Goat grazing is still an important ancient tradition in places like Egypt.

The domestic goat, or simply goat (Capra hiccups), is a domesticated goat antelope that is commonly bred for cattle. It was domesticated in the wild goat of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. Goats are closely related to sheep as they belong to the Bovidae family of animals and the Caprine subfamily. There are over 300 types of goats. Archaeological evidence suggests that the first domesticated animals were in Iran 10,000 years ago, making it one of the oldest domesticated animal species. Goat grazing is still an important ancient tradition in places like Egypt.

Goat has been used to produce milk, meat, hides and hides in most parts of the world. Goat milk is often replaced with goat cheese.

A female goat is called a she-goat or nanny, an intact male is called a buck or billy, and a goat that gives birth to both males and females is called a kid. Neutered males are called small birds. The words hircine and caprine refer to anything that has the same qualities as chlorine, whereas hircine is most often used to highlight the distinctive aroma of domestic goats.

In 2011, there were more than 924 million goats worldwide.

History

Goats were one of the first animals domesticated by humans. The most recent genetic analysis confirms archaeological evidence that the wild gastrolith ibex from the Zagros Mountains was probably the original ancestor of all today's domesticated goats.

Neolithic farmers began raising wild goats primarily for milk, meat, and manure for fuel. Their bones, hair, and tendons were used in clothing, construction, and tools. The remains of the first domesticated goats dating back 10,000 years have been found in Ganj Darah, Iran. Goat remains have been found at the archaeological sites of Jericho, Thatched Mami, Jetton, and Chanoyu, dating back to the domestication of goats in Western Asia between 8,000 and 9,000 years ago.

DNA evidence studies show that it was domesticated 10,000 years ago.

Historically, goatskin has been used for water and wine bottles, both for travel and for transporting wine for sale. It was also used in the production of parchment.

Anatomy and Health

Each recognized breed of goat has a specific weight range, ranging from over 140 kg (300 lbs) for large males such as Boers to 20-27 kg (45-60 lbs) for small goats. Within each breed, different strains or lineages may have different perceived sizes. At the bottom of the size range are smaller breeds such as the African Pygmy, which measure 16-23 inches at the shoulder of an adult.

Most goats naturally have two horns that vary in shape and size depending on the breed. Polycerate goats (with up to eight horns) have occasionally occurred, but this is a genetically rare breed that is thought to be hereditary. Unlike cows, goats have not been successfully bred to breed reliably because the genes that determine sex and the genes that determine horns are closely related. Breeding two genetically non-horned goats results in large numbers of intersex individuals, often among infertile offspring. Their horns are made of living bone surrounded by keratin and other proteins and are used for defense, domination and territory.

Digestion and lactation

Goats are ruminants. They have a four-chamber stomach consisting of the rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum. Like other ruminants, ungulates are mated. Females have udders with two nipples, unlike cows with four nipples. The exception to this is the Boer goat, which can sometimes have up to eight nipples.

Eye

Goats have transversely slit-shaped pupils. Because goats' irises are usually pale, their contrasting pupils are much more prominent than in animals such as cows, deer, most horses, and large sheep, and horizontal pupils similarly blend into the iris and dark sclera.

Goats do not have lacrimal glands.

Mustache

Both males and females can have whiskers, and many types of goats (most commonly dairy goats, dairy cross bones, and pygmy goats) can have one on either side of their neck.

Tan

A brown/tan goat with some white spots

Goats exhibiting a tan pattern have their fur fully pigmented with pheomelanin (a tan/brown pigment). Alleles encoding this pattern are found at the agouti locus in the goat genome. It is completely dominant over all other alleles at this locus. There are actually several modifier genes that control the amount of tan pigment that is expressed, so goats with a tan pattern can have coats ranging from pure white to dark red.

Reproduction

Goats come to puberty in 3 and 15 months of age, depending on breed and nutritional status. Many breeders prefer to postpone breeding until the female has reached 70% of the adult body weight. However, this segregation is almost impossible in an open-air herd with extensive management.

The breeding season for temperate climates and Swiss breeds begins with shorter day lengths and ends in early spring or earlier. In equatorial regions, goats can breed at any time of the year. Successful breeding in this area depends more on the available forage than the length of the day. Are there any races or regions that experience a scorching heat every 21 days for 2 to 48 hours? Exhausted does usually wag their tails frequently (moves violently), stay closer to males if present, become more vocal, and may show decreased appetite and milk production during the heat.

Diet

Goats are said to be happy to eat almost anything, including cans and cardboard boxes. Goats don't actually eat inedible substances, but they are looking for non-herder animals like cattle and sheep (with their very curious nature) and will chew, taste and decide almost anything that resembles plant matter. eat. , cardboard, clothing, and paper (such as can labels).

In addition to tasting a lot, goats are very specific about what they actually consume and sometimes prefer to explore the tips of bushes and trees, as well as hardwood plants. However, their plant-based diet is very diverse and it can be fair to say that they contain some species that are toxic. They rarely consume dirty food or contaminated water unless they face starvation. This is one of the reasons why goat breeding is often done outdoors, as stable-fed goats require extensive maintenance and are rarely commercially viable.