Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Colored Angora Goat Breed History

The acceptance of the Colored Angora Goat as a recognized breed by the fine fiber and livestock community began in the early 1980's. Colored Angora Goats are essentially an outgrowth of the traditional white Angora Goat. The White Angora Goats have been agriculturally maintained for thousands of years.

Occasionally an Angora goat bearing color would by born of two white Angora parents. It was not some thing that shepherds of Angora goats were unfamiliar with despite its rare occurrence; it was just a product that was routinely culled from the herd.

Isa Jennings, a current breeder of CAGs (Colored Angora Goats) in Oregon U.S.A., is credited with making the first observations of this phenomena as an asset and not a detriment. She came across a faded red buck from a herd of registered white Angora goats; she also obtained a brown doe. Her idea and intent was to breed them together and see if the color could be sustained. She collaborated at this early stage with a good friend in Idaho, Linda Mercer, and they formed a partnership.

It was clear that they needed to find more examples of this phenomena in order to do breeding long term, so they traveled through the Navajo Nation in the South West, United States in 1985. This region of the country has plentiful Angora herds as well as a variety of other goats. The fruit of this trip was a small group of goats that were mostly black or reverse badger patterned goats. At this point, they published their experience and observations in an article in the Black Sheep Newsletter.

The Black Sheep Newsletter was a publication started and edited by Sachiye Jones, as a way to develop a relatively local market for wool producers. The newsletter has historically been in conjunction to the, now well known, Black Sheep Gathering. Black Sheep Gathering is a big show and sale that began as a small pot-luck event in Rickreall, Oregon U.S.A. in 1974.

The article was successful in galvanizing some interest and continuing the project; people emerged that were fascinated by the concept of the Colored Angora Goat. In 1990 Linda Mercer began the process of record keeping for the future breed. This led to work done in '91 by four people: Isa Jennings, Linda Mercer, Sharon Chestnutt and Roly Thompson. Ultimately, it was Sharon Chestnutt that created the functioning and lasting registry. She simplified the paperwork and developed the database; by the end of 1992 the Colored Angora Goat Record (CAGR) was up and running.

In time there were several means for inclusion in CAGR (eventually CAGBA): first, registry by virtue of direct offspring descending from the original recognized goats. Second, a continuation of the principal observation that color occurs naturally (although rarely) in traditional white herds, therefore, AAGBA, American Angora Goat Breeders Association registered white goats would be accepted as genetic donors. Third, (which took time to develop) should a breeder be successful in out crossing white and other colored Angora goats with a secondary goat breed used for lending color, that goat could be inspected, evaluated and accepted. Rigorous standards for passing were developed. It has been a necessary tool in order to have a large enough genetic pool to draw from to establish a viable and sustainable breed whose development continues today.

It is easy to see why interest in Colored Angora Goats has grown so much. They have all the attributes of the traditional whites with the new and exciting assets of a wide variety of natural colors. These colors include: many tonal values of black, silver, and gray; a wide range of tints and shades of red, tans, and browns. And, the fiber retains its excellent luster, reflective qualities, and shine through the color.

The number of breeders increased and the number of goats continued to increase. This eventually led to the desire for a larger organization whose primary mission was the protection and development of the record into an official registry. This is where this story becomes the story of the history of CAGBA, the Colored Angora Goat Breeders Association. CAGBA officially organized in 1999, and opened its corresponding Registry in the summer of 1999. Sharon Chestnutt continued on seamlessly in the role of keeper and operator of the data base.

Today, CAGBA has a Constitution and By Laws, Non-Profit Tax Status, a Board of Directors, Elected Officers and Regional Directors through out the U.S. and Canada. It has developed a strict breed standard, method of training inspectors, and numerous inspectors in the U.S. CAGBA also sponsors a National Show, and there are many regional shows in association with the organization and/or this breed.

Research and Bibliography:
CAG Breeders Consulted -
Greta Dise, Persimmon Tree Farm, PA
http://www.angoragoat.com/persimmon/

Web Sites -
Black Sheep Gathering, Inc.
http://www.blacksheepgathering.org/

CAGBA
Both on the web and in the Inspectors Training Manual
http://www.cagba.org/

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Hats off to Emily... or maybe "hairs off" to Emily!


We just had 20 goats shorn, whew!

I can not believe how I am so exhausted and I didn't do the shearing. Larry and I just moved the animals about, caught the next one to get a hair cut, picked up and bagged the new & beautiful fleeces.... and watched.

