# Rare, or Landrace, Breeds in the media.



## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

I thought it would be very nice to increase our knowledge of unfamiliar breeds, so this thread is for us to direct attention to the lovely caprines we don't see everyday. There is no time limit on this thread. If you find mention of a rare, endangered, or landrace goat you think we'd like to read about, please post here, whether it is this day, or this decade.








I've heard of Icelandic Sheep, but not Icelandic Goats. My eternal gratitude to this woman for saving them from extinction.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...of-thrones-how-one-woman-saved-icelands-goats








https://www.exploringiceland.is/blog/walking-with-goats


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## Goatzrule (Feb 7, 2013)

I sold a nd goat to someone who raises San Clemente Island Goats. Pretty breed


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## Goatzrule (Feb 7, 2013)

https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/san-clemente-island-goats-zv0z1410zcwil


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Goatzrule said:


> San Clemente Island Goats. Pretty breed


@catharina raises them, in California, I think?








http://www.phoenixzoo.org/2013/09/13/harmony-farm-welcomes-new-goat-family/


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

`
The Old Irish Goat is fascinating, and almost extinct.
https://www.independent.ie/business...eir-last-legs-without-state-aid-37190519.html


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

I have visited Conner Prairie, but they did not have anything as cool as the Arapawa Goat at that time.








https://www.theindychannel.com/news...rying-to-save-rare-goat-breed-from-extinction








https://www.arapawagoats.com/overview.html
I hope this breed can be saved.


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## spidy1 (Jan 9, 2014)

I love the Makhor breed!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markhor


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

The wild Markhor, from the above reference.


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## Goatzrule (Feb 7, 2013)

I would love to someday help a breed come out of extinction


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## NicoleV (Dec 12, 2015)

Goatzrule said:


> I would love to someday help a breed come out of extinction


Me too! But with the super restrictive goat import laws, it seems like we are stuck with the breeds we have already in the US. Does anyone know if it's possible to import a rare goat into the US in order to help save it from extinction? I mean, you would need lots of them though to keep genetic diversity up. I know you can always breed up from a few individuals like with the Guernsey goats. How about importing frozen semen?


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

I don't know the answer there, but I see that at least a few of these already mentioned breeds are already here and people are trying to save them!

Maybe that is an answer, join in an already extant effort.


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## NicoleV (Dec 12, 2015)

mariarose said:


> Maybe that is an answer, join in an already extant effort.


But I like the one from Pakistan with the twisty curly horns! LOL!


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

LOLOL


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

You can get your own Markhor buck for the low low price of $3500.
http://www.whiteelkranch.com/live-sales.html


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## Goatzrule (Feb 7, 2013)

goathiker said:


> You can get your own Markhor buck for the low low price of $3500.
> http://www.whiteelkranch.com/live-sales.html


I saw that too. Its crazy but would make good money if someone got into it


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Doing what with them? They aren't domesticated. They would likely be impossible to tame, mean, and need a zoo enclosure. 
Many of the landrace breeds are hard enough to keep gentle and contained. A wild breed would be insane.


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## NicoleV (Dec 12, 2015)

Looks like they raise them for trophy hunting. They only have animals with large horns and antlers. Interesting enterprise.......


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

NicoleV said:


> But I like the one from Pakistan with the twisty curly horns!


Oh, When I read that, I thought you were kidding! LOL. OK, best of luck with that. Yes, there is money in raising trophy animals, once you put money into them first. And that is more sustainable (as far as stopping extinction) than continuing to hunt in the wild.


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## Nigerian dwarf goat (Sep 25, 2017)

https://www.boredpanda.com/weird-ug...oogle&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic

guys read this. these are some weird lookin goats....


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

They cut the ears off the bucks because they fight and pee or it's to mark them as culls. Most of the extreme characteristics seen there are faults that would knock them out of the breeding population. 
Some people live to promote outrage on the net.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

In the west we don't want to see such unnatural animals. That's not understanding of the Arab culture. 
These are a status symbol to show off wealth. 
When they show people their bull dog faced under shot goats they are saying "I can afford to maintain this". I have so much wealth that I can pay a groom to hand feed this animal just because I want it.


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## NicoleV (Dec 12, 2015)

goathiker said:


> In the west we don't want to see such unnatural animals. That's not understanding of the Arab culture.
> These are a status symbol to show off wealth.
> When they show people their bull dog faced under shot goats they are saying "I can afford to maintain this". I have so much wealth that I can pay a groom to hand feed this animal just because I want it.


Oh ok! I get it now. That makes sense. I always wondered why they would stand so proud next to a goat that's either really ugly like that one, or so huge that it probably took 5 years to grow that big lol!


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

The Shami, or Damascus Goat, from a different source. Thanks for the explanation, @goathiker 








http://www.goatworld.com/breeds/shami.shtml
Still rare.


