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How much fiber do you get off of a pygora?
Anywhere from a couple of ounces (some type C's) to several pounds each harvest. On the
average, most pygoras produce one fleece a year. Most of our herd grows 2 fleeces a year.
Yield depends a lot on how kempy a goat is, how dense the fleece is, and how well covered
they are. Selective breeding for good traits can really improve how much fleece you get from
your goats.
Our raw yields (unwashed fleece that has not been dehaired): 1st kid clip (6-7 months old)
8.5-19 oz. Yearling/adult clips: 1-4 1/2 pounds
What is the fiber used for?
Pygora is a "next to the skin" fiber as opposed to most types of sheep's wool which are too
coarse and scratchy for this. Usually under the micron limit for kid mohair, regardless of the
pygora's age it is very soft and luxorious. Pygora is perfect for baby clothes, sweaters,
scarfs, gloves, mittens, hats, shawls and ponchos. I perfer to spin it laceweight or fingerling
weight. A good rule of thumb is to use C and BC like you'd use cashmere, AB and A like
you'd use kid mohair. B could go either way. Pygora can be used for socks too but you must
add about 25% nylon to it. Pygora felts easily but is too fine to be very good for felting-it
makes a very stilff felt unless you blend in a high percentage of wool.
Are the goats a lot of work?
Most days my goats take 10 minutes of actual work (Checking the hay feeders, waterers,
adding bedding if needed, and putting out grain). I then spend time with the herd to make
sure no one is "off", or limping and I usually poke around in everyone's fleece a little. This is
a relaxing part of my day and I usually am out there for a long time watching the goats play. I
walk around the pasture several times a week looking at fences and seeing how much grass
is available. Once a week the grain pans and the waterers are scrubbed out which only takes
a few minutes.
Once a month everyone goes on the milking stand for examination and a hoof trim if needed.
The goats are trained to go to the stand and jump up so this is pretty easy and one of my
favorite activities. The goats get shots, wormers, and products to eliminate external parasites
as determined by our maintenance schedule. I add a little bedding ("Dry Den") once a week.
This is a new product for us and I love it. We've been using it for 2 months now and its
great-dosn't get in the fleece. Soaks up wetness and odor, and lasts a long time.
The actual work is the fleece and that's where people really need to question why
they want these goats. If you love the fleece and can't wait to get it off and use it,
great, this is the goat for you. If you want a cute pet and don't care about
harvesting the fleece, you are going to think these guys are too much work as we
breed for 2 harvests a year and the fleeces must come off when they are ready or
they will matt and you will have a unhappy goat.
Raising goats is physical work. The feed bags weigh 50 lbs. Hay bales can weigh any where
from 60-130 lbs (we tackle the heavier ones with one person at each end with hay
hooks-makes it much easier). Straw based manure is very hard work to clean out. The dry
den bedding has really been much easier on my back. Feeding a large herd at once takes
good balance if you need to go in with them to do it. We are designing our new barn with
fence-line feeders because going into a herd of 20 friendly adults with a grain bucket feels a
lot like being in a small boat in the ocean. You struggle to keep the tide from taking you with
them and don't ever let them knock you down! If you have just a few goats though, they don't
crowd you like that. I don't ever remember a problem when we had the herd at 5.
Why do you raise pygoras as opposed to cashmere or angora goats?
I think cashmere and angoras are great goats, but there are some benefits to the pygoras:
Angora goats are not very hardy and have an average of only one kid a year. Pygoras are
very hardy, healthy goats and we have personally seen an average of over 2 kids per doe,
per kidding. Angora goat fiber-"mohair" also gets markedly coarser every year so that by the
time most of them are 2 or 3, its too coarse for wearing next to the skin. This is not the case
with the pygora whose fiber changes much slower and I've felt the fleeces of goats in their
teens that still felt like it was kid fiber. Most pygoras' fleeces stay "next to the skin" soft
throughout their lives.
Cashmere goats produce only one fleece per year. It usually is only about 20% cashmere,
with the rest being guard hair. Most of our goats produce 2 fleeces a year with our B goats
having an average of over 60% fiber and our AB's having a average of 75% fiber. Cashmere
is not a breed, it is any kind of goat that produces down that meets the cashmere guidelines
(some pygoras can be typed as cashmere goats). There is no guarantee the kids from a
cashmere doe will produce fiber. "Slicks" in the pygora world, on the other hand, are very,
very rare.
Pygora fiber has a look and feel that's all its own with a beautiful glow and halo (fuzziness). It
has the benefit of being a niche market as there are no large companies or other countries
importing it to compete with. It is also a American Breed!
What do pygoras eat?
Our goats eat from our pastures-grasses, weeds, and bushes. They also get 2nd or 3rd
cutting Orchard Grass hay. I like Orchard grass because of the nutritional content and the
fact that 2nd and 3rd cutting is all wide blades of grass so nothing gets wasted or ends up in
the fleece. (1st cutting of any hay tends to be more seedy and stemmy.) We feed Alfalfa
pellet as well at times during the year when they need more protein-does getting flushed,
bucks in rut, does in late pregnancy/nursing. I do not feed alfalfa hay because the little tiny
leaves will infiltrate the fleece and are nearly impossibe to get out. We do not recommend
feeding grain, especially to male goats as it has been known to cause kidney stones. I do
feed a creep pellet to the kids until they are 3 months old (Showmaster goat pellet), its
medicated against coccidia. Our goats have automatic waterers providing cold, clean water.
They always have a mineral mix that is made for goats and salt blocks available.
Other things we've given the goats as treats-dried kelp (they love it but the price has shot up
so we aren't feeding it right now), black oil sunflower seeds, dried apples, craisins, raisins,
and fresh fruit of all sorts. Tomatoes, squash, carrots.... As a very occasional treat (or a
bribe) animal cookes and grahmn crackers.
Are pygoras, pygmy angoras (minature angoras)?
No, the name does come from the parent breeds which are the pygmy and the angora, but
the breed now stands on its own. These are not miniature fleece producing goats. The
standard has no maximum height regulation but there is a minimum to keep the animals from
being bred into toy goats. The adults do get quite big, although most aren't quite as tall yet
as the angora or dairy goats. The majority of pygoras are "B" type fleeces which is easily
recognized as pygora rather then mohair. The pygoras also have a solid muscular build
which distinguishes them further from the more bony, willowy angoras (and makes them
easier to shear). Our does typically weigh 80-110 lbs. The boys weigh about 90-130 lbs.
How do you pronounce Chimera and pygora?
"Khi-mare-a." It refers to something that is of two species, usually goat and sheep. The
pygoras are not a blend of the 2 species, but they certainly look like it!
Pygora was originally meant to be pronounced "pih-gor-a" but is often said "pie-gor-a", and
"puh-gor-a". I generally just go with the pronounciation used by whoever I'm talking to at the
time. I've found the yarn shoppes perfer "pie-gor-a". It does sound a little more elegant, I
suppose.