Pygora Goat

Pygora Goat

size/weight/height

Males (bucks) weigh 75 to 95 pounds and reach a minimum height of 23 inches tall at the highest point on their back. Females (does) weigh 65 to 75 pounds and reach a minimum height of 18 inches tall.

adaptations/coloration

Pygora goats have at least 14 color variations, including caramel, agoutis and solid black or solid white. Some appear to have socks to the knees and facial masks. Their color changes for in-fleece and out-of-fleece. Pygora goats have three distinct types of fleece, and are well covered (except from the knee down).

behavior

Pygora goats are alert, curious, friendly, cooperative and easy to handle. They have the docility of angora goats and the spunk and playfulness of pygmy goats.

reproduction/lifespan

Females come into heat every 21 days for 2 to 48 hours. Males come into rut (decrease in appetite, obsessive interest in the females, fighting between bucks, display behavior and a strong musky odor) with the female's heat cycles, each spring and fall. Gestation lasts 145 to 150 days, after which females bear one to four young, but usually twins..

diet

Pygora goats eat hay, grass and grain. A large staple of their diet consists of mineral lick and water. At the zoo, they eat pelleted feed and plant cuttings provided by gardening staff.

habitat/range

Pygoras are able to thrive in many different climates.

other

Pygoras were initially bred in Oregon by crossing an angora goat with a pygmy goat, in order to produce a goat with long, silky fleece.