Thegoat ordomestic goat (Capra hircus) is a species ofgoat-antelope that is mostly kept aslivestock. It wasdomesticated from thewild goat (C. aegagrus) ofSouthwest Asia andEastern Europe. The goat is a member of the familyBovidae, meaning it is closely related to thesheep. It was one of the first animals to be domesticated, in Iran around 10,000 years ago.
Goats have been used formilk,meat,wool, andskins across much of the world. Milk from goats is often turned intocheese. In 2022, there were more than 1.1 billion goats living in the world, of which 150 million were in India.
Goats feature in mythology, folklore, and religion in many parts of the world, including in the classical myth ofAmalthea, inthe goats that pulled the chariot of the Norse godThor, in the ScandinavianYule goat, in Hinduism's goat-headedDaksha, in the Israelite ritual of thescapegoat, and in Christianity as a common depiction of Satan, among others.
Castrated males are calledwethers. While the wordshircine andcaprine both refer to anything having a goat-like quality,hircine is used most often to emphasize the distinct smell of domestic goats.[6][7]
Juvenile goats are calledkids, a term derived fromOld Norsekið, with the same meaning. It has been a slang term for human children since the 1590s, and established as an informal term since the 1840s.[8]
Horn cores from the Neolithic village ofAtlit Yam, between 6900 and 6300 BC
Goats are among the earliest animals to have been domesticated by humans.[9] A genetic analysis[10] confirms the archaeological evidence that the wildbezoar ibex, found today in theZagros Mountains, but formerly widespread inAnatolia, is the likely original ancestor of all or most domestic goats today.[9]
Neolithic farmers began to herd wild goats primarily for easy access tomilk and meat, as well as to their dung, which was used as fuel; and their bones, hair, and sinew were used for clothing, building, and tools.[11] The earliest remnants of domesticated goats dating 10,000 yearsBefore Present are found inGanj Dareh inIran.[12][13] Goat remains have been found at archaeological sites inJericho,Choga Mami,[14]Djeitun, andÇayönü, dating the domestication of goats inWestern Asia at between 8,000 and 9,000 years ago.[9] DNA evidence suggests that goats were domesticated around 10,000 years ago.[10] Historically, goat hide has been used for water andwine bottles in both traveling and transporting wine for sale, and to produceparchment.[15]
Biology
Description
Each breed of goat has specific weight ranges, which vary from more than 140 kg (310 lb) for bucks of larger breeds such as the Boer, to 20 to 27 kg (44 to 60 lb) for smaller does.[16] Within each breed, different strains or bloodlines may have different recognized sizes. At the bottom of the size range are miniature breeds such as the African Pygmy, which stand 41 to 58 cm (16 to 23 in) at the shoulder as adults.[17]
Most goats naturally have twohorns, their shape and size depending on the breed.[18] There have been incidents ofpolycerate goats (having as many as eight horns), although this is a genetic rarity. Unlike cattle, goats have not been successfully bred to be reliablypolled, as the genes determining sex and those determining horns are closely linked. Breeding together two genetically polled goats results in a high number ofintersex individuals among the offspring, which are typically sterile.[18] Their horns are made of living bone surrounded bykeratin and otherproteins, and are used for defense, dominance, territoriality,[19] and thermoregulation.[20] Both male and female goats may have beards, and many types of goat (most commonly dairy goats, dairy-crossBoers, andpygmy goats) may havewattles, one dangling from each side of the neck.[21] Goats have horizontal, slit-shapedpupils, allowing them to see well by both night and day, and giving them a wide field of vision on either side to detect predators, while avoiding being dazzled by sunlight from above.[22] Goats have no tear ducts.[23]
Goats areruminants. They have a four-chambered stomach consisting of therumen, thereticulum, theomasum, and theabomasum. As with other mammal ruminants, they are even-toed ungulates. The females have anudder consisting of two teats, in contrast to cattle, which have four teats.[24] An exception to this is theBoer goat, which sometimes may have up to eight teats.[25][26] Goats arediploid with two sets of 30 chromosomes.[27]
Skeleton
Eye with horizontal pupil
Comparison with sheep
