Hi!! We all know that for wool and cloth production most of the time uses the goat wools. Among them cashmere wool which is used in the production of world-famous; especially in middle east and Asia, cashmere shawls and other products. These products from the cashmere wool are with high quality and are expensive too. Very soft, stylish and comfortable. The goat type that rears for obtaining wool for this production process is called cashmere goats. But keep in mind that this is not a goat breed. It is a goat type and several goat breeds are under this category. Any breed giving fine quality cashmere wool comes under this.
When it comes to world context china is the main producer of this cashmere wool from cashmere goats. Other than that Kashmir, New Zealand, Iraq, Afghanistan and Australia are also leading producers.
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Uses / Advantages of Cashmere goats
Primarily these goats are rearing for its high-quality wool. But they can use to obtain milk and meat also.
Wool or fiber of the cashmere goats
There are two types of wool present in the goat body. They are cashmere fiber or wool and guard hair.
The guard hair, as the name implies are on the outside guarding the fine quality cashmere fiber. The guard hairs are rough as well most of the time they are straight and long.
The cashmere fiber lying underneath are very soft and fine. We can have a good wool yield if we care the goats well. When it comes to these goats grooming the wools regularly is a must to have high quality fiber.
You can use a comb or a shear to harvest the wool yield. The wool development starts with the longer days and stops with the shorter days. Usually, this harvesting of the wool is doing between December and March.
Normally we take the wool harvest once per year. Can take a harvest ranging from few grams to 1kg. Generally, the cashmere wool percentage from the total wool production is around 20%.
Characteristics of cashmere goats
There can be several breeds under this category. Therefore, the size and the body characters differ from each other. The most common feature of any breed is the production of high-quality cashmere wool. The color also varies from breed to breed.
But these goats are adaptable to any climate. Most of the time they have horns.
There should be two layers of hair. The guard hair and the cashmere fiber. And more importantly there should be a consistency in this wool cover. As well as the wool should cover the body completely. The body formation and the wool formation should be half by half of the goat.
By shearing or combing guard hair, longer fine hair and shorter fine hair separates for the production of different wool products.
Management of the cashmere goats
When it comes to this type other than dairy goats or meat goats very simple and easy management practices are there.
Feeding:
Feeding cashmere goats is not an expensive process. Typically, the goats love to graze. So, you can allow your cashmere goat to graze freely. You can make your goats to follow a rotational grazing system.
Forages, hay, minerals like feed can give to your goat. In addition, fresh water is also necessary just same as the others.
Housing:
Housing is an important factor related to any kind of goat farming or animal farming. This is similar in here also. You have to provide a shelter for the goats. It should be a clean, ventilated, comfortable and should be with a considerable space for the goat to rest. The house should provide the safety from the wind, rain and so on.
It should be better if you can have a fence surrounding your goat farm to protect your goats.
Health and wellness
Taking care about the parasites is important here. Should care about both the internal and the external parasites.
Hoof trimming also need to do frequently to avoid some of the complications.
Moreover, training your goat for the harvesting process is also important to avoid the goats becoming excited or fear.
Some cashmere goat breeds
- Zhongwei Cashmere Goat
- Australian Cashmere Goat
- Zalaa Jinst White goat
- Licheng Daqing goat
- Tibetan Plateau goat
- Inner Mongolia cashmere goat
- Hexi Cashmere Goat