About Messinese Goats

Messinese Goats are a dairy goat from the Monti Nebrodi and the Monti Peloritani area in the province of Messina, in the Mediterranean island of Sicily, in southern Italy. They are also found in the provinces of Catania, Enna, and Palermo. The breed was officially recognized and a herd-book established in 2001. It was previously known either as the Capra dei Nebrodi or in general as the Siciliana Comune.

The Messinese is one of the forty-three autochthonous Italian goat breeds of limited distribution for which a herdbook is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the Italian national association of sheep- and goat-breeders. At the end of 2013 the registered population was variously reported as 9814 and as 10,409, the total population is estimated at 42,000.

Messines milk is used mostly to make caprino (an Italian cheese traditionally made from whole or skim goat's milk) and mixed-milk cheeses.