Happy Halloween!

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Some wholesome goat Halloween fun. Of course, then there’s the sheep….

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*Special note: Not a passion post, just a post of passion

Picture a warm sweater.

Good.

Now make sure that sweater is comfortable. No, more, make that sweater comfortable, warm, and nice enough that you could wear it to the country club to have tea with the girls.

Giggles over strawberry shortcakes

If your sweater is a nice cashmere, than that sweater started out on a goat.

Fancy sweaters and hats to match Original Source: thegoatguide.com

When many people think of wool and animal fiber, the sheep comes to mind. Those fluffy little guys are big producers, and get a lot of credit for keeping feet warm with fuzzy socks and being an integral part of that ugly Christmas sweater you won a prize for. But much of the world’s luxury fiber comes from goat hair, like mohair or cashmere. Underneath the shaggy “guard coat” of certain goat breeds, there is soft, downy fur that is highly valued as a fiber.

Mohair spins into a beautiful yarn that is known for a soft “halo” of fuzz that makes a finished product soft and cozy.

Unprocessed mohair is hair from Angora goats. These goats are Turkish in origin, but are now being farmed all over the world for their beautiful hair. The United States has grown to be one of the top two mohair producers in the world with an annual production of two million pounds, or roughly 167 male African bush elephants worth of mohair. Most of this is coming out of Texas, which is home to 90% of America’s Angora goats.

Mohair is categorized into grades by how coarse and think it is. Young kids produce the best quality mohair, but as goats get older and after a lifetime of shearing’s and regrowth, their coat gets degraded and coarser. Each goat is shorn twice a year.

An even more luscious goat fiber than mohair is cashmere. This type of fiber comes from goats but is not defined by a certain breed. The national cashmere association says “cashmere fiber is crimped (rather than wavy), soft, and lacking luster. By industry standards it must be at least 1-1/4′ long with an average diameter less than 19 microns.” This is narrower than most human hairs, and this thinness is what makes that resulting cloth so warm yet light. The final product of cashmere fibers is one that we are all familiar with and is the go-to sensory comparison for anything soft and warm.

Some cashmere goats:

Cashgora is the daughter of these two fibers. Breeders that wanted the quality of cashmere and the productivity of Angora goats crossbred angoras with goats traditionally used for cashmere. The resulting goats produce a good quality fur that has many uses but cannot be considered pure mohair or cashmere.

The production of mohair, cashmere, and cashgora has a flourishing international market. Goat hair may look as simple as a warm adaptation, but the goat’s heavy guard coat reveals soft down fibers underneath. These fibers are sorted, carded, and spun into yarn that can be dyed and made into any number of textiles. Next time you pick out your outfit, consider if a goat had any hand in helping to make it!

A goat being shorn. Note: This doesn’t hurt it. Sourcei.ytimg.com

Some old fashioned spinning Source: fiberjoy.wordpress

A modern spinning operation. Source: neo-concept.com

Sources:

http://www.cashmeregoatassociation.org/cashmere-industry/

http://mohairusa.com/mohair-facts/mohair-characteristics/

http://www.agmrc.org/commodities__products/livestock/goats/goats-for-fiber

American milk is banned in many parts of Europe unless it has “contains no rBGH” on the label. While in the U.S. we find artificial immune hormone along with our daily dose of calcium, across the pond it’s taboo. There’s been much debate over the topic; the “body by milk” campaign had been called into question as links between rBGH and cancer surface.

Goat Milk??   Source: posters57.com

Luckily, there is an alternative milk source available. No, it’s not the “milk” of almonds or coconuts but of goats! Because the rBGH is manufactured for cows and never used on goats, you can confidently chug a gallon of goat’s milk without even checking the label.*

With this peace of mind comes additional health benefits: It’s higher in protein and lower in cholesterol than your average dairy product, even with it’s 4-6% buttermilk fat content. This same high fat content is what makes it very desirable to use as a base for creams, ice creams, and cheese. Goat’s milk is also said to be easier to digest than cow’s milk. Even though a classic black and white Holstein cow may be the first animal to come to mind when thinking of American dairy, it should not be nor is it the limit of the industry.