In the decade that we have had these goats we have been through several shearers and even learned to do it ourselves. In the beginning we had a fun shearer; he was born in the U.K. and spent a good deal of his youth shearing in Europe and then down in Australia. Huge guy & had a personality that matched. But, as our luck would have it one year he informed us he would only be doing sheep from now on and no longer goats. We panicked. We bounced around, one year begging a guy to drive 7 hours down from New York - also very good at what he did, but not a practical solution. Another time begging the guy who supplies our feed to do it, just because he had seen it done and was brave enough to try. He had owned a few sheep at one time so he wasn't completely new, and he was genuinely helpful. Then for a while we had the husband of someone who we bought animals come. Also, very helpful because we were desperate, but again not a permanent solution. Next we found our first, female shearer. She was extremely nice to our animals, but it took her a long time to do them, and we would never get through the whole herd. As a matter of fact with all of the acts of kindness, some here or there wouldn't get done, and increasingly we would have to try doing a few ourselves. The most important person to us on that scale was our feed and fence guy, Kevin. He of all the folks was the first, perhaps because of his patient nature, to put the clippers in my hands and slowly teach me how to do it.

Larry and I were quickly realizing that if we were going to have these animals we were going to have to learn how to do "everything" that involved their well being. For goodness sakes, I had assisted in a C-section on a goat once -- how could shearing be harder than that! Well, darn it, it is! Thank goodness there are some aspects of Maryland that are still very Agriculturally oriented. We have a rare thing over here, an annual "Shearing School". So, off I went.

It was wild! A brief talk about how to clean some clippers, a note book full of hand outs, and then out to the barn. It was snowing that day. It stuck in my mind, because, how would these animals stay warm once they were shorn? There was about 4+ inches of slush and mud every where that would suck your boot off. My feet were wet and freezing. There were about a 15 of us trying to learn and 2 teachers, and the farmer that was lending his flock. All 15 of us terrified of hurting his sheep. Okay, so next, a teacher leads a 170 lb. sheep up to you - turns her head back towards her hind and flips her over into your legs, and tells you to begin. Believe it or not -- there is a connection to BALLET, here... When you shear there is a position one, position two, a pliea, a courtesy, and an ever reaching arch. It is a bit of a dance, only your holding this 12 lb. pair of razor sharp clippers, so maybe it should be better described as ballet meets surgery, all in the barn yard. The weight of the animal is all on you, you glide the clippers along the curves of the sheep's body, keeping them as parallel as you can, intuitively predicting were the next lumps and bumps are going to be as they are revealed under the wool. You are totally terrified of armpits, shins and nipples. And the sheep just wants the whole thing over with -- and, of course, you identify with the sheep. From the first day to the second several of the contestants did not show up. Was it all the snow... hummm, I think not.

So after this experience, we had the awesome and daunting responsibility of shearing our own herd. And somehow, we limped along doing it our selves for a couple of years. At the beginning of each session you feel like you've never done it all over again. Then you get going, and you feel good because you make a little progress and it is hard work. Then you nick one/cut one. Uuuugh! That is the worst; you empathize with the animal so, you almost can't continue. But, they hop up after their done, forgive you for their boo boo and are happy to have their coat off. At the end of doing 3 or 4 you have tons of tiny hairs stuck all over yourself, and all you want to do is shower. Larry and I would muddle through it. We would both be nervous, inclined to both be back seat drivers, but still need each others support. We wrecked a lot of fleeces, but we got through it with out hurting any animals.

Then we found out about Emily! Emily's family had sheep while she was growing up. When she was a young teenager her family's shearer quit on them too. Emily had the where-with-all to give it a go and shear her family's sheep. She will tell you it was instrumental in learning. She then applied to the shearing school. The stinkers at the school turned her down saying she was too young (my guess both ageism and sexism). She applied the following year and they let her in -- good thing, she knocked their socks off. Now, she teaches there. Emily is still very young, but definitely born to do this job. Of anyone I've ever see shear, she leaves the cleanest looking animals, has the fewest second cuts, extremely low in nicks -- she is just great! Furthermore, she came and did 20 in an evening, no problem.

Perhaps, it was a good thing that we had to learn. For the moment, however, it just deepens my respect, appreciation and admiration of what Emily dose. Hats off Emily! Promise us you will take good care of yourself!

To contact Emily:
Chamelin Shearing
Phone: 443-244-2702
Email: aeriedairy@yahoo.com
Web: chamelinshearing.com