Fascinating Goat Facts
As there are several hundred breeds of goat, there is certainly no shortage of goat facts to go along with them. Goats have been around domestically for thousands of years, and in the wild of course much longer. Aside from the wild mountain goat, we tend to think of the goat as primarily a domesticated animal. This is true, but the goat, if given a chance will return to the wild, and there are likely more feral goats around than we think. It is said that the only domesticated animal that returns to the wild and becomes feral more quickly and easily than the goat, is the house cat.
Goats are closely related to sheep, though goats are browsers and not grazers. One of the more commonly held goat facts that doesn't quite hold true is that goats will eat anything. They don’t however eat tin cans, but you may see one chewing on one. If so, it's trying to get the paper off and eat it. Goats will in fact eat quite a large variety of things, some of which are nutritious and some of which are not, but that's the life of a browser. In spite of all of this, the goat tends to be a very selective eater. It will eat what's available if hungry enough, but when in a pasture will sample some plants or weeds and ignore others, even though they are entirely edible. Given a choice, goats will not eat food that is soiled or has simply been thrown on the ground.
Goat Milk And Goat Meat - Goats are raised for their meat, their milk, some breeds for their hair (mohair and cashmere) or simply raised as pets. We in North America are aware that many drink goat milk instead of, or in addition to cow's milk. Among the goat facts most of us may not be aware of, is that more people in the world drink goat milk than drink cow milk, and the same applies to eating goat meat. Goat milk and meat are staples throughout the Middle East and in many other countries as well. A look into nutritional goat facts will tell you that goat meat is lower in fat and cholesterol than beef and mutton, and even lower than poultry, and the milk from the goat is higher in calcium and vitamin A than is the case with cow's milk. Also, far fewer people have allergies associated with goat milk than is the case with cow milk. It's been estimated that the world's goat population approaches 500 million animals.
The domestic goats we raise in North America have their origins in the Middle East and in Eastern Europe. The first goats to arrive in the New World sailed the ocean blue with Christopher Columbus, arriving here not in 1492, but in 1493.
Where To Find Goats - One can travel anywhere in this country and see goats. They are most often to be seen on small farms or in many instances private residences. If it's large herds of goats you want to see however, your best bet would be Texas, where over a million of the animals are raised for their meat, with another 30,000 or so found in dairy herds. California also accounts for about 30,000 dairy goats. The production of goat meat by the way is increasing at a faster rate than the production of any other type of meat in the United States. Tennessee, Georgia, and Oklahoma also have large goat populations. Wisconsin, famous for its cheese, ranks third in the dairy goat population.
The United States has traditionally relied primarily on beef, pork, and poultry for its meat supply, but the goat meat and milk industry, though still in its infancy and not terribly organized, is growing rapidly. Eventually more and more Americans will gain a greater interest in goat facts, both those important as well as trivial.