Alamo Cudal Mohair Studs

www.alamocudal.com.au

Had a call yesterday about lack of activity on this site.  Sorry about that, have been spending all my time doing www.mohair.org.au  Now I plan to redo this site over Christmas so call back in the new year. There will be a lot of updates of production data and some comments on the International Mohair Summit. I will also have some stuff on husbandry and the status of the mohair industry.

Its now some 10 months since I made this promise. Life is a bit distracting but now from St.Lucia in eastern South Africa I can make some updates.

This web site displays a range of information about the Alamo and Cudal Mohair Studs and the owner, Dr Doug Stapleton. The studs are run on the property named “Gundamain” 5km east of Cudal in central NSW.  I aim to keep you informed of current issues when time allows. New material will be added at the top of each section. I am serious about the mohair and I want to help grow the industry.

I have been distracted by work on the Mohair Australia web site and much information I might have placed on this web site has gone to www.mohair.org.au  Hope to do more work here is future.

A quick update from Oct 2011.

The seasons have changed for the moment. Wet summers and more "normal" conditions have resulted in surprising changes. Most importantly, worms have become a problem esoecially as older drenches have become less effective. But we now have Zolvix. This is a new chemical and while at present unregistered for use on goats, seems to work well but you should use 1.5 to 2 times the recommended sheep dose. The drug will shortly be registered for goats. New stratagies have been developed for worm control. These include egg counts before and after drenching, only drenching when necessary and rotating between Zolvix and the more effective mectins and multiple drug drenches - even if they are only marginally effective.

The mohair industry has moved on to become a real primary industry. Animals are now worth between $60 and $100 each but the mohair has increased in value to nearly $15/kg. Meat prices have also improved to arround $2.30/kg dressed but you should weigh animals and only sell animals which are in good condition.

Not only have there been new importations from South Africa, but breeders are starting to use objective measurement to guide selection. See comments on the Australian buck trial and developments on the mohair.org.au web site and its Herd Book - Performance recording page.

DS (3/11/2011)

(Bucks from the Australian Angora Field Trial, November)

http://www.herdbook.mohair.org.au/dnn

 Of course I want to sell animals but I also want people to understand the reality of farming Angora goats and producing mohair.

Remember these are my views. I try to provide objective comment and I welcome interaction.

Use the Contact page to send a message or phone on 02 63642132. I am happy to discuss issues.

Doug Stapleton (Postal address: 3492 The Escort Way CUDAL NSW 2864 Australia)

By now you should know about the book – Australian Handbook of Angora Goats and Mohair Production (Stapleton and Cunningham 2007) published by The Australian Goat Report. It’s all in there and it can be ordered from me at dougstapleton@bigpond.com for $60 including post.