Article
Article
Goat production
Article By:
Haenlein, George F. W. Animal Science Department, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware.
Last reviewed:January 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.294250
An agricultural business concerned with breeding goats, primarily for meat, milk, and fiber (called mohair and cashmere). Goats are even-toed ungulates (hoofed mammals) belonging to the genus Capra (order Artiodactyla). Domesticated goats (Capra hircus; Fig. 1) are closely related and similar in size to sheep, but have many anatomical and physiological differences (for example, a lighter build and hollow, swept-back, sometimes spiral or twisted horns). The major breeds of domesticated goats have been developed in, and are mainly derived from, five geographical areas: Swiss mountains (for milk); Indian, Arabian, and northeast African drylands (for meat and milk); west African lowlands (for meat and milk); south African prairies (for meat); and Turkish highlands (for mohair production). See also: Artiodactyla; Cashmere; Domestication (anthropology); Mammalia; Mohair; Sheep
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