

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