Sheep and goats are closely related: both are in the subfamilyCaprinae. However, they are separate species, sohybrids rarely occur and are always infertile. A hybrid of a ewe and a buck is called asheep-goat hybrid. Visual differences between sheep and goats include the beard of goats and the divided upper lip of sheep. Sheep tails hang down, even when short ordocked, while the short tails of goats are held upwards. Sheep breeds are often naturallypolled (either in both sexes or just in the female), while naturally polled goats are rare (though many are polled artificially). Males of the two species differ in that buck goats acquire a unique and strong odor during therut, whereas rams do not.[28]
Behavior and ecology
Goats are naturally curious. They are agile and able to climb and balance in precarious places. This makes them the onlyruminant to regularly climb trees. These behaviours have made them notorious for escaping their pens by testing fences and enclosures. If any of the fencing can be overcome, goats almost inevitably escape. Goats are as intelligent as dogs by some studies.[29]When handled as a group, goats display less herding behavior than sheep. When grazing undisturbed, they spread across the field or range, rather than feed side by side as do sheep. When nursing young, goats leave their kids separated ("lying out") rather than clumped, as do sheep. They generally turn and face an intruder, and bucks are more likely to charge or butt at humans than arerams.[30] A 2016 study reports that goats try to communicate with people like domesticated animals such as dogs and horses. They look to a human for assistance when faced with a newly modified challenge.[31][32]
"Goat sex" redirects here. For the shock site, seegoatse.cx.
Goats reach puberty between three and 15 months of age, depending on breed and nutritional status. Many breeders prefer to postpone breeding until the doe has reached 70% of the adult weight, but this separation is rarely possible in extensively managed, open-range herds.[33]
Bucks (uncastrated males) of Swiss and northern breeds come intorut in the fall as with the does' heat cycles. Bucks of equatorial breeds may show seasonal reduced fertility, but as with the does, are capable of breeding at all times. Rut is characterized by a decrease in appetite and obsessive interest in the does.[19] A buck in rut displaysflehmen lip curling andurinates on his forelegs and face.[34] Sebaceous scent glands at the base of the horns add to the male goat's odor, which is important to make him attractive to the female. Some does will not mate with a buck which has had its scent glands removed.[19]
Gestation length is approximately 150 days.Twins are the usual result, with single andtriplet births also common. Less frequent are litters ofquadruplet,quintuplet, and evensextuplet kids. Birthing, known as kidding, generally occurs uneventfully. Just before kidding, the doe will have a sunken area around the tail and hip, as well as heavy breathing. She may have a worried look, become restless and display great affection for her keeper. The mother ofteneats the placenta, which gives her much-needed nutrients, helps stanch her bleeding, and parallels the behavior of wildherbivores, such as deer, to reduce the lure of the birth scent for predators.[35][36]
Freshening (coming into milk production) usually occurs at kidding, although milk production is also relatively common in unbred doelings of dairy breeds.[37] Milk production varies with the breed, age, quality, and diet of the doe; dairy goats generally produce between 680 and 1,810 kg (1,500 and 4,000 lb) of milk per 305-daylactation. On average, a good quality dairy doe will give at least 3 kg (6 lb) of milk per day while she is in milk. A first-time milker may produce less, or as much as 7 kg (16 lb), or more of milk in exceptional cases. After the lactation, the doe will "dry off", typically after she has been bred. Occasionally, goats that have not been bred and are continuously milked will continue lactation beyond the typical 305 days.[38]Male lactation sometimes occurs in goats.[39]
Goats are reputed to be willing to eat almost anything. They arebrowsing animals, notgrazers like cattle and sheep, and (coupled with their highly curious nature) will chew on and taste anything resembling plant matter to decide whether it is good to eat, including cardboard, clothing and paper.[40]
