I remember well selecting our first four Pygoras that started the decade-long journey that has led to a herd of 21 goats including 15 breeding does and three permanent grand champions – one buck, one wether, and one doe.

I had grown up on a horse farm, so I understood the importance of genetics. What I didn’t know in the beginning was anything at all about goats or fiber animals.

I’ve learn a lot over the years, mostly through error or luck, and have finally arrived at a point that about 7 times out of 10, I can tell a goat’s potential within the first couple of weeks. For those of you who are impressed, note that’s only slightly better than 50/50 and barely a passing grade. Ha! The truth is, Pygoras change a lot in their first year, so anyone who tells you they can call it every time is simply fibbing.

Still, I can save you from a few errors I’ve made and give you a few important things to look for when selecting your first Pygora kids. So, here goes:

1. Understanding Color

Last year, I had a bumper crop of black or dark brown babies and the folks on my waiting list were a little annoyed. I get it – to a new buyer they mostly look the same. Today, as they grow their second fleeces, those black babies have fleeces ranging from light silver to caramel to dark gray to rich brown to charcoal. Some have tight angora-like curls and others have more cashmere-type fleeces, including one who has already qualified to be cross-registered as cashmere.

As you are looking at babies, know that their fleece color will almost always be lighter than their base coat. A gray agouti (silver and white base) will almost always have white fleece that may turn more silver with age. A caramel goat will usually produce cream-colored or white fleece. And a white goat will most certainly have white fleece. But a brown caramel, brown or black goat could produce literally any color fleece. Genetics give you a hint – two parents with very dark fleece are less likely to produce a black kid with light fleece. But until fleece begins to come in around 3 months, it is really hard to guess. And – here’s the most important tip I can offer – that first fleece could be a fluke. Their second and subsequent fleeces might be an entirely different color than the first.

One common color change is a black goat that produces a brown baby fleece but then subsequent fleeces are gray. Very few Pygoras hold that brown fleece into adulthood. I happen to have one – Caney Fork Pygoras Carolina. Both her parents were brown with dark caramel fleece. She is black with brown fleece. It has taken us a decade to produce that rich brown color.

The moral of the story is this – black babies won’t always be black. Learn to love the surprise! Below is an example of Caney Fork Pygoras Stacy at 3 days, 4 months and six months. Today, her yearling fleece is coming in dark gray!

2. Bone Structure

When you talk to Pygora breeders you’ll hear them talk a lot about conformation – because bone structure does matter when you are considering a breeding animal. Plus, conformation is 45 percent of the judging grade in a PBA sanctioned show. (Fleece is 50 percent with a few other items making up the other five.) So, how in the world do you tell much about a goat’s bone structure when they are young kids?

If you took 10 kids, all at age four weeks and lined them up together, the reality is you can tell a lot. Some are going to simply have thicker bones and frames while others will have a bone structure that feels more delicate. Some will have a wide stance in front or back or both, while others will be built more narrow. What you are looking for is a baby that is both thick and wide by comparison to its peers while also being square. Feel the top line (backbone) for both width and straightness and make sure the baby is equally long from shoulder to tail as it is tall from top of the shoulder to hoof. Sometimes simply picking up two babies of the same age you can tell a significant difference in weight just based on bone structure.

Here’s Caney Fork Pygora’s Rowan at about four weeks old. He’s showing great width and depth in his chest, a super straight top line and a square build. Rowan went on to win his first Grand Champion Buck award as an 18-month old.

Having said all of this, know that it is an imperfect science. Sometimes a stocky kid turns into an unfortunately narrow adult, although not usually the other way around. And importantly, if it is not your intent to breed or to show but rather to collect and process fiber, structure matters very little by comparison to fleece quality and personality.

3. The Winning Fleece

Selecting a goat with the absolute best fleece may be the most difficult task, especially if you are reserving a kid before its fleece comes in. Because there are only around 20-30 breeders of Pygoras operating at any given time, most kids are reserved even before birth. Our wait list usually fills by February or sooner for spring kids, and the kids are purchased long before showing their fleece.

So here is where genetics really does come into play as well as an understanding of different fleece types – A, B and C. (For more on that, here’s another blog post). If you have two parents, one with Type B and the other Type C fleece, it is unlikely they will produce a baby with Type A fleece. And two Type A parents are unlikely to produce Type C. Although there are definitely surprises!

Look for parents that have consistent fleeces – with similar lock length from the neck to the rump – and full coverage. Ask the owner about the parents’ fleece separation. Do the guard hairs easily separate from the locks or is it a chore to dehair? And what about volume? Do they produce a significant amount of fleece each shearing?

The good news is, I have met very few Pygoras with “bad” fleeces. It becomes the difference between good and great.

4. Personality

When my son was about seven years old we took him and one of his friends to visit the farm where we purchased our first Pygoras. It was Spring and their kids were hopping around the yard – most of them running lightning speed away from any human trying to catch and pet them. The truth is, most goats are naturally skittish around people. But, as we were chatting with our fellow goat owners the human kids were making themselves at home in the play area with the goat kids. When I looked over to make sure they weren’t causing trouble, there was an adorable caramel baby goat playing with the human children. Our two kids were walking along a board that had been set up as a balance beam for goats, and this tiny tot was hopping along behind them. (I still have the photos!)

We begged to buy that goat and convinced the owners it was meant to be. The human kids named her Fidget, and she is no normal goat. Her hips are too narrow in the back and her legs too skinny to be much of a show goat, but every single one of her kids has been an absolute pet. And their warmth toward humans tends to warm up other kids who are less sure of us.

Recently, we had some new Pygora owners visit our farm, and one of their first questions of me was “how do you make them so friendly”? Well, they are handled a lot and we aren’t above bribing them with treats, but much of the credit goes to the herd boss, Fidget, who will lead them all at a full run toward me when I walk into the field. All go say, pay attention to the personality of the mother because her nature and her nurture matters in determining the personality of the kids.

5. The Sure Win

I’ll leave you with this one final tip for purchasing your first Pygoras – ask if the breeder you are working with has any yearlings for sale. Even with a decade of experience, I can’t always tell which babies will turn out best. It’s really not until they reach around a year or even two years of age when you begin to understand their full potential or lack thereof.

Our first year we had selected two wethers to start. We really had no plans to breed at the time. My mother talked me into a doeling as well – one with a beautiful face and lovely coloring who has since produced nearly a dozen kids for us. Then a yearling wether was returned to the farm from a previous buyer who had some health problems. He was a gorgeous dark gray with beautiful fleece coverage and a sweet personality. His name was Dodger, and we bought him too. He went on to win Grand Champion Wether three years in a row and become one of very few wethers to hold the title of Permanent Grand Champion in the PBA. I probably never would have picked him as a baby – he would have looked like just another black goat. But as a yearling, it was easy to see he was a winner.

Happy shopping!

Tips on selecting your first Pygora goats

Tips and tricks of goat transport

Caney Fork Pygoras