Never dehorn these goats as they could die of overheat under all their fleeces: in fact their horns serve as a cooling system and body temperature regulation. The fleeces weigh between 1.5 kg ( 3 lbs) and 3.5 kg (7lbs) per shearing, depending on the age of the goat.īoth sexes are horned: the horns of the females are curved backwards and those of the males have pronounced spirals that comes back and away from the head. Shearing is done twice a year: at our farm, we do that in September (this gives time to grow before the cold) and in March (before births). The fleece grows very quickly: about 2.5cm (1 inch) per month. The Angora goat is raised exclusively for the production of mohair. This decline can be explained by the purchase price of mohair which fall dramatically in the 1990s, the various recessions and monetary crises and last but not least by the globalization which made the fibre mills moved to Asia or chose to work with synthetic fibres or mohair already processed in other countries. Currently, there are fewer than 20 registered Canadian purebred Angora goat breeders. In Canada, the number is so low that Angora goats are now considered an endangered breed. In Texas, the number of heads went down from 6 millions to 100 000. The producers sold their raw mohair fleeces to the fibre mills and wool cooperatives.Īlas, since that time, the number of Angora goats has dramatically decreased both nationally and internationally. In the 1980s, more Angora goats were imported from the United States due to the fervour for mohair and Canadian breeders themselves participated in various animals export programs, notably towards France and the United Kingdom. In the 1920s, there were 53 purebred goats registered in the Canadian goat registry. In the same time, the Angora goats were also imported to the United States, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.Ĭanadian Angora goats were imported from the United States.
In the 19th century, as the mohair became a valuable product in commerce, France and United Kingdom developed their own mohair industry by importing goats.
The renown of Mohair craft (derived from Arabic"Mukhayyar" which means "the one chosen, the most beautiful") became more and more important and in the 16th century, Turkish clothes and threads were imported to Europe. The luxurious garments woven with the immaculate fleeces of these goats were highly prized and intended for kings and sultans. The goats were then imported to Turkey in the province of Angora (today Ankara) in the 11th century. Very ancient breed, there are early references to the Angora goats in Tibet around 2000 BC.
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