The digestive physiology of a very young kid (like the young of other ruminants) is essentially the same as that of amonogastric animal. Milk digestion begins in theabomasum, the milk having bypassed the rumen via closure of the reticuloesophageal groove during suckling. At birth, the rumen is undeveloped, but as the kid begins to consume solid feed, the rumen soon increases in size and in its capacity to absorb nutrients.[41]
The adult size of a particular goat is a product of its breed (genetic potential) and its diet while growing (nutritional potential). As with alllivestock, increased protein diets (10 to 14%) and sufficient calories during the prepuberty period yield higher growth rates and larger eventual size than lower protein rates and limited calories.[42] Large-framed goats, with a greater skeletal size, reach mature weight at a later age (36 to 42 months) than small-framed goats (18 to 24 months) if both are fed to their full potential. Large-framed goats need more calories than small-framed goats for maintenance of daily functions.[43]
A goat tied to restrict its grazing area
A goat feeding in a field ofcapeweed, toxic to most stock animals
While goats are hardy animals and often need little medical care, they are subject to a number of diseases. Among the conditions affecting goats are respiratory diseases includingpneumonia, foot rot, internal parasites, pregnancy toxicosis, and feed toxicity. Goats can become infected with various viral and bacterial diseases, such asfoot-and-mouth disease,caprine arthritis encephalitis,caseous lymphadenitis, pinkeye, mastitis, andpseudorabies. They can transmit a number of zoonotic diseases to people, such astuberculosis,brucellosis,Q fever, andrabies.[44]
Life expectancy for goats is between 15 and 18 years.[45] An instance of a goat reaching the age of 24 has been reported.[46] Several factors can reduce this average expectancy; problems during kidding can lower a doe's expected life span to 10 or 11, and stresses of going into rut can lower a buck's expected life span to eight to 10 years.[46]
Husbandry, or animal care and use, varies by region and culture. The minimal requirements for goats include agrazing area or the bringing offodder to penned animals, with enough hayracks for all of them to feed simultaneously; fresh water;salt licks; space for the animals to exercise; and disposal of soiled bedding.[47]
In Africa and the Middle East, goats are typically run in flocks with sheep. This maximizes the production per acre, as goats and sheep prefer different food plants. Multiple types of goat-raising are found in Ethiopia, where four main types have been identified: pastured in annual crop systems, in perennial crop systems, with cattle, and in arid areas, underpastoral (nomadic) herding systems. In all four systems, however, goats were typically kept in extensive systems, with few purchased inputs.[48]
In Nigeria and in parts of Latin America, some goats are allowed to wander the homestead or village, while others are kept penned and fed in a 'cut-and-carry' system. This involves cutting grasses,maize orcane for feed rather than allowing the animal access to the field. The system is well suited for crops like maize that are sensitive to trampling.[49]
Mixed herd of goats and sheep for efficient grazing, Syria[48]
Worldwide population
Worldwide distribution of goats in 2015
The top producers of goat milk in 2022 were India (6.25 million metric tons), Bangladesh (0.91 million metric tons), and South Sudan (0.52 million metric tons).[50] As of 2015[update], India slaughters 41% of 124.4 million goats each year. The 0.6 million metric tonnes of goat meat make up 8% of India's annual meat production.[51] Approximately 440 million goats are slaughtered each year for meat worldwide, yielding 6.37 million metric tons of meat.[52]
Goats readily revert to the wild (become feral) if given the opportunity.[9] Feral goats have established themselves in many areas: they occur in Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, the Galapagos and many other places. When feral goats reach large populations in habitats that provide unlimited water supply and do not contain sufficient large predators or are otherwise vulnerable to goats' aggressive grazing habits, they may have serious effects, such as removing nativescrub and trees. Feral goats are extremely common in Australia, with an estimated 2.6 million in the mid-1990s.[53]
Uses
Goats are used to providemilk and specialty wools, and as meat andgoatskin.[54][55] Somecharities provide goats toimpoverished people in poor countries, in the belief that having useful things alleviates poverty better than cash. The cost of obtaining goats and then distributing them can however be high.[56]
