Angora x dairy goat crosses

We decided this year to breed our small dairy herd (2 Oberhaslis, 2 Nubians and a Saanen) to an Angora buck. Years ago, a friend of mine ran a mixed Nubian and Angora herd, and got fabulous meat kids from the crosses. So since we don't really need more dairy does at the moment, we are breeding to produce meat kids this year.

I've read different things about this cross in terms of fibre production, and thought if we end up with any offspring with interesting cashmere undercoats it might be fun to hold on to a couple of them for fibre. My friend only used the crosses for meat, as she had plenty of mohair from her Angoras, and couldn't be bothered with fibre from a cross. The owner of the buck has bred Angoras to dairy does, and like my old friend didn't bother with the fibre as her interest was freshening the does for milk supply for their household.

The buck is a grey Angora, and the only kids I've seen of his were from a breeding to a white Angora. One kid was solid black and the other was kind of a tan/beige. We've got two brown/black does (I think it's called chamoisee?), two brown/white and one white. So there's the potential for some interesting colours and who knows what will happen with the coat texture.

Anyone try this cross, and what was the outcome? I'm not expecting mohair, but maybe cashmere is a possibility, or even something mohair-adjacent. Kids would be due in April. At what age should we make decisions based on their coat? Would it be obvious by fall?

I am sorry I don't have anything to contribute but I am curious about any available answers, too! I am a big fan of dual purpose critters. I have also heard of sheep that produce dairy and wool, but don't know much about sheep for dairy at this point. Maybe I will have to try it sometime. I just sold my sheep recently as I wanted to change things up a bit and am looking into alternative fiber animals now, so this topic is of great interest to me. 😁

I know there is an experimental cross trying to get to official breed status that is a Nigerian and Angora cross. They call them nigoras, and the offspring retain decent dairy abilities and the coats can be of three types. Type A is similar to mohair, type C is more cashmere, and type B is a mix of the two. Pygoras are an angora/Pygmy goat cross and also are considered to have three types of coats depending on their genetics. I’d imagine you’d get a similar result in just about any angora cross. You could look up those two cross breeds to learn more about what your crosses might produce. Hth!

We’ve got udders forming on both Nubians and one of the Oberhaslis, and as of today we’re four weeks from the earliest kidding date. So we’re counting down the days now!

In the meantime, I did find this thread on a goat forum with some relevant info on Pygoras, Nigoras and other crosses.
https://www.thegoatspot.net/threads/breeding-angora-to-a-non-fiber-breed-goat.120214/

Hi Kristin,

Welcome to Permies!

Reporting back on this experiment! We ended up with 11 kids - 6 girls, 5 boys. Four sets of twins and one of triplets. Born in late April through mid May. It’s late October now so they are about 6 months old.
It’s getting colder and is into the single digits C temperatures at night, so everyone is putting on winter coat. And what interesting coats these are! My hopes for cashmere or mohair-adjacent production have been met and exceeded. These are the softest and fluffiest babies. The undercoats are thick and long, and many coats are getting curly or wavy.
As meat kids, they are pretty young and small yet so I think we’re going to carry them all through the winter and plan to cull/ butcher in late winter /spring. They are all plump and growing well but with obvious differences in family lines. Overall I would say they are stockier than the dairy kids we have grown in the past.
We have plans to keep two doelings, the twin daughters of our Saanen doe. She is a great mother, easy milker and our all around best goat. We will keep two bucklings. One Oberhasli son who was really fast-growing and has lovely coat colour, and the son of our favourite Nubian. These will be our breeding bucks for the next little while, although the long term plan is to find a good polled buck of a fullsize meat breed. Polled goats in general are scarce here unless you want Nigerian dwarf, but I want to breed up in size, not down.

I am a bit late on this but the pics are great. I am doing LaMancha Angora cross. I hope to have one this year as my doe did not take last year. I hope to improve the temperament with both breeds being great and gentle, with a good fluffy coat. I like both the tiny and big ears so it will be interesting.