Showing

A goat with unusual horns

Goat breeders' clubs frequently hold shows, where goats are judged on traits relating to conformation, udder quality, evidence of high production/ longevity, build/muscling (meat goats and pet goats) and fiber production/fiber (fiber goats). People who show their goats usually keep registered stock and the offspring of award winning animals command a higher price. Registered goats, in general, are usually higher priced if for no other reason than that records have been kept proving their ancestry and the production and other data of their sires, dams, and other ancestors. A registered doe is usually less of a gamble than buying a doe at random (as at an auction or sale barn) because of these records and the reputation of the breeder.

Children's clubs such as 4-H also allow goats to be shown. Children's shows often include a showmanship class, where the cleanliness and presentation of both the animal and the exhibitor as well as the handler's ability and skill in handling the goat are scored. In a showmanship class, conformation is irrelevant since this is not what is being judged.

Various Dairy Goat Scorecards (milking does) — are systems used for judging shows in the U.S. The American Dairy Goat Association (ADGA) scorecard for an adult doe is as follows:

General Appearance: 35 points (the doe should be strong in the feet, legs, and back, while showing good breed character and appropriate stature for her age and breed.)

Dairy Character: 20 points (the doe should be lean and angular, have ribs which are flexible but strong, and have smooth, pliable skin. These characteristics have been proven to result in high milk production.)

Body Capacity: 10 points (the doe should be large and strong with a wide, deep barrel).

Mammary System: 35 points (udder should be productive and very well attached so as to be held up high away from possible injury, teats should be of a good size and shape for easy milking).

In all the perfect dairy goat would score all 100 points, and this is the standard by which the goats are judged. Young stock and bucks are judged by different scorecards which place more emphasis on the other three categories; general appearance, body capacity, and dairy character.

• The American Goat Society (AGS) has a similar, but not identical scorecard that is used in their shows. The miniature dairy goats may be judged by either of the two scorecards.

The Angora Goat scorecard used by the Colored Angora Goat Breeder's Association or CAGBA (which covers the white and the colored goats) is as follows:

Fleece- 70 points

Completeness of cover and Uniformity: 8 points (Fineness, length, type of lock and covering, adequate covering of mohair over the entire body, neither too much nor too little on the face).

Luster and Handle of Fleece: 8 points (Good, bright type of mohair, silky feeling)

Density and Yield: 8 points (Number of fibers per unit area, determined by the amount of skin exposed when the fleece is parted).

Fineness: 14 points (Finer mohair generally is more desirable, uniformity over entire fleece).

Character and Style: 6 points (Equivalent to one inch per month or more, uniform over entire body).

Freedom from Kemp: 10 points (Kemp fibers are large, opaque, "hairy" fibers most commonly found at the withers, along the spine and around the tail and britch.

Body- 50 points

Size and weight for age: 8 points (Minimum weight for yearling bucks-800 lbs, yearling does-60 lbs).

Constitution and Vigor: 8 points (Width and depth of chest, fullness of heartgirth and spring of ribs).

Conformation: 11 points (Width and depth of body, straightness of back, width of loin, straightness of legs).

Amount of bone: 8 points (Indicated by the size of the bone below the knees and hocks. Should be clean and in proportion to the size of the animal. Strength of feet and legs).

Angora Breed Type: 15 points (Indicated by head, horns, ears and topknot. Horns should be wide set and should spiral out and back. Wattles highly discouraged).

Physical Disqualifications- Disqualify the animal Deformed mouth, broken down pasturns, deformed feet, crooked legs, abnormalities of testicles, missing testicles, more than 3 inch split in scrotum, close set distorted horns, or roached back.

The perfect Angora goat would score a 120 on the total points. For more information visit the CAGBA site: *The Colored Angora Goat Breeder's Association.

Anatomy

Goats have horizontal slit shaped pupils. The narrower the pupil, the more accurate the depth perception of peripheral vision is, so narrowing it in one direction would increase depth perception in that plane [3][4].Animals with pupils like goats and sheep may have evolved horizontal pupils because better vision in the vertical plane may be beneficial in mountainous environments[5].

Bible

The Scapegoat by William Holman Hunt (1854).

Goats are mentioned many times in the Bible. A goat was a considered a clean animal by Jewish dietary laws and was slaughtered for an honored guest. It was also acceptable for some kinds of sacrifices. On Yom 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". A leader or king was sometimes compared to a male goat leading the flock. In the New Testament Jesus likened true followers of himself to sheep and false followers to goats.

Popular culture

Frank the Goat

• Three Billy Goats Gruff is a popular fairy tale originating from Scandinavia.
• Frank the Goat is the mascot of LiveJournal.
• Giles Goat-Boy is a 1966 novel by John Barth, dealing with a half-man half-goat George Giles, who believes himself to be the Savior.
• "Grim and Frostbitten Moongoats of the North" is a song by the mock black metal band Impaled Northern Moonforest
• 'Goat' is an album by the metal band Nunslaughter
• "The Goat" is a spoken-word audio skit on the Adam Sandler album What the Hell Happened to Me?; he followed it up with "The Goat Song" on the album What's Your Name?
• The phrase "get(s) [someone's] goat" means to be annoyed. For example, "Rush hour traffic really gets my goat." See [6], [7].
• The Norwegian municipality of Vinje has a billy-goat in its coat-of-arms.
• In American vernacular, a sports "goat" is an individual team member who contributes to losses by consistent poor play. Example: Charlie Brown of the Peanuts comic strip.

References

1. ^ Goats: Sustainable Production Overview
2. ^ Goats as Pets
3. ^ [1]
4. ^ Use of Goat Milk and Goat Meat as Therapeutic Aids in Cardiovascular Diseases by John R. Addrizzo
5. ^ Meat Goat Production in North Carolina by Jean-Marie Luginbuhl - North Carolina State University
6. ^ GOAT MEAT THE "NEW" LEAN MEAT
7. ^ UF, FAMU WORK TO MAKE GOAT PART OF MAINSTREAM AMERICAN DIET Aug. 2, 2001
8. ^ Goat� The Other Other White Meat
9. ^ [2] , Goat Horn Spoon

Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Domestic_goat&action=history

http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html