Goat

The word capricious comes from the goat’s Latin name, “Capra.”

Characteristics

What do goats look like?

Goats can look very different – and yet they are recognizable at first glance: They have a little tail that they can cock up cheekily. The males also wear the typical goatee. Goats come in many colors: solid black and white, gray and brown. They can also be spotted or have completely different markings. For some – for example, the Valais saddle goat – the front part is black and the rear part is white.

Legs and stomachs are often lighter. Some goats have a dark line down their backs. Both males and females have horns. Some of them are short and slightly curved backward, others are very long and screwed like a giant corkscrew. Sometimes, however, the horns are removed after birth so that the animals in the herd cannot injure one another.

Male goats are called bucks and females goats. Young goats are called kids. Goats can weigh up to 80 kilograms, be up to 1 meter high and be around 1.2 to 1.6 meters long. They are ruminants and belong to the even-toed ungulates.

Where do goats live?

Today there are goats all over the world. Along with dogs and sheep, they are the oldest domestic animals. Researchers have discovered that people in the Near East had goats as pets around 10,000 years ago. One of the great-grandmothers of our domestic goats is the Bezoar goat: As a wild goat, it occurs in Europe on Crete and other Greek islands, as well as in Asia Minor and the Near East. Wild goats are not very demanding: they need little food and water.

Therefore, they are at home in areas that are very barren and harsh: high up in the mountains as well as in hot, dry deserts. Goats are very skilled climbers, climbing up and down the steepest mountains and sometimes even climbing trees.

What types of goats are there?

In addition to the Bezoar goat, wild goats include the Markhor, the Iberian ibex, and the Alpine ibex. There are countless different breeds of domestic goats: from the Black Forest goat to the dwarf goat and from the African Owambo goat to the mohair goat.

Some breeds are much smaller than normal goats. For example, the African pygmy goat is only 50 centimeters high and weighs just 25 kilograms. African pygmy goats are distributed from West to East Africa, are kept in herds, and are primarily used to provide meat and milk.

How old do goats get?

Goats live up to 10 to 15 years, some even 20 years.

Behave

How do goats live?

Goats love company: they feel most comfortable in a herd with other goats. There is a hierarchy in the herd: whoever is at the top of the group is also the first to go to the feeding place. If goats are kept with other animals – for example with sheep – they usually lead the herd. During the day, goats are constantly on the move: they wander about their pastures and look for food. And because they are very clever animals, they will find even the smallest loophole in every fence.

To rest, they usually lie down in places that are a little higher. Here they have the best view and can recognize danger more quickly. Today there are different breeds of goats, all of which have different characteristics: Some of them give up to 1200 liters of milk a year. The mohair or cashmere goats provide up to 5 kilograms of wool annually. Other goat breeds are mainly kept so that they can be slaughtered.

Friends and foes of the goat

Goats can be killed by bears, wolves, or lynx. Young kids are also from birds of prey. Today, however, goats living in Europe hardly have any natural enemies.

How do goats reproduce?

When a goat is about one and a half years old, it can have young for the first time. After 150 days, one to three kids are born. They weigh about 4 kilograms, do not yet have horns, and can run and jump immediately. They are nursed by their mother for about three months, then they begin to eat grass and herbs.

How do goats talk to each other?

Everyone knows the typical bleating of a goat. When danger is imminent, they sound a warning whistle. When they’re scared, they bleat.

Care

What do goats eat?

Goats don’t need much to survive: they can find a few stalks or leaves even in the driest area. But if they have the choice, then they are also quite greedy and look for the juiciest grasses and herbs. In order to get the best food, they sometimes stand up high on their hind legs and pluck the tastiest leaves from the trees.

Goats kept as pets can be fed hay, beets, fruit, dried sugar beet pulp, and – if they are supposed to produce a lot of milk – also concentrates, minerals and vitamins. In addition, they pluck grass and clover on the pasture.

Husbandry of goats

Goats enjoy living outdoors but like a warm, dry shelter. In winter they need a stable with us.

Goats are very sensitive: when they are sold and moved to a new pen, they often mourn for a few days and do not want to eat or drink.

If you spend a lot of time with them and talk to them, they quickly become very trusting.