Mohair comes a close second to wool as my favorite fiber. Mohair, which comes exclusively from angora goats, is very strong and lustrous. If you are blessed with some softer mohair it is fantastic blended with wool to give it strength and durability. If you add mohair, especially mohair from a colored angora goat, when spinning yarn for hand knit socks, you won't wear holes in the heels and toes. The animals are wonderful, and have lovely horns that are great for catching and holding them for clipping or hoof care. Ah, yes, the hooves. Angora goat hooves have to be trimmed much more often than sheep, and the animals require a delousing regularly or the beastly mites will ruin your mohair. Mia helped me do hooves and give Ivomec to three goats yesterday before she left to go back to New Jersey. Goats need copper in their diet to be healthy and grow good mohair fleeces. Copper is deadly to sheep in large quantities. So there are management issues to consider when raising both species. I'm hoping Father Aaron will help me do a few more goats when he comes to visit tomorrow. AJ was always a good goat catcher as it requires a bit of agility and quickness to catch up with these fleet-four-footed wild creatures.
1 comment:
Lovelly fiber on or off the hoof! Good luck in catching your goats!
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