Relatively recently, the demand on the dairy goat industry has gone up. As in the meat goat industry, goat dairy products are coming into style in the food industry. Goat dairy sales rose by 15% this past year regardless of the 2% increase in the American dairy goat population.

American dairy goats breeds are selected for one main characteristic: the udder. A good dairy udder, regardless of species, needs to be large enough for the animal to be money and space efficient and small enough that it will not cause adverse health problems for the animal. Penn State University Ag Extension lists these goat breeds as the best for beginning dairy farmers:

Our University’s top three recommendations to dairy famers are to breed young as soon as they reach maturity, 7 months, to maximize milk production, to freshen (rebred) does (females) regularly, and to cull low producers to increase a herd’s overall efficiency. One important note is that it is considered important to have a good breeding schedule because mammals will not begin to lactate until they give birth, and with time a natural weaning will take place and milk production will slow. It’s common practice in dairy industries to ensure that each animal has an offspring once or twice a year.

The goat dairy industry is delicious and varied. It ranges from milks to value-added products such as classic cheeses or specialty ice cream. Heck, you can even make luxury soap from goat’s milk! With the growth of the goat dairy industry, there is hope that goat dairy products will soon be a staple of the American diet.

Goat soap. Source: Lamborn Mt. Farmstead

*Not recommended, goats milk can still expire

Sources:

http://www.wakingtimes.com/2013/01/18/american-milk-banned-in-europe-because-it-does-no-body-good/

http://extension.psu.edu/business/ag-alternatives/livestock/sheep-and-goats/dairy-goat-production#section-2

http://www.dailynews.com/business/20150221/got-your-goats-milk-america-is-drinking-more-and-more-of-it

Goat breed picture sources:

http://www.goatmilkstuff.com/skin1/images/gms/static-page-photos/Payton.JPG

http://knowledgebase.lookseek.com/images/animals/farmanimals/goats/LaMancha-Goat.jpg

http://thegoatguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/nubian3.jpg

http://petmapz.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Oberhasli-goat.jpg

http://theselfsufficientliving.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Saanen-breeds-of-goat.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Toggenburger.jpg

Have you ever had grilled goat on a Texas barbeque? Most of the goats in the United States are farmed in Texas. In Edwards County, Texas, goats outnumber people 22-1. The largest industry for goats is meat, which makes up about 80% of the U.S. market. Large farms and small farms have gotten in on an increasing American market for goat meat in recent years. As a goat lover, sometimes it makes me sad that what I consider to be one of the brightest and sweetest animals in the world is eaten on a daily bases. But goat is an important part of many people’s diets, and there’s no denying its value as a protein.

A very important map! Source: washingtonpost.com

Goat is one of the most popular choice meats for diets of Africa, Asia, South America and Central America. Cuisine in certain regions of these continents is centered around goat dishes such as goat stews originating in Kenya or goat biryani from India. It has more protein than beef, yet is leaner than chicken. If cooked wrong, goat meat is notoriously tough and chewy. Yet with a little careful cooking, goat presents itself as one of the most tender and delectable meats.

A Nigerian goat stew. Source: wikimedia.org

Not only is goat meat delicious and nutritious, the goats themselves present a desirable alternative to other animals while being raised. Goats are one of the most efficient red meat animals. Like other ruminants*, these animals are not as efficient pound-per-pound meet to feed as poultry or the “white meat” animals, but for foodies that need a red meat fix they provide an environmentally conscious option. In addition, goats are appealing to farmers because they are browsers rather that grazers and will eat many plants that a cow or a horse might pass over. The classic cartoon tin-can eating goat is a myth, but goats that delight in chomping on a patch of poison ivy are very real.

