Angora goats have paler mucous membranes
By Dr Mackie Hobson BSc(Agric),BVSc

Angora goats are known by farmers to have a slightly paler mucous membrane colour than Boer goats or sheep.

This is important to know this when treating goats for roundworms. Most farmers evaluate mucous membrane colour when carrying out TST (Targer Selected Treatments) to maintain ‘refugia’ and reduce the development of anthelmintic resistance or when identifying and culling goats with poor worm resistance.

Many farmers use the  FAMACHA system for evaluating mucous membrane colour.

Herselman (Grootfontein) evaluated the haematocrit of Angora goats, Boer goats and Merino sheep.

Haematocrit values recorded were:

• Angora goat 32.1 ± 1.29 %
• Boer goat 35.5 ± 0.82 %
• Merino 44.7 ± 0.90 %

Normal haematocrit of an Angora goat

Haematocrit in young and adult Angora goats were found to be considerably lower than that of Boer goats and Merino sheep. The Hct values are higher in adults than kids

References

HAEMATOCRIT IN ANGORA GOATS, BOER GOATS AND MERINO SHEEP

MJ Herselman

Grootfontein ADI, Private Bag X529, Middelburg, 5900

Grootfontein samples (Gretha Snyman).