Pygora Goats

Originally, I looked into getting goats to help us keep the brush down around the house, but when I discovered Pygoras, I was hooked on their curly cuteness and oh-so-soft fleeces! Ever since then it has been a whirlwind of learning about breeding fiber goats, how to spin and process fiber and running a ranch. It has been such a great experience - and lots of hard work.

If you are not familiar with Pygoras, they are a breed that originated from crossing a registered Pygmy goat with a white AAGBA registered Angora goat. They are now a registered breed of their own with the Pygora Breeders Association. There are also PCA Goats that are a cross between a registered Pygmy and a CAGBA registered colored Angora goat. They are like Pygoras, but have there own registry, The PCA Goat Registry. We have mostly PBA goats here on the ranch. They all produce one of three types of fiber...

Type A is the most like the mohair from the Angora goats, but unlike Angora goats, Pygoras will hold their fleece fineness even as they grow older (mohair will coarsen as the goat matures). The fiber has a lovely luster and soft feel.

Type B is a cross between mohair and cashmere. This is many peoples favorite type. So very soft and fluffy, very wearable near skin and faces, with a long enough staple that it is easy to spin.

Type C is very much like cashmere. This is luxurious stuff! So very nice to wear, great for baby clothing too.

All of these fiber types have a extremely soft, luxurious feel and are great for spinning. Also, all of the fiber types should be de-haired. This is a process done by hand or on a de-hairing machine to remove the stiff guard hair - and leave the lovely soft stuff. This is a process that is common with other fibers such as cashmere, alpaca, llama, quiviut, and buffalo.

Pygora is usually combined with a little fine wool like merino before spinning to help it retain its memory (the fiber strands are "slippery" and the garment may tend to "grow" as its worn - not a problem with scarves, but might be with a sweater). The wool has "memory" and helps to keep the garment from getting bigger.

Pygoras come in white (which takes dye wonderfully) as well as many wondeful natural colors. Pygoras are a medium size goat and Does run around 80 pounds compared to Saanen milk goat Does that average 150 pounds (and Boer meat goat Does averaging 200 pounds). For more information on Pygoras, visit the Pygora Breeders Association (click here), or feel free to contact me.

For more information and pictures of our Does/Ewes, Bucks/Rams, Kids/Lamb, or goats and sheep For Sale, please click on the highlighted words you just read :-) or go to the menu at the top of the page. And always feel free to contact me at info@crickviewranch.com or call 541-938-6756 if you have any questions or just want to talk goat!

East Friesian Sheep

I have always loved goat and sheep cheeses. I tried making goat cheese and it was just too strong for my family to enjoy. So in 2012, I decided to try dairy sheep and see if the milk will make a cheese my family would enjoy. We have only two East Friesian ewes right now, and are excited awaiting spring when we can try milking...and making cheese!

East Friesians and Lacaunes are the leading milking sheep breeds in the world. East Friesians are the most common milk breed in the United States although Lacaunes can also be found. In Europe, Lacaunes are quite common and the leading breed for making Roquefort cheese. Sheep milk is mild and is ideal for cheese because of it high milk fats, and it even freezes well with no ill effects. The ewes are often prolific having twins and even triplets, and can be bred as early as eight months old. White Friesians are the most common, but black can also be found. Black Friesians look similar to Zwartble sheep, a breed that was developed using black Friesians.

I am also interested in the East Friesian's wool, and am very interested in finding out how it will be to work with when I shear the first time this next spring. So far, our ewes fleece has a very nice feel. Our black Friesian has a very different fleece from the white, with more definition in the locks and a softer feel. The white ewe's fleece has a springy-er, more down-like feel. It will be interesting to see how these fleeces handle once they are sheared, washed and spun!