Uzbek Black Goat

Black wool goats in Uzbekistan were produced as a by-product in the formation of a new breed - Soviet Mohair goats. Mating of predominantly white first and second generation crossbred does with purebred white Angora bucks resulted in 1-2% of kids being black.

After 4-5 years, there were already several hundred black wool goats. They were gathered into one herd and does were mated only to black bucks. Such mating produced 64% black kids the first year and 74% the second, others being white, tan, grey, etc. Later, due to positive assortative mating, it was possible to obtain 94% black kids.

The black goats are similar to Don goats in such aspects as fleece structure, physical properties of wool fibers, and productivity. In contrast to Orenburg goats, which have long guard hairs and very short wool fibers, Uzbek goats have wool fibres longer than guard hairs, except along the spine where the latter are very long. Hair is not shed in spring, but wool is shed abundantly, starting on the first warm spring days when goats move to the pasture to graze.

Wool is combed out selectively at the time of molting and, as a rule, only once, in mid-March. Average yields per head in collective farms vary from 280 to 440 g. While the length and fineness of fibers depend on the quantity and quality of feed, wool yields are actually determined by the time the molting fibers are combed out. Shedding is very rapid and 5-10 days delay in combing results in a 20-40% loss, irrespective of age. The extreme fiber lengths are 6 and 12 cm in does and even more in bucks. Fiber diameter is within the range of 15-24 µm, the average for does being 19 and for bucks being 22 µm. In the young, wool is 1-2 µm finer than in adults. Average wool yields may reach 450 g from does, and 700 g from bucks.