Goats produce about 2% of the world's total annual milk supply.[64] Dairy goats produce an average of 540 to 1,180 kg (1,200 to 2,600 lb) of milk during an average 284-daylactation.[65] The milk can contain between around 3.5% and 5%butterfat according to breed.[66] Goat milk is processed into products includingcheese[67] andDulce de leche.[68]
Most goats have soft insulating hairs nearer the skin, and longguard hairs on the surface. The soft hairs are the ones valued by thetextile industry; the material goes by names such as down,cashmere andpashmina. The coarse guard hairs are of little value as they are too coarse and difficult to spin and dye. Thecashmere goat produces a commercial quantity of fine and softcashmere wool, one of the most expensive natural fibers commercially produced. It is harvested once a year.[69] The Angora breed of goats produces long, curling, lustrous locks ofmohair. The entire body of the goat is covered with mohair and there are no guard hairs. The locks constantly grow to four inches or more in length. Angora crossbreeds, such as thepygora and thenigora, have been created to produce mohair and/or cashgora on a smaller, easier-to-manage animal. The wool isshorn twice a year, with an average yield of about 4.5 kg (10 lb).[70]
Goats have been used by humans to clear unwanted vegetation for centuries. They have been described as "eating machines" and "biological control agents".[71][72] There has been a resurgence of this in North America since 1990, when herds were used to clear dry brush from California hillsides thought to be endangered by potential wildfires. This form of using goats to clear land is sometimes known asconservation grazing. Since then, numerous public and private agencies have hired private herds from companies such asRent A Goat to perform similar tasks.[71][73] This may be expensive and their smell may be a nuisance.[74] This practice has become popular in thePacific Northwest, where they are used to remove invasive species not easily removed by humans, including (thorned) blackberry vines andpoison oak.[71][75][76] Chattanooga, TN and Spartanburg, SC have used goats to controlkudzu, an invasive plant species prevalent in the southeastern United States.[77]
Medical training
Some countries' militaries use goats to traincombat medics. In the United States, goats have become the main animal species used for this purpose after the Pentagon phased out using dogs for medical training in the 1980s.[78] While modernmannequins used in medical training are quite efficient in simulating the behavior of a human body, trainees feel that "the goat exercise provide[s] a sense of urgency that only real life trauma can provide". The practice has elicited outcry fromanimal-rights groups.[79]
Pets
Some people choose goats as a pet because of their ability to form close bonds with their human guardians.[80][81] Goats aresocial animals and usually prefer the company of other goats, but because of their herd mentality, they will follow their owner and form close bonds with them, hence their continuing popularity.[31]
Goats are similar to deer with regard to nutrition and need a wide range of food, including things likehay,grain feed or pelleted grain mix, and loose minerals.[82] Goats generally either inherit certain feeding preferences or learn them after birth.[83]
Inclassical myth,Amalthea is either a nymph who fed the infant godJupiter with goat's milk, or the goat who suckled the infant. In another legend, the god broke one of the goat's horns, endowing it with the power to fill itself with whatever its owner wanted, making it the cornucopia or horn of plenty.[84] The ancient city ofEbla inSyria contains a tomb with a throne decorated with bronze goat heads, now called "The Tomb of the Lord of the Goats".[85][86]
