Читать книгу Raising Goats For Dummies - Cheryl K. Smith - Страница 78

Spanish goats, also called brush goats, scrub goats, and woods goats, are usually medium-sized and lanky with long horns that often twist at the end. They come in all colors and mostly have short hair but can also have long hair. They are known to be crossed with Nubian, Angora, Boer, and Alpine or other Swiss breeds, which you can often recognize by their looks. Those that are crossed with Cashmere goats can also serve as fiber goats. Figure 3-7 shows a Cashmere Spanish goat.

If you decide to get a Spanish goat, you will also be getting a little bit of U.S. history. These goats were originally brought over from Spain in the 16th century and evolved into nearly indigenous goats in the southern United States. Because they were feral, they are much hardier than goats such as the Boer so they make good, easy-care meat goats, much like the Kiko.

The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy has developed standards for the Spanish goat and formed the Spanish Goat Association (SGA). Its goal is to find Spanish goats and breeders in the United States to preserve the gene pool. The number of breeders is limited, and so far none operate in the West or Northeast.

FIGURE 3-7: A long-haired Spanish goat, also considered Cashmere.

If you want to learn more about true Spanish goats or even get a few, check out the SGA at www.spanishgoats.org.