Our Herd History

TOTAL TRACEABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY OF OUR ENTIRE PRODUCTION

Since 1995 our farm has been the  leader in the creation of a herd of quality Cashmere Goats, documenting both their health status as well as the quality of their fiber.  We take pride in offering selected animals for sale whose geneology is known and whose fiber has been tested by reputable laboratories.   We have registered the DNA of all our reproductive goats, and therefore all of our production is totally TRACEABLE and garanteed  from the day the kids are born through the whole process of transformation to the end product

ALL OF THE ANIMALS ON OUR FARM ARE REGISTERED WITH  the CapCashIt (Associazione Capra Cashmere Italiana).

1995  Approval as import-export farm by the Italian Health Ministry 

1995  Importation of initial nucleus of Cashmere breeding stock from the Macauley Institute in Scotland, whose research was aimed at studying the adaptability of the Cashmere Goat to European climate

1996-7  Importation of frozen semen and embryos; implantation of embryos and artifical insemination in collaborazton with the  Istituto Caseario di Sassari (Sardegna)

1998  Importation of selected buck of Australian lineage

2002  Importation of 12 goats new genetic lineage from USA, KARAKAN bloodlines, over 25 generations documented

2005-7  Partecipation in the  "Studio dei polimorfismi del gene della PrP caprina e dei ruminanti selvatici e di possibili fattori genetici condizionanti la suscettibilità nei bovini" :  study aimed at deciphering the goat genoma with regards to the resistance to SCRAPIE. 

2006  Analysis and classification within an international database and library of the fiber harvested from our herd by SGS Cashmere Labs, UK - the best known laboratory in the UK, and  recognized worldwide for Cashmere fiber evaluation

2007  Creation of the first Italian Cashmere Goat Association (CapCashIt) , with legal offices on our farm, whose purpoze is to promote, sustain and develop  Cashmere goat breeding in Italy and the EEC and to offer to its members the trasformation of their raw fiber into finished and semi-finished products

2008  Creation of  the InterReg Project "BRUCARE NON BRUCIARE" :  Sustainable use of rural resources and creation of a source of traceable, sustainable European Cashmere Fiber.  Practical example of international cooperation between herders and local and regional institutions.

HEALTH STATUS

Every year and with every generation our goats have been selected on the basis of quality and quantity of their fiber and their health status.  Our current herd is the result of selection and culling of inferior animals, with the result that we now offer top-quality fiber producers, a wide genetic base and ABSENCE of INFECTIOUS DISEASE

Cashmere goats  reproduce readily and are resistant to many diseases.  By using very simple, but tested animal husbandry tecniques, in our herd we have a very high fertility rate (over 99%),   a  twin birthing rate of over 60% and less than 1% neonatal deaths.

We do not use hormones, antibiotics, chemicals of any kind or feed supplements; cases of mastitis are rare, and we are FREE OF the following infectious diseases

- BRUCELLOSIS (Area Brucella-free)
- CAEV (Caprine Encephalytis)
- PARATUBERCOLOSIS (Johnes Disease)
- MYCOPLASMOSIS
- SALMONELLOSIS
- BLUE TONGUE (Area Blue Tongue free)
- SCRAPIE (Area Scrapie-free)

Photogallery