Angora goats are popular throughout the world for their rich, luxurious fabric and fiber.
They are also popular just as companions and sometimes for milk.
You could be forgiven for looking at an Angora goat and thinking it is a sheep—but if you’re thinking of getting one, one thing you should be aware of is how long they live.
Angora goats may not live as long as other goats, but they will still be around for quite a while.
Be prepared to care for them for this long, and perhaps even longer as outliers living much longer than this are still common.
Let’s look further into this.
How long do domestic Angora goats live?
So, there are many factors influencing this, as I mentioned.
The first is going to be the local climate conditions where you are keeping them.
Angora goats, and goats in general, are highly adaptable and hardy creatures, but the conditions they live in will still have a big impact on their lifespan.
Angora goats do quite well in mild to colder temperatures, since their thick, fibrous coats keep them warm.
The other factor is their diet. Angora goats need a reasonably balanced diet, and they won’t be as healthy as they could be if they only eat hay or poor quality, unvaried forage.
They also need fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes.
Assuming, then, the best balance of conditions and diet, you can expect an Angora goat to live for at least ten years.
In most cases, they will probably live a bit longer than this, though an Angora goat older than about 12 is not very likely or common.
As I mentioned, this is shorter than some other breeds, but not by a great deal.
Most goats live to be 15-20 at the absolute oldest, so there is not an enormous amount of difference.
Nonetheless, Angora goats are shorter lived in domestic settings.
But what about in the wild?
How long do Angora goats live in the wild?
There’s scant solid data to go on in order to answer this question, but there are a few things we can certainly extrapolate from what we do know.
Given the shorter lifespan of Angora goats in domestic settings, we know that it takes the best-balanced diet and conditions to get them to around 10 in the first place.
In general, wild animals live around 2 thirds as long as their domestic counterparts.
Wild Angora goats, then, in the best conditions available to a wild goat, will live for around 6-7 years.
They do quite well compared to other wild goats in colder climates due to their fiber.
So, they are less affected by cold weather, but it will still have an impact—and more so in the wild, where they have no solid shelter.
They will live for different lengths of time depending on where they are in the world.
If they are somewhere mild with plentiful available food, they’ll live for a lot longer than others.
But they will very rarely live to be as old as 8 or 9 in the wild.
What is the oldest ever Angora goat?
Again, we really can’t say with any certainty.
What we do know is that the oldest recorded goat was a 24-year-old doe, and we know of no solid evidence of a goat being older than this.
Given the general lifespan of Angora goats even in the best conditions, it’s certainly unlikely to be anything close to this age.
As far as you are concerned, it would be a major outlier if your Angora goat lived to be 13-14 years old.
Ultimately, you need to be prepared for it to be around for longer than you might expect.
This means you will be fully prepared no matter what.
The other question is about how old they can continue to breed, and what age they can start breeding at.
How old can Angora goats breed?
In terms of when they can begin breeding, it is quite early on.
They do come into sexual maturity by around 10 months, though most would suggest putting off breeding does until around 18 months old.
Kidding takes a significant toll on their body, and so they should be comfortable and fully mature first.
Males can breed with older females from 10-12 months.
The other question is how old they are before they were no longer capable of breeding.
Generally speaking, they are able to breed until they are about 8 years old.
Again, males can continue for longer, usually, since they do not bear the trauma of kidding.
Females over the age of 8 really shouldn’t be kidded anymore as it can be painful and stressful for them, and can lead to an early death.
Angora goats are among the younger of the goat breeds, then.
They don’t tend to live much longer than 12-13 years at the absolute maximum, and many goat breeds in domestic settings live to be around 15 at minimum.
If you’re up for keeping a goat, then, an Angora makes a great choice without the same time commitment as other breeds.
More in Angora
- Are Angora Goats Easy To Look After?
- Are Angora Goats Friendly?
- Are Angora Goats Good For Meat?
- Are Angora Goats Good Milkers?
- Are Angora Goats Hardy?
- Are Angora Goats Profitable?
- Are Angora Goats Rare?
- Do Angora Goats Need To Be Shorn?
- How Long Do Angora Goats Live?
- How Much Does An Angora Goat Cost?