In July 2007, we attended a seminar on raising cashmere goats in Bremen, Maine at Springtide Farm. We were completely taken away with their breeding program and their animals. So much so that we came home with two billys and three does to start our cashmere flock. Our starting flock were fiber assessed in January 2008 by Texas A & M Experiment Station System Wool and Mohair Research Lab.
Cashmere is the fine, downy hair grown by most goats, however, to be considered a cashmere goat, the down must be less than 18 microns and the fiber length should be at least 1 1/2 inches. The cashmere fiber grows between summer solcitice and winter solcitice. It can be collected by combing or shearing.
Rainy Day, 2006 billy
fiber mean in 2008 13.43micron with curvature 73.0
Comet, 2006 billy
fiber mean in 2008 13.99 micron with curvature 87.9