OK Dont laugh- can a boer be a fiber goat?? All of my red boers have a beautiful curly light "mo-hair"?? all over them- Is this the cashmere like on Sweetgoats goats?? or is this just under-hair- I hate it!! My goats look so ugly with it and i keep combing it out...
Not sure about the top coat, but the undercoat or "fleece" that comes out with the spring thaw is super soft.
all goats get cashmere but never enough to really be productive the cashmere goat isnt a registered goat but one specially bred to produce cashmere in large quantities this is what I understand.
I had a boer doe with hair just like that in the winter and wondered the same thing. I saved some in a baggy one year, rinsed it and dried it (had to pick out a few gaurd hairs) and was SUPER soft. I think it's thier undercoat coming through as I have a yearling alpine doing it too though not quite in the pretty wavy strands like the boers. Must be in thier gentics. Having felt fiber animals, I can say that for my does at least, it felt really similar.
Stacey, your right. Cashmere goats are not a specific breed...they are just bred for a finer micron count and higher yields. Most of my Nubians get a cashmere like undercoat. I wish they all had it, because the ones that don't get it are usually the ones shivering on cold days. Anyways, I have never had the micron count tested, but I imagine that their undercoat is nothing special. I will tell you though, when it comes time to shave my girls for shows in the spring and they haven't shedded out yet...it really makes the clippers bog down. Too fine for my blades.
Stacey and Jacque are correct. What you are getting is your goats winter coat. It is a Cashmere TYPE winter fiber. That is why right now cashmere are not a Breed of goat but a type. BUT in order for it to be called Cashmere it has to be 1-1/4" long and 19 Microns or below. What your goats have is a very soft fluff, but would not be long enough to spin. They are working on a registration for them now. I just think it is wrong that they have a registration for a Pygora but not cashmere. A Pygora is just a Angora and a Pygmy bred to get a fiber but there really are no real standards to their fiber.
yup just fluff. but seriously, i cannot believe how soft and warm cashmere is. and my boers grow in that winter coat in September and they'll shed it out in spring, combing out isnt really worth it unless your showing while they have it- it grows very fast.
I just think it is wrong that they have a registration for a Pygora but not cashmere. A Pygora is just a Angora and a Pygmy bred to get a fiber but there really are no real standards to their fiber. Just had to pipe in here. Pygoras do have standards to the fiber: Type A is a long fiber, averaging 6+ inches in length. The fiber is very fine, mohair-like, less than 28 microns. Type B is a fiber with characteristics of both mohair type and cashmere type fleece. It’s usually curly and should average 3 to 6 inches in length. The fiber should test below 24 microns. Type C is a very fine fiber, usually below 18.5 microns and can be acceptable as commercial cashmere. It must be a least 1 inch long and is usually between 1 to 3 inches. Fiber that has the micron testing paperwork to prove it goes for the best/highest price for that type.
Miss MM, OK, I have never seen one type (breed) of goat can produce three totally different types of fiber. That is more like all the goats that produce "fluff".
Well then let me introduce the Pygora goat please. Each individual goat is "typed" as A, B or C fiber when registered. You can see a distinct difference in the "type" of pygora goat. A is the most desirable type although C is excellent cashmere-like fiber but is harder to process. All that "blowing" fleece with the Cs drives me nutz when I don't time the combing right. A and B's are sheared but C's are plucked. The pic w/2 goats shows Tinkerbelle in the lap - she's an A with long curly fibers that will be well over 6 inches in staple length by shearing time. Ophelia on the right is a type C. One of these days I'll get a picture of the eagle's nest lined in Pygora fiber 'cause I didn't get it combed before the fleece "blew." The second pic is Hope - a Type B: still mohair type and curly, but shorter in length. If you are interested in learning more in this type of registered breed, please see the following website: http://www.pygoragoats.org/Fiber.html IMHO, the variety of "fluff" produced by this breed of goat provides more options for an end product and appeals to a wider variety of fiber artists. And they are a heck of a lot of fun.
And you are right..... the undercoat from a boer wouldn't be long enough to spin but could certainly be felted. I've thought about doing that with the undercoat from my Great Pyr. It is soooo incredibly soft! Felted fiber animals and finger puppets go like gang-busters at craft shows & such.
