GOATS - A colour kaleidoscope - Breeding coloured angoras

One of the prime qualities of white mohair is its ability to accept synthetic dyes and produce vibrant colours. However, if you are a hand-spinner or weaver, the warm subtle grey or brown tones produced by naturally coloured angoras are a delight to behold.

Smokey grey, silver, charcoal even rich brown and ginger, and more rarely, apricot are all available, and if you want to experiment with synthetic dyes over these, the resulting hues are amazingly rich and warm.

Apart from the fibre shorn from these attractive animals, staples of coloured fleece can be used for dolls wigs or felting. Tanned skins (I used the Leidreiter’s Tanning method) are used to make naturally coloured teddy bears or floor rugs, and the goats themselves make an interesting tourist attraction.

It is not only the colour gene that makes these angoras different. The inside of the skin of a culled animal is sky blue and if held up to the light is very dense as against the skin of a white angora. In some Asian countries a premium price is paid for these blue skinned goats.

Coloured angoras are naturally good mothers and often mate earlier in the season and twin more often than their white counterparts – perhaps due to being less inbred and closer to feral stock from which the line was developed.

However, breeders who run coloured angoras together with white animals must follow certain protocols to ensure the white fleece does not become contaminated with coloured fibres.

Shearing of black/coloured goats should be performed separately from the white flock – preferably on a different day as you would if running coloured sheep along with whites. Also if possible – run your coloured animals in a separate paddock, even then fibre contamination can occur from animals rubbing on wire fences. Care and observation are prerequisites in fleece preparation.

For the coloured breeder, kids should be tagged at birth and unwanted male kids culled or castrated at one week old. Don’t forget that white kids born of black mothers will carry the black recessive gene.

Breeding coloured angoras provides some of the breeding challenges which angora breeders experienced before the importation of new genetics from South Africa and Texas in the late 1990s - namely a desire to increase yields without forfeiting micron fineness.

For breeders of coloured flocks, kidding time is particularly delightful and exciting. What colour kids will the doe produce?

Most coloured kids are born with a jet black fleece which is short, course and very curly.

As the coloured kid grows, true mohair replaces the kid fibre and the grey fleece may appear ginger on the tips. But the tinged ends will disappear as the fibre grows into a true shade of grey.

Well before the fame of the book, Fifty shades of Grey, I marketed my coloured mohair under the name Shades of Grey Mohair.

Skins from coloured angoras make attractive floor rugs and the skin from an aborted or culled newborn black kid has the properties of astrakhan. For makers of doll wigs, these are very desirable for boy-dolls, the shaped pate being cut from a tanned kid skin and stuck directly onto the dolls head.

As mentioned earlier, imported lines of improved genetics were introduced into white flocks almost 20 years ago (in Australia) to produce heavier and denser fleeces. However, though fleece production can be improved, some breeders of coloured animals do not want to depart from the silky soft and extremely fine micron fibre size of the diamond fibre that the coloured angora carries.

The natural coloured fleece is highly sought after by hand-spinners and weavers and can be used virtually straight from the goat’s back. Though slippery due to its silkiness, it is a delight to spin on its own but is even better when blended with alpaca or fine wool, silk or other natural fibre. It produces a soft, silky luxury yarn.

Just like white angoras, the goats need shearing twice a year (unless you want to grow a particularly long coloured fleece suitable for dolls’ wigs.)
This speciality product will return a premium price.

As a hobby farmer or tourist park, if you only want to run a handful of goats, the small framed, dainty and docile coloured angora is a delightful choice and, while black fibre cannot be sold in commercial quantities, crafts people will welcome your product as it is a sheer delight to spin.

Some agricultural shows have special categories for both coloured animals and their fleece.

Why not let coloured angoras colour your world?

Note: Years ago the author ran a flock of 20 coloured angoras in Western Australia. She has spun coloured mohair and also made teddy bears and other soft toys and floor rugs from the tanned skins. Part of this article by Margaret Muir first appeared in The Goat Farmer magazine from New Zealand.

