The goat is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It is related to the sheep, and it’s one of the first animals humans ever tamed.
Let’s find out more about it!
- The goat (Capra hircus) is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock.
- It was domesticated from the wild goat (C. aegagrus) of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe.
- The goat is a member of the animal family Bovidae.
- It also belongs to the tribe Caprini.
- It’s a close relative to the sheep.
- There are over 300 distinct breeds of goat.
- It is one of the oldest domesticated species of animal.
- According to archaeological evidence that its earliest domestication occurred in Iran at 10,000 calibrated calendar years ago.
- Goats have been used for milk, meat, fur, and skins across much of the world.
- Milk from goats is often turned into goat cheese.
- Goats were one of the first animals to be tamed by humans.
- They have been herded 9,000 years ago.
- Goat meat is the most consumed meat per capita worldwide.
- Goats can be taught their name and to come when called.
- The life span of a goat is about that of a dog.
- Goats have a gestation period (pregnancy) of five month and the average birth rate for goats is 2.2 kids per year.
- Baby goats (kids) are standing and taking their first steps within minutes of being born.
- Each kid has a unique call, and along with its scent, that is how its mother recognizes it from birth – not by sight.
- Counter to the dominant stereotype about goats being willing to eat anything, they are actually very picky eaters. They have very sensitive lips, which they use to “mouth” things in search of clean and tasty food. They will often refuse to eat hay that has been walked on or lying around loose for a day.
- Goats are herd animals and will become depressed if kept without any goat companions. So, it is unhealthy for a goat if a family just owns one as a pet.
- Goats, being mountain animals, are very good at climbing; they’ve been known to climb to the tops of trees, or even dams!
- Goats’ pupils (like many hooved animals) are rectangular. This gives them vision for 320 to 340 degrees (compared to humans with 160-210) around them without having to move and they are thought to have excellent night vision.
- Goats are foragers, NOT grazers. It is actually unnatural to graze a goat on grass and increases the likelihood of them picking up harmful parasites. In their natural habitat, they roam mountaintops and reach up as high as possible to pick out choice bits of forage around them.
- Goats have four “stomachs.” Their food moves first into the rumen (from which it is periodically regurgitated for more “cud chewing”), then to the reticulum, later to the omasum, and finally to the abomasum (which is most like a more sensitive human stomach).
- Goats are burpers! This is due to the role of their rumen.
- The rumen, which in a mature goat holds four to five gallons of plant material, breaks down cellulose and acts as a fermentation vat.
- Of course, fermentation produces gas, and this gas escapes in the form of loud, healthy burps. Our goats can frequently be heard burping in the barn.
- Female goats are referred to as does or nannies, intact males are called bucks or billies, and juvenile goats of both sexes are called kids.
- Castrated males are called wethers. While the words hircine and caprine both refer to anything having a goat-like quality, hircine is used most often to emphasize the distinct smell of domestic goats.
- In 2011, there were more than 924 million goats living in the world, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
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