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Angora goat

 
Dictionary: Angora goat

n.
Any of a breed of domestic goats having long silky hair.


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Angora goat
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Angora goat (credit: Grant Heilman Photography, Inc.)
Breed of domestic goat that originated in ancient times in the district of Angora in Asia Minor. Its silky coat yields commercial mohair. Angora goats are generally smaller than other domestic goats and sheep and have long, drooping ears. Both sexes are horned. The Western mohair industry developed after the animal was established in South Africa in the mid-19th century. Importation to the U.S. followed shortly, and breeding there has centred in the Southwest. The coat, with its strong elastic fibres, differs from wool primarily in its smoothness and lustre.

For more information on Angora goat, visit Britannica.com.

WordNet: Angora goat
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: raised for its long silky hair which is the true mohair
  Synonym: Angora


Wikipedia: Angora goat
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An Angora goat

The Angora goat (Turkish: Ankara keçisi) is a breed of domestic goat that originated in Ankara (formerly known as Angora) and its surrounding region in central Anatolia, in present-day Turkey.

This breed is first mentioned in the time of Moses, roughly 1500 BC[1] The first Angora goats were brought to Europe by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, about 1554, but, like later imports, were not very successful.

Angora goats were first introduced in the United States in 1849 by Dr. James P. Davis. Seven adult goats were a gift from Sultan Abdülmecid I in appreciation for his services and advice on the raising of cotton. More goats were imported over time until the Civil War destroyed most of the large flocks in the south. Eventually, angora goats began to thrive in the southwest, particularly in Texas, wherever there are sufficient grasses and shrubs to sustain them. Texas to this day remains the largest mohair producer in the U.S., and second largest in the world.

The fleece taken from an Angora goat is called mohair. A single goat produces between five and eight kilograms of hair per year. Angoras are shorn twice a year, unlike sheep, which are shorn only once. The United States, Turkey, and South Africa are the top producers of mohair. For a long period of time, Angora goats were bred for their white coat. In 1998, the Colored Angora Goat Breeders Association was set up to promote breeding of colored Angoras. Now Angora goats produce white, black (deep black to greys and silver), red (the color fades significantly as the goat gets older), and brownish fiber.

Angora goats are more susceptible to external parasites (ectoparasites) than similar animals, as their coats are denser. They are not prolific breeders, nor are they considered very hardy, being particularly delicate during the first few days of life. Further, Angoras have high nutritional requirements due to their rapid hair growth. A poor quality diet will curtail mohair development.

Angora goats were depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 50 lira banknotes of 1938-1952.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ Angora Goats history
  2. ^ Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey. Banknote Museum:
    2. Emission Group - Fifty Turkish Lira - I. Series;
    3. Emission Group - Fifty Turkish Lira - I. Series & II. Series. – Retrieved on 20 April 2009.

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Angora goat" Read more