AGRICULTURE NEWS - The Toggenburg dairy goat originated in the Toggenburg Valley in Switzerland. It is generally regarded as the oldest known dairy goat breed.
The fertile valleys of Switzerland are separated from one another by steep mountain ranges; these natural partitions spurred the development of pure breeds in this country.
Pure Toggenburgs were imported to South Africa in the early 1900s. Here, they were crossbred with South African-type milch goats originating from pure Saanen goats imported from 1900 to 1914. This yielded some good milkers.
For almost 20 years thereafter, no Toggenburg goats were registered in South Africa and all the old genetic stock disappeared.
In 1951, WH Morris of Cape Town imported a pure Toggenburg male and two ewe kids from Switzerland. Over the next 30 or so years, 167 females and 58 males were registered.
Read the full article here on the Caxton publication, Farmer's Weekly
