When do you shear your goats?

[chickylou]

When do you all start shearing your goats for the warm season? Right now, I still have one that shivers and I put a sweater on her.

What temperature do you recommend doing this?

 

[Chicken Rustler]

Hi Well I don't know what breed of goats you have or where you got the idea that you need to shear them. There are some "SPECIAL" breeds of goat that they do shear but most "normal" goats do not need sheared. If you want to get rid of the long winter hair I would just brush them the long hair will come out as you do this. Depending on where you are I would not even do anything with them for another month or so. Most goats will shed out on thier own but brushing will speed the process and some goats really do need to be brushed to get the long hair out.

 

[ksacres]

We never shave them unless they are going to a summertime show.

 

[New adventure]

I have cashmeres that I comb in the spring. When the fences start turning white from all the fiber stuck to them.

 

[Chirpy]

I agree, unless it's a goat that needs to be sheared for their hair or if you show then I wouldn't ever shear them.

Make sure they have fresh cold water and shade available 24/7 during the summer months and they should be just fine.

 

[agnes_day]

i tried shaving my boy..for the next week or so he looked like he had the mange!

 

[chickylou]

Thank you all! WOW! You just saved me about $60.00 or more in shearing equipment.

The lady I got the Nigerians from said she ALWAYS sheared her goats for the warm summer months.

I just figured that was the case and since I see all these photos of show goats, I guess I just thought it was a given.

So, they just naturally shed, I guess...like dogs?

Hmm...good news.

 

[coberdor]

Not only that, but if you shear them, which is their natural insulation against the sun and heat, they could die of heat stroke. Goats do not sweat, they pant like dogs, so you could really stress them to take away their natural insulation.

 

[redhen]

i've been thinking about this also.....do i need to shear my Pygmy and Alpine goats? i didnt last summer and they seemed fine...(was my first summer with them though)

 

[Chicken Rustler]

While I am not real familiar with the Alpine, I can tell you NO DO NOT shear yer pygmy's. We raised and showed pygmy's for several years and I never saw one that was sheared. Some people did some trimming to try to make thier goats look better than they really were (booo) but none sheared. And I am sure the alpine wopuld be the same. Goats are not like sheep that have wool.