Pygoras? Anyone raise them? What are they used for?

[dianneS]

Are Pygoras really just Pygmys and Angoras mixed? If I bred my Pygmys with an Angora buck would I have Pygora babies?

What are they used for? Just wondering...

 

[Ninny]

Pygoras are a mini fiber goat. They come in all the pigmy colors

http://www.pygoragoats.org/

I very much want some of them.

 

[crazygoatlady]

I am looking at them also--Pygmies can have the cashmere gene--as I understand it. I had 30 angoras and a handful of cashmeres at one time-I am looking now-but I want CAE and CL tested goats as I don't want to deal with changing clothes, and boots, etc. Also the pygoras keep their nice fiber as the get older --I would imagine that might have to do with the pygmy gene. I love to dye mohair, I wonder how pygora is to spin and felt. Mohair is slipperly to me. Took a little bit to get used to it and my mohair didn't felt, but I felted wool, the incorporated the dyed mohair into the wool, it was really pretty. I am going to have to play around again.

 

[Henrietta23]

I saw some today at a fiber festival at the Farmers' Market. I'm seriously considering one pygora and one Oberhasli so I can have fiber and milk. I really liked the sample projects they had on display. The information they had posted stated that there are three fiber types and one is cashmere.

 

[kimmyh]

Pygora fiber is soft like rabbit, with longer strands. It is wonderful if you like to knit, crochet, or weave.

 

[FarmerMack]

I currently own 2 Pygora bucks, lil BO and Orion they were born in mid July 09. their father is an angora named "Rasta goat" (has the right attitude) and the mom was a white pygmy. the fiber is used to make cashmere items and both of the boys have the feel of walking cashmere sweaters. the production years of a pygora is far longer than the useful fiber one gets from an angora.

very friendly breed, this website is a good source of information on the breed http://www.pygoragoats.org/

Lil Bo last week his dad was getting a gang shearing 3 against one we won he's looking great

 

[no nonsense]

Are Pygoras really just Pygmys and Angoras mixed? If I bred my Pygmys with an Angora buck would I have Pygora babies?

What are they used for? Just wondering...

What you have to understand about genetics is that you do not create a new breed simply by crossing two different breeds. It takes many generations of selective breeding to fix the type to the point where it will breed true. As it is now, the mixes of two breeds are registerable, but simply because someone gives the mixed breed a name, and sends you a piece of paper, does not mean that you have a true breed. If you're going for fiber, which a lot of these pygora breeders seem to be interested in, that also is not simply a matter of choosing an animal with long hair. There is a lot of detailed knowledge needed to breed a good fiber, and you have to educate yourself about things like micron count, guard hairs among many others. Breeding for good fiber, like any other trait, is an ongoing process, and even in breeds which have been bred pure for generations it's still a matter of continual selection and improvement. When you outcross to a different breed, you start from scratch all over again, and you have many more animals which do not exhibit the desired traits as well as the purebreds, meaning many more culls, increased production costs, and lots more time and effort needed in your breeding program to produce a quality animal.

Angora and cashmere goats are not that large compared to a lot of other breeds, and IMO, if one wants a small fiber producing goat, they'd be much better off with a pure breed like Angoras. If all they want is a small cute goat, then Pygmies or Nigerian Dwarfs already exist for that need, and they will breed true.