Time to comb out my Cashmere goats! In the early hours of the newest snowstorm...I notice Daisy blowing her fleece! And not a little at a time, huge handfulls of cashmere! Just beautiful! Just in time to remind me why I have this breed. I got a full bag (grocery store type) just from her. So, I combed three, 10 more to go! I'll have to try to weigh it, I'll let you know. Anyone else?
I have Angoras and they're scheduled to be sheared next month. I can hardly wait as they have turned into huge WADS of mohair. After they get shaved I'll be able to give them baled alfalfa again! They'll love that! How do you clean and process cashmere? I've been clipping locks off my girls all winter as projects crop up and have been washing/soaking the mohair in Basic H in warm water, rinsing, air drying and voile': beautiful, fluffy raw fiber ready to spin. Before long, I'll have mohair coming out of my ears! Deb Mc
Oh pooh! I haven't touched it yet! I try to "blow out" the "stuff" before I comb them so I don't have too much veggy matter in the cashmere. My problem, is the hair, I will have to take some to the TV room with me and "pick" through it. I'll let you know how that goes. I have some carders I'll try them too.
We didn't start combing our cashmere until 2 weeks ago. We got between 5 - 6.5 oz per goat. I think we can probably get another oz per goat with a combing next week.
Mine have been done for a bit now, or I should say most of them. I have two (mother daughter), that I can not get it all off, and it is starting to matte, but I have huge amounts already this year. I only have one of my bucks that I have not even touched yet this year. I try to pull some but it will not come out for anything, so I guess I have to just learn to be patient.
All but two of mine are done. It's my new two year old that has a TON left and already has a lot harvested, and then my buck stll has a lot left, and he has given me a lot this year too. Lori, who hasn't released yet, or rather who do you still have fiber needing to come off?
We're done w/shearing, trimming hooves, vaccinating, worming, etc. I got sick of waiting for the fleece to 'release' on my type C (cashmere) goats so we sheared them too just to get it done with. Will be a dehairing nightmare, but oh well. We even sheared the llama and boy howdy does she look strange. :shocked: Now the wait begins for babies!
Wow! You did a fantastic job! :thumbup: What type of shearers do you use? You must have lots of experience. Your goaties are very cute, btw. Dolly appears soft as a cloud prior to shearing. Now she's looks sleek as satin. Good luck with the kidding! Deb Mc
Thank you! My DH does the shearing.... he got to be an expert quickly 3 years ago when he accidentally knicked one of my other goats. Not bad, but he said the look I gave him would have scared the devil himself out of town! My sweetheart works for beer too We have the Oyster Shearmaster with the 20 tooth goat comb. I use the Circ2 blower first to get the crappies out of the fleece and that has made an amazing difference. About 2 lbs of raw fleece & it's just gorgeous.
:ROFL: I'd like to shear my goats myself and may just be able to do so. I don't have any of the necesary equipment, though. Will need to get shearers and one of those goatie guillotines. :wink: There's a guy here locally that custom makes them. I'm sure that would come in handy for hoof clippings, too. I got a total of 11 lbs of raw mohair from my 3 Angora girls this spring. They were virtually shaved bald less than a month ago and already have a good 2 inches of new growth...looking so cute and fluffy again. Deb Mc
