Angora goats have been selectively bred to produce pure white mohair for several thousand years. Having a common and consistent color
made the mohair much easier to dye. Any animal that was not white was culled from the flock. In recent years there has been a growing
interest in producing colored Angora goats. The Colored Angora Goat Breeders Association
(CAGBA) registry was started in the summer
of 1998 to provide a foundation for a breed standard and tracking the lineage of the Colored Angora Goat.
Today the colored Angora
goat is still a relatively rare breed as there are just over 3,000 Colored Angora goats in the registry. The Colored Angora registry
book is still open. This permits Colored Angora goats to be accepted into the registry after meeting and passing published breed criteria
as judged by three CABGA certified inspectors under a CAGBA sanctioned event. Offspring of Colored Angora Goats in the registry can
be regisitered by birth based on the breeders assurance that the animal meets the breed requirements. CAGBA uses the same breed standard
as the American Angora Goat Breeders Association (AAGBA) but without the limitations on "white". CAGBA also accepts an offspring into
the registry if one or both parents of the kid are AAGBA registered.
Colored Angora goats come in several colors and patterns.
The color genetics of the Angora goat is quite complicated and and not completely understood from a scientific perspective. There
are multiple masking or spotting factors that help determine the outward color of a colored angora goat. White Colored Angora goats
can come from one or both parents who are themselves colored. In this case they are considered "color carriers or colored factor"
animals. They may carry recessive color genes and produce highly colored kids. These animals are generally less expensive to purchase
so look for animals with nice mohair and breed them back to color.
Some of the foundation stock for today's colored Angora goats come
from goats from the Navajo Indians, saved throwbacks from registered white pairings or commercial whites and outcrosses to other goat
breeds. These animals were carefully selected and bred to enhance the color in their offsprings. Some of the earlier efforts produced
colored Angora goats with poorer than white quality fleeces. The primary challenge for today's colored Angora goat breeder is to produce
animals with fleeces with the quality of the traditional white registered but in color. The base of very nice quality colored Angora
goats has increased tremendously in just the last two years and the top goats at CAGBA events are highly competitive withe the white
goats.
Comparitive differences between Colored and
White Angora goats (as observed by Ronan Country Fibers). Colored Angora goats
tend to be a bit hardier than white ones. Kept together colored goats tend to be a little more aggressive than whites. Colored Angora
goats have less grease in their fleece but generally not as heavy of a coat.
The quality gap between the Registered White Angora goat
and the Colored Angora goat is narrowing rapidly. CAGBA holds a show in conjunction with the Blacksheep Gathering in Eugene, OR in
June and last year's show was remarkable in the number of breeders exhibiting, number of animals in the competition and the overall
quality of the animals shown. If you are thinking of starting a Colored Angora Goat herd now you can take advantage of the pioneering
efforts and hard work of a few individuals that started this effort. For more information on Colored Angora Goats visit the CAGBA
website at http://www.cabga.org.
Show me some Colored Angora Goats. 
