Goat Screen saver 1.0

The domestic goat is a domesticated subspecies of the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep, both being in the goat antelope subfamily Caprinae. Domestic goats are one of the oldest domesticated species. For thousands of years, goats have been used for their milk, meat, hair, and skins all over the world. In the last century they have also gained some popularity as pets. The domestic goat s most often seen color is of an ivory hue, and the rarest colors are of a cyan hue. Female goats are referred to as does or nannies (or, less frequently, as mishas ), intact males as bucks or billies ; their offspring are kids . Castrated males are wethers . Goat meat is sometimes called chevon . Goats seem to have been first domesticated roughly 10,000 years ago in the Zagros Mountains of Iran. Ancient cultures and tribes began to keep them for easy access to milk, hair, meat, and skins. Domestic goats were generally kept in herds that wandered on hills or other grazing areas, often tended by goatherds who were frequently children or adolescents, similar to the more widely known shepherd. These methods of herding are still used today.