Changing Hats - the writer's prerogative - each hat tells a story

A fellow author said to me “a writer wears many hats” – that made me feel better as recently my writing has taken several twists and turns.

At home in Tasmania - my winter hat

My 2015 New Year’s resolution was to take care of some of the things that have been on the back-burner for years, because every time I start writing a new book that is where they stay. 

So, I decided to take a stand, sift through my archives and address the pieces of writing that had been sadly neglected.  

Hosting a garden party

 In retrospect, perhaps some should have been tossed out with the garbage long ago but who am I to judge. So the plan was to revise, re-edit and publish and let the readers decide. Hopefully, in the end, I will be satisfied that I have cleared the deck before embarking on my next full length novel.

Heading up the Derwent to Hobart

Author seeking inspiration

Boer Goat breeder

After resurrecting some short stories and children’s stories, I have changed hats again and turned to an assortment of articles I had written on goats. These will hopefully go into an e-book covering various aspects of the goat industry including hairy, dairy and commercial goat farming. 

When that is done, I want to revisit the story of an Australian bushranger that has long been waiting to be written. Then I need to write a book on Writing Death. 

When those are out of the way, I can return to Captain Oliver Quintrell and his crew and set sail on another adventure on the high seas but for the moment I will stay with the goat hat.

Graduation ECU Perth

Here are a few of the other hats I have donned over the years.

Bushfire brigade W.A.

 

 

Bow watch - Australian Bight - Bark Europa

Cruising Antarctic waters

Paddler in dragon boat team

There are probably lots more - but that will suffice for the present.

GOATS - promoting the commercial goatmeat industry

Goats in Utes - A way to promote the commercial goat meat industry

 Goat meat represents lean meat and is the most eaten meat in the world.

For goat breeders whose focus is on the commercial (meat) side of the industry encouraging other breeder to enter the industry is not always easy. However, here’s an idea that promotes the goatmeat side of the industry and encourages other farmers to enter this branch of farming.

Goats in Utes (utility vehicles, trucks or trailers) was a unique event organised to promote commercial goatmeat production at a West Australian country show some years ago. It followed on from a competition – Dogs in Utes which attracted 700 farm vehicles – a world record for the greatest number of farm vehicles with a working dog on the back.

The idea of the competition was to encourage commercial goat farmers to display their produce (namely meat goats) and was arranged as part of a Boer Goat field day.

The main category for the competition was a group of three crossbred meat goats under 12 months of age.  The animals were judged on meat quality and the uniformity of the three in the group. 

“Presenting an even line is one of the most important factors when producing for the meat market,” said the judge who had been breeding goats for over 20 years. He was impressed with the quality and evenness of the groups but was concerned with the level of fat on a few. He advised the growers to make sure that their animals did not become fat. It is not desirable in meat animals.

“Goat meat is uniquely lean,” he said. "If the goats are fat they are not marketable. Customers wanting fat on animals will buy some other meat product."  

The second judge, a Senior Research Fellow agreed that the animals were in good condition and was impressed with the degree of muscling on the goats. "Being a practical competition there is plenty of opportunity for questions to be answered," the judge, an expert on animal nutrition said he saw the Goats in Utes competition as an innovative educational event for new and existing breeders. “No one has a mortgage on knowledge.”

He advised on balanced nutritional requirements for livestock and said some growers were promoting too much fattening in their animals. His concern was that stud breeders were over-conditioning their bucks, rendering them unsuitable for working conditions.

“You need a working buck, not one that is going to melt in the paddock. Commercial producers buy sires to improve the genetic qualities of their herd. But if a buck can’t deliver the sperm when required, then he is no good to the industry,” he said.

“This problem is particularly applicable where a 'buck-effect' mating was required. The 'buck-effect' is seen when a buck is introduced to a doe herd that has had no exposure to a male goat. The does all cycle between day 6 and day 11 following introduction of the buck and are served within that 5 day period.”

