- Goats are bovines, members of the family bovidae which includes deer, cows, sheep and antelope. Their sub-family is caprinae, which is why you sometimes hear goats being called caprines.
- Female goats are called "does". Male goats are called "bucks".
- Young goats are called "kids". A young female is called a "doeling". A young buck is called a "buckling".
- A casterated/neutered male is called "wether" (pronounced like weather).
- Goats are extremely curious and intelligent. They can be taught to walk on leads and to pull carts.
- Goats have cloven hooves, a short and upward-turned tail, and some have long beards on their chins. Bucks have thicker, longer beards that does. Does do not always have beards.
- Goats have horns that grow upward from the head instead of twisting to the sides like those of sheep. Some goats are born without horns. This is called "polled". When a goat has had their horns removed, its called "disbudded".
- Goats hair is straight with a woolly cashmere undercoat during winter. Fainting goats can have long, medium, or short hair. They can also be "skirted", meaning that they have short hair on their backs, but have long hair on their legs, bellies, or chest.
- The original color of Fainting Goats was black and white. However, through breeding for diversity in herds, they can now be found in many different colors and patterns.
- Fainting goats are a small breed of goat, some as small as 17 inches in height. Adult does weigh an average of 50 - 110 pounds. Bucks weigh an average of 80 - 200 pounds.
- Goats reach sexual maturity at 4 - 18 months of age. A doe should not be bred until she reaches 12 months of age.
- A female goats gestation period lasts approximately 150 days (ranging from 145 - 155 days)
- When a female goats gives birth to kids, it's called "kidding".
- Each kidding results in 1 - 3 offspring. Sometimes a doe will have 4 offsprings.
- The life span of a goat is around 10 - 15 years.
- The age of a goat can be determined by its teeth.
- Goats are ruminants which means they chew cud like cows.
- Goats have a four-chambered stomach that allows them to survive on very little vegetation. Their digestive process also allows them to eat large quantities of food quickly. This reduces foraging time during which they are exposed to predators.
- Goats are browsing animals. Their diet Includes fresh or dried grasses, foliage of trees, shrubs, bushes, and various other plants. If permitted to browse in one area, they will almost strip the land completely causing irreversible damage.
Fun Trivia
- Around the world, more people drink goat milk than cow milk.
- According to many historians, goats were the first animal to be domesticated.
- Before coins were used for money, goats were traded for silver, because they were so valuable.
- Goats do not gobble garbage. The goat is among the cleanest of animals, and is a more picky eater than cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, and even dogs. Goats do eat many different species of plants, but do not want to eat food that has been contaminated or that has been on the floor or the ground.
- Coffee was first discovered when goat herders noticed the goats acting very energetic after nibbling on the coffee beans.
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