Farmers choosing meat goats can pick a breed to raise based on several characteristics. Three of the major meat goat breeds are Black Bengal goats, South African Boer goats, and Kiko goats. These breeds have been selectively bred to be hardy, socky, and early maturing. It’s important to note that, while a goat owner new to the goat world may be eager to breed a goat that has desirable traits for dairy, meat, and wool, it is really more economical to find a goat breed that “specializes” in one of these areas. The best meat goats may not produce much milk, but their size and other traits make up for this.

Goat meat farms range in size. Some small farms, like Piney Mountain Orchards, may be primarily vegetable farms but sell goat meat on the side. Other farms may breed hundreds of goats to sell and harvest.

These types of farms have risen with the U.S. demand for goat meat; even with a booming goat meat market here in at home, we are importing a lot of goat meat. Those adorable animals are easy on the eyes and delicious to boot. I think every person can find a reason to love goats in one of those attributes.

*Ruminants: Think cows, sheep; animals with more than one stomach (and technically with a rumen)

Sources:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/01/12/map-literally-every-goat-in-the-united-states/

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/dining/01goat.html?_r=1

http://www.raisingmeatgoats.net/best-goats-for-meat

In Ancient Egypt, humans looked upon cats with reverence and worshiped them as gods. Some were even mummified with the same pain-staking care taken with pharaohs.

Today’s teenagers revere cats in a different way.

Cats are sprinkled across the internet, from blogs to video sharing sites to logos. Youtube has become famously littered with cat videos filmed by enraptured cat owners from all over the globe. One search for “cat” in the Youtube search engine shows 11,400,00 results. And the most viewed cat video, Nyan cat shows not a real cat but an animated pop tart-cat hybrid. It is a testament to the dedication of cat lovers that they collectively are able to watch nearly 3.5 minutes of the same cat image and hear the same electronic and repetitive song, and endure this enough times that the video has accumulated 125,540,590 views.

But why are cats dominate on the internet, and how did some, such as Grumpy Cat, become so famous? Why not goats?
Goats have carved out a small sphere of influence on the internet. The most viewed vide that appears then one searches “goats” in Youtube is this one of goats yelling like humans. It shows exactly what it is named: goats that let out decidedly human-sounding bleats caught on tape.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpccpglnNf0

One of my personal favorite viral goat video gernres is music videos supercut to have goats in the middle, doing their human-like screams where the singer is hitting a high, emotional note.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfpL6_0OBuA

There are also viral videos of cute baby goats, faignting goats, talented goats, you name it.

But none of these videos, no matter how amazing, have ever come close to the mark that cats’ have set.

Perry Stein, a writer for New Republic, thinks that there is a scientific reason behind why cats are so popular. He would argue that cats were easy to make popular because humans have held such a fascination with them for so many years. We are attracted to them because of their aloof personalities make us curious, and their big-eyed faces triggers that primal part of humans that wants to take care of a baby.

Goats don’t have any of there advantages to become popular. They have been a utilitarian animal in the eyes of humans as long as they have been around us. Their faces do not resemble that of human baby’s, and they are curious and fun-loving animals that almost never have aloof personalities. Considering this, I think that they have done well for themselves on the Internet. Buzzfeed has paid homage to them in numerous articles such as “23 Goats Smiling at You” and “15 Photos of Mountain Goats Taking in the View”. Goats have also made the rounds on the internet in the hilarious “I Crave that Mineral” meme.

Source: imgur.com

On the Internet, goats are no cats. You can’t find over a 1,000 videos of them sitting on piano, or name five goats that have gotten famous over Tumblr and YouTube. But on and off the screen, goats’ loyal fanbase can agree that if the internet was going to be filled with the most engaging and adorable animal we know, it would have to be goats.

Sources:

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/politics/101283/cats-internet-memes-science-aesthetics

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLirAqAtl_h2r5g8xGajEwdXd3x1sZh8hC