'The buck-effect'

The result is that all kids are born at the same time and will grow to export size at the time required.

The animals were assessed on uniformity, condition and fat score, and conformation. Comment was made about each group with direct feedback to the grower/producer.

The judges agreed that the competition provided a novel way of judging meat animals and promoted the commercial aspect of the goat industry.

“Competition in the show ring is OK,” he said, “but at the end of the day it’s the commercial growers who must benefit.”

Prizes were offered for various categories – first prize of $250 for a group of 5-month-old, feral/Boer cross goats.  The second prize of $100 for three angora/Boer crosses.

As part of the event, breeders were shown how to feel for the depth of muscle on the goats and made comment about a group of cashmere/Boer capretto kids.  Running his hand across the pliable back muscle, the judge said, “You can almost feel that the meat colour on these carcases will be correct (pale).”

He was impressed with a group of feral/Boer buck kids, which at five months old fitted into the male over 25 kg category and were “very saleable”.

While the event had not attracted as many goats as dogs, it gave encouragement to the commercial breeders who are the backbone of the goat meat industry but are often neglected.

*   *   *

Current facts of interest from Meat and Livestock Australia: 

Currently China, India and Nigeria are the largest producers and consumers of goatmeat. By comparison, Australia is a relatively small producer of goatmeat, however, it is the world leader in goatmeat exports.

In 2012-13 Australia exported 31,876 tonnes of goatmeat mainly to the US and Taiwan. These exports were worth Au $145.8 million FOB.

Goat carcasses in the abbatior

Live goats were also exported from Australia mainly to Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. The dollar value of the Live Goat exports was $9.65 million in 2011-12.

Australian goat slaughter in 2012-13 was around 1.99 million head.

Boer goats and rangeland goats are predominately used for meat production.

Cashmere and Angora breeds are used in fibre production.

Ref : www.mla.com.au Meat and Livestock Australia.

Note: This article by Margaret Muir was originally posted in The Goat Farmer magazine – individual names have been removed (provided on request)

Note 2: This is the first a series articles which will be available as an e-book in due course.

How to self-publish children’s e-books – some suggestions

I wonder how many people, at some time in their lives, have written a children’s story for their son or daughter or grandchild. But how many of those stories have been published?

 

Traditionally publishing children’s books was a very competitive business to enter. Around the world thousands of authors submit their work daily in the hope their story will attract the attention of a publisher and be the next best seller.

Personally I have collected dozens of reject slips. The attached picture shows the slips from just one children’s book publishing house, and I submitted to dozens of publishers both at home and overseas.)

 

 

 

 

 

  

With the popularity of e-book with both old and young readers, electronic publishing technology has advanced by leaps and bounds and never was it easier or quicker to publish your own book than today.  Note: it can take up to 12 months for a print book to be produced through a traditional publisher whereas it’s possible to self-publish an e-book overnight.

Over the last five years I have self-published all my text-only adult fiction novels but, until recently, the idea of publishing children’s stories with illustrations was too great a challenge for me to attempt.

 

Printed picture books for children have always been a delight to look at, to hold, and to read stories from. They usually contain full-colour, double-page spreads of illustrations in a fairly large hard-backed book. They were expensive for a publisher to produce and expensive for the reader to purchase. They were also expensive for the self-publishing author to produce.

For authors who are successful in having their manuscript accepted by a publishing house, an artist is chosen for them by the publisher at no cost to the writer. But for a self-publishing author, commissioning an artist to produce artwork for a story can prove very costly.

Being a writer with no artistic talent, this was the problem that had deterred me for a long time. Then I hit on the idea of buying photo-images from Bigstock Photos – a company offering thousands of royalty-free pics at a very nominal cost (average $5.00 each).

