Spanish goat

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The Spanish goat came originally from Spain via Mexico to the USA. It is now a meat type goat found primarily on or around the Edwards Plateau of Central Texas. The Spanish goat has the ability to breed out of season and is an excellent range animal because of its small udder and teats. In addition, Spanish goats are usually characterized as being very hardy, able to survive and thrive under adverse agroclimatic conditions with only limited management inputs. Within the general group of "Spanish goats" there are those that are purely Spanish, whereas others represent an amalgam of all genotypes introduced to the area. There have been obvious infusions of dairy and Angora blood in many Spanish herds but no organized attempt has ever been made to use them for milk or mohair production. The term "wood" (Florida), "brush" or "briar" (North Carolina, South Carolina), "hill" (Virginia), and "scrub" (Midwest Pennsylvania) goat tends to be used in the Southeast and elsewhere. Until recently, these goats were kept mainly for clearing brush and other undesirable plant species from pasture lands. In recent years, the escalating demand for goat meat and the expanding interest in cashmere production have focused attention on the Spanish goat. Current estimates of the Spanish goat population is around 500,000 heads. Several Spanish goat producers in Texas have been intensively selecting for increased meat production for the past several years. From information obtained from these producers, these "selected" Spanish goats appear to greatly outperform the ordinary Spanish goat used primarily for pasture maintenance.