InNorse mythology, the god of thunder,Thor, has achariot that is pulled by the goatsTanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr At night when he sets up camp, Thor eats the meat of the goats, but takes care that all bones remain whole. Then he wraps the remains up, and in the morning, the goats always come back to life to pull the chariot. When a farmer's son who is invited to share the meal breaks one of the goats' leg bones to suck the marrow, the animal's leg remains broken in the morning, and the boy is forced to serve Thor as a servant to compensate for the damage.[87] Possibly related, theYule goat (Julbocken) is aScandinavianChristmas tradition. It originally denoted the goat that was slaughtered around Yule, now more often a goat figure made out of straw. It is used for the custom of going door-to-door singing carols and getting food and drinks in return, often fruit, cakes and sweets. TheGävle goat is a giant version of the yule goat, erected every year in the Swedish city ofGävle.[88][89] InFinland the tradition ofNuutinpäivä—St. Knut's Day, January 13—involves young men dressed as goats (Finnish:Nuuttipukki) who visit houses. Usually the dress was an inverted fur jacket, a leather orbirch bark mask, and horns. Unlike the analogousSanta Claus, Nuuttipukki was a scary character (cf.Krampus). The men dressed as Nuuttipukki wandered from house to house, came in, and typically demanded food from the household and especially leftover alcohol. In Finland the Nuuttipukki tradition is kept alive in areas ofSatakunta,Southwest Finland andOstrobothnia. Nowadays the character is usually played by children and involves a happy encounter.[90]
The goat is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in theChinese zodiac.[91] Several mythological hybrid creatures contain goat parts, including theChimera.[92] TheCapricorn constellation sign in the Westernzodiac is usually depicted as a goat with a fish's tail.[93]Fauns andsatyrs are mythological creatures with human bodies and goats' legs.[94] The lustful Greek godPan similarly has the upper body of a man and the horns and lower body of a goat.[87]
In Hinduism,Daksha, one of theprajapati, is sometimes depicted with the head of a male goat. A legend states that Daksha failed to inviteShiva to a sacrifice; Shiva beheaded Daksha, but when asked by Vishnu, restored Daksha to life with the head of a goat.[95] Goats are mentioned many times in theBible. Their importance in ancient Israel is indicated by the seven different Hebrew and three Greek terms used in the Bible.[96] A goat is considered a "clean" animal byJewish dietary laws and a kid was slaughtered for an honored guest. It was also acceptable for some kinds of sacrifices. Goat-hair curtains were used in the tent that contained the tabernacle (Exodus 25:4). Its horns can be used instead of sheep's horn to make ashofar.[97] OnYom Kippur, the festival of the Day of Atonement, two goats were chosen and lots were drawn for them. One was sacrificed and the other allowed to escape into the wilderness, symbolically carrying with it the sins of the community. From this comes the word "scapegoat".[98]The devil is sometimes depicted, likeBaphomet, as a goat, making the animal a significant symbol throughoutSatanism. The invertedpentagram of Satanism is sometimes depicted with a goat's head of Baphomet, which originated from theChurch of Satan.[99]
Glazed brick depicting a wild goat, from Nimrud, Iraq, 9th–7th century BC
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^abcSmith, Mary C.; David M. Sherman (November 16, 2011).Goat Medicine. John Wiley & Sons.ISBN978-1-119-94952-7.Archived from the original on March 21, 2024. RetrievedOctober 5, 2018.
^Taylor, Charles R. (1966). "The Vascularity and Possible Thermoregulatory Function of the Horns in Goats".Physiological Zoology.39 (2):127–139.doi:10.1086/physzool.39.2.30152426.S2CID88164340.
^Payne, William J.A.,An Introduction to Animal Husbandry in the Tropics, 5th ed, Oxford (Blackwell Science) 1999
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^Feichtenberger, Klaus, Jill Clarke, Elyse Eisenberg, and Otmar Penker (Writers and Directors) (2008).Prince of the Alps (Television Production). ORF/Nature. Event occurs at Shortly after birth.Archived from the original on March 10, 2022. RetrievedMay 5, 2009.'The mother eats the placenta to prevent predators from getting the scent.'
^Roe III, Leonard Lee (2004).The Deer of North America. Globe Pequot. p. 224.ISBN978-1-59228-465-8.Almost all wild animals and most domestic ones eat the afterbirth as soon as they can. The primary reason, I think, is to get rid of it so that it will not attract predators. . .Canine scavengers throughout the world are attracted to herd animals when they give birth, for the placental sacs provide an easily scavenged feast.
^Mary C. Smith; David M. Sherman (November 16, 2011).Goat Medicine. John Wiley & Sons.ISBN978-1-119-94952-7.Archived from the original on March 21, 2024. RetrievedOctober 5, 2018.Udder development and even milk production are relatively common in unbred doelings of dairy breeds
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