Having just self-published the 4^th book in my adult nautical fiction series, I decided (2015 New Year’s Resolution) to resurrect the children’s stories I had written up to 20 years ago  and publish them through Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) as e-books. KDP makes no charge to do this and once uploaded into the system, the book appears on the Amazon marketplace within 12 – 24 hours.

Making your own cover art is also not a problem on KDP. You can use your own picture or one from Bigstock. KDP have a Wizard by which you can create a unique cover in minutes.

Looking back at my 6 week venture into publishing children’s e-books, I began by browsing through similar e-books for sale on Amazon. I checked their length, content size and price. I admit I admired the professional artwork which most were illustrated with.

 

I then read through and edited my old stories as required. Having realized that they were too short for a single book (only 1000 or 2000 words each), I opted to put two or three stories in each book. To date I have published 2 books (5 stories) and have more up to come.

As to pricing – you set your own market price, but a price of $2.99 or less is probably more likely to sell than a more expensively priced book.

Because of the amount of competition and the quality of children’s books produced by the top children’s publishers, I don’t expect my simple books to become best sellers or even sell well, but at least I am satisfied that the stories I wrote years ago have been brought out of hibernation, published and can be seen by family and friends for years to come.

      Why not have a go?

 Here are the two children’s books I have published this month:
“The Bear that has no Fur and other stories” and “Grandma’sWindmills and Wild Worms”.

I also re-published my Young Adult book “King Richard and the Mountain Goat”, and a poetry book, “Words on a Crumpled Page” having added illustrations to both through images I purchased from Bigstock.

Post Script: Though I produced my books in a simple fashion (with basic text in WORD with a few pictures ‘INSERTED’ – not copied and pasted), for those with artistic talents, there is now a free downloadable program available from KDP which can accommodate full page artwork. Remember, however, that when reading children’s stories from an e-book or a phone device, the visual area is limited and any large full page illustrations are not seen to best advantage.

Windmills - Callington Mill - Harnessing the Power of the Wind

Callington Mill in Oatlands (Tasmania) is a working Georgian windmill and the only operating flour mill of its type in the Southern Hemisphere.
It was built in 1837 in the style of a Lincolnshire tower mill, and consists of a stone tower with a wooden 'cap' or roof, which can rotate to bring the four sails into the wind.

After falling into disrepair, the mill was fully restored and re-opened in 2010. Today it is the only working example of its type in the southern hemisphere.

The grain is ground in the traditional fashion using millstones. These are powered by the wind which turns the massive blades on the windmill. (The attached pic of a millstone is from Woolmers and not Oatlands.)

 Local farmers grow wheat, spelt and rye, which is harvested in January and February each year. The quality flour produced by the mill is sold to bakeries, restaurants and the public to create products with a unique provenance.

Wind Power, as demonstrated here, dates back centuries, but with the demand for clean energy, wind power is again important to us. Tasmania, being in the band of the Roaring Forties, is an ideal place for wind farms and generation of power from the wind.

Earlier today I published a short story e-book for children - Grandma's Windmills which introduces them to three forms of wind power, including the flour mill.

Advice on manuscript submissions - 3) Book publication - the traditional way

Have you heard of the chicken that crossed the road?
Of course – everyone has.
But have you heard of the writer who never marketed his work?
No – how could you?

Many people write books but unless they make an effort to sell their work to an agent or publisher, it may suffer the ignominy of dying a lonely death in their computer’s hard drive never having left its motherboard’s apron strings.

How many potentially best-selling novels have gone this way?

Marketing your novel is not an easy task. It can be daunting, confusing and downright depressing but it is part of the long hard road every writer must take in order to see his/her name on a book’s cover.

While self-publishing is readily available for both e-books or paperbacks, there are still many writers striving to follow the traditional route. The following information is for their benefit. It’s basic info you can find anywhere but it’s surprising how many authors fail to read and follow the fine print.

So, where to start?

