The Toggenburger or Toggenburg is a Swiss

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

of dairy goat. Its name derives from that of the Toggenburg region of the Canton of St. Gallen, where it is thought to have originated. It is among the most productive breeds of dairy goat and is distributed world-wide, in about fifty countries in all five inhabited continents.

History

The Toggenburger is the traditional goat breed of the Toggenburg and Werdenberg regions of the Canton of St. Gallen in eastern Switzerland. The herd-book was started in 1890. At first, the goats were often dark-coated, sometimes with white markings; there may have been some cross-breeding with

Appenzell Appenzell is a historic canton in the northeast of Switzerland, and entirely surrounded by the canton of St. Gallen. Appenzell became independent of the Abbey of Saint Gall in 1403 and entered a league with the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1411, ...

and Chamois-coloured stock in neighbouring areas. The typical mouse-grey colour with white facial markings was fixed by selective breeding in the twentieth century. In 2006 there were 850 goats in the Toggenburg and the Werdenberg regions, out of a total of in Switzerland; this is much lower than in the 1950s, when there were more than . The Verein Ziegenfreunde is an association of owners of the goats within their historic area of origin. British Toggenburgs are heavier and have improved milk quality. By the middle of 2002, 4146 Toggenburgs had been registered with the New Zealand Dairy Goat Breeders Association.

Characteristics

The Toggenburger is of medium size. Coat colour ranges from light brown to mouse grey, with white

Swiss markings {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) Goats expressing the Swiss Marked pattern have a black (eumelanin pigment) body and belly and tan (phaeomelanin pigment) legs, ears, and facial stripes. The allele which codes for this pattern ...

to the face, lower legs and tail area. Tassels may be present; billies and nannies may be naturally horned or polled (hornless).

Use

It is a highly productive dairy breed. The breed standard calls for minimum milk yield of per lactation, with a minimum fat content of and minimum protein content of .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toggenburg (Goat) Dairy goat breeds Goat breeds originating in Switzerland