The
Peacock (German: Pfauenziege) Goat breed from the cantons of Graubünden and
Upper Tessin in Switzerland is used for the production of milk. There is little
known about the origin of the peacock goat. The discovery of the peacock goat
was in 1887. The name given to it after the discovery was the striped goat, but
due to a reporter's spelling error, the goat was known as the peacock goat. The
peacock goat also goes by the names of the gray-black goat, the
gray-black-white mountain goat, and razza naz. The peacock goat is
predominantly white with black boots, while the rear half is mostly black. The
goat has a thick mid-length coat of hair. It has large horns, and dark facial
spots/stripes from the base of the horn, over the eye, and to the nose which
gave the breed their original name, the striped goat.
During the
breed cleansing of 1938 the Peacock Goat was incorrectly considered to be a
color variant of the Grisons Striped Goat. More recent blood testing however
could not confirm this assumption. Today Peacock Goats are spread throughout
all of Switzerland. In milk production the Peacock Goat is equal to most
mountain breeds. It produces a good amount of meat with modest fodder demands.
In Switzerland about 300 Peacock Goats are kept.
About Peacock Goats