You have completed your manuscript. It has been edited and proofread and is ready to go out into the world. Today, the names of literary agents and book publishers on-line. Or you can subscribe to various writers' marketplace books and journals with details specific to the country you live in.

Not only will you find lists of publishing houses and their imprints, but comprehensive details of each publisher’s requirements. It is important to note the specific type of book each publisher handles, e.g. science fiction, scholarly works or crime. You can also find how many books that company produces per year. For a small company printing only one or two books a year, your work would have to be both brilliant and super specific to their requirements to be accepted. But where a company produces fifty or sixty a year then their acceptance will be much broader. You owe it to yourself to give yourself the best chance.

So you are confident you have something that is pretty good but you prefer a second opinion before jumping in boots and all. This is where you can take advantage of a manuscript appraisal. Rather than being seduced by a publishing house to use and pay for their appraisal service – which comes with no guarantee of publication – it is probably better to secure the services of an independent appraiser. They will provide helpful feedback about the quality of your work and may also suggest the best publisher or agent to approach.

It is important to note that these days few publishing houses accept submission directly from authors. Most only accept manuscripts recommended by a literary agent.

Authors argue that it is now as difficult to secure such services as to be signed by a publisher. 

Again, do your homework. Not all agents represent client’s manuscripts of all genres. Check their submission guidelines – do they want the first chapter, three chapters or the first page and a synopsis only? Do they want hard copies (printed) or will they accept electronic submissions.

There is no point sending a parcel of 500 double-spaced, quality-printed A4 pages to a company that specifies, send a short outline by e-mail with no attachments.

If you are foolish enough to send in your full manuscript, you are not only wasting your time and the time of the publisher but also the printing and postal costs. And sadly your work could end up going through the shredder. Let’s hope it was not the only copy of your manuscript. It has been known to happen. Then sit back and wait. The response can take three months, six months or longer.

If you are successful in securing an agent then you sit back and wait again while he/she trolls suitable publishers on your behalf.  Then wait for the offer of contract to arrive in your in-box.

With genuine traditional publishers you will pay nothing for your book to be produced.

Be wary of publishers who insist you contribute (often thousands of dollars) to the publication of your book. Don't get your finger burnt!

 

Once the contract is signed, you will likely receive an advance payment on your royalties and, hopefully, about nine to twelve months later you will have a copy of your published book in your hand.

Good luck – it is not a quick or easy journey. 

The author’s personal journey through the publishing minefield:

I completed my first manuscript in 2004 and was lucky enough to secure the services of a London agent. Knowing little about the industry, I signed the contract I was offered not realizing the publisher only produced small numbers of hardcover books suitable for the British Library. The company did not print paperbacks or distribute to retail outlets, and at the time there were no electronic books.

 

Being committed by contract to offer each of my subsequent titles to the same publisher before I could offer it elsewhere, I found myself in a bind. Only when my agent died did I find the opportunity to part company.

Over a period of five years I had seen five novels published but had spent many hundreds of dollars trying to market my own work – with little success. No one wanted to buy expensive hardcover books from an unknown author.

By 2010, the doors to self-publishing were beginning to open. It was a pathway fraught with many dangers such as vanity publishers trying to seduce unsuspecting authors into parting with huge fees to see their work in print. Taking note of the warnings, I discovered how to publish my own books with a print of demand (POD) publisher at no cost. From there, I moved into the world of Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing and haven’t looked back.

At the start, like many aspiring authors I had aimed for the traditional route, but it was not right for me. After ten years of authorship, I can recommend self-publishing, which now provides me with a regular and modest income.

I suggest you follow your dream, but advise against wasting years reaching for the stars  - aiming for the unattainable.

Pics: 3 x Bigstockphotos, 1 x Hills Gazette 2006 (Sea Dust - my first book), Book cover (The Twisting Vine was initially published by a traditional publisher and the title was not my choice. When I changed to self-publishing, I republished the book as Through Glass Eyes - my original working title).