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## elvis&oliver (Jun 28, 2018)

Thank you for starting this thread @mariarose I love learning and am looking forward to reading about all of these breeds.
I found this beautiful goat online.

The Dutch Landrace breed
One of the original breeds found in the Netherlands.

At the end of the 50s this rock star breed almost disappeared. To bring the breed back again breeders found a breed that had similar features. By the 21st century they had more than 1,000 goats. the Dutch Landrace Association was created to further the development of the breed and protects this species. The only place you can find this breed are reserves or national parks where they are kept comfortable and reproduce. They have longer hair and beards then most goats. They are used on reserves to control the thickets of trees and shrubs.
This isn't info I knew I read it online and found it very interesting.
In case anyone thought I'm smart and can write this good I just typed what I read. It's a beautiful breed and I respect the fact that they don't breed to sell and commercialize but to keep it in its natural environment and use it for clearing on reserves and parks.
And of course, I fell in love with its coat


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

I like that, @elvis&oliver I love the coat too. That would be a valuable spinning and felting fiber.

Very interesting how so many of the endangered European landrace breeds I'm finding have those long coats. Almost as if the ancient Irish and the ancient Scandinavians did not keep their livestock coddled and barned!

Note, that I am not referencing wild animals, such as the Markhor, but the ones domesticated and used as livestock. In a non-global smaller society you had to use what you could keep alive where you lived. We've gained a lot of productivity with our standardization and consolidation, but maybe we've lost a lot too...

Enough Philosophy! Back to learning about cool animals that a lot of cool people are trying to save!


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## elvis&oliver (Jun 28, 2018)

I agree with all of that @mariarose. I find the history of breeds so interesting and what they were used for in their natural state. This will be a great thread to learn more and check back on!


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## spidy1 (Jan 9, 2014)

Look at this one...Barbari








and this one...Girentana


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

@spidy1 Could you supply the media references for them, so we can easily learn more?


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## spidy1 (Jan 9, 2014)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbari_goat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girgentana
hear you go!


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Here's a cute one 
The black necked goat 
https://www.zermatt.ch/en/village-experience/Sport-Geschichte-Denkmale/schwarzhalsziegen


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

I want one, and I want to name her "Heidi.

"In the 1970s, the blackneck goat was close to extinction. Today, there are around 2,700 of these alpine goats living in the mountains, with 2,300 in the Upper Valais region. Strict criteria and clear definitions apply in the determination of a genuine specimen: The head, front legs and half of the body should be jet black while the hind legs should be snow-white. There must be a distinct border between the black and the white areas. The front cloven should be black and the back cloven white. The hair should be long and hang down below the underbelly. The white part may not contain any black hairs and vice versa. Their bodies have a characteristic shape dominated by a dipping pelvis and a straight back. Both males and females have horns. Billy goats reach a height at withers of up to 85 cm and weigh up to 90 kg, while female goats measure around 75 cm and weigh approx. 60 kg.
Depending on their age, the goats produce up to 2 litres of milk a day. The blackneck goat, which is also referred to as the glacier goat, Sattel goat, Vispertal goat or Halsene, is one of the oldest domesticated goat species in the world."


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## elvis&oliver (Jun 28, 2018)

@goathiker @spidy1
Wow they are beautiful. There are just so many beautiful goats in our world. What a joy!

We went on a 2 week trip to Alaska last year (my brother lives there, free room and board) and took a helicopter ride over the mountains. It was my favorite part of the trip because we got to see Dall sheep and mountain goats. From far above but we still got to see them. We also saw black bear and at one particular point saw either sheep or goats laying down and right across a peak was a bear wondering about. When I mentioned the bear to the pilot he said don't worry he won't bother that herd they can get away and they can be just as aggressive in protecting themselves. It was the closest I'll ever get to anything like that in a natural environment. It was really neat.


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## Nibaga (Jul 13, 2017)

These goats are native to philippines.

its an important livestock in the countryside cause they are easy to manage.
locals says its meat is much better than percentage nubians or % boer lols.
It is somewhat resemble to a nigerian dwarf, (i think)
they are small, weigh around 25kg when matured.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Do they have a breed, or type, name? Or does everyone just call them Native goats? Do they vary a lot from island to island?

Your pictures are beautiful. They look so alert and healthy.


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## 21goaties (Mar 13, 2018)

mariarose said:


> I have visited Conner Prairie, but they did not have anything as cool as the Arapawa Goat at that time.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


We used to have some of these when we first got goats! (don't ask how). We even had a buck with giant sweeping horns like that. A lot of them died for various reasons and we have since sold them thank goodness, but some of the breed is still mixed in to our current goats (who we don't milk or use for meat, they are just pets/brush clearers).

Here's some sorta old pics of our current goats, see if you can see any Arapawa in them. 

Wilbur (his sire a full Arapawa)









Frances (her sire a full Arapawa)








Junior (Frances's kid, his sire 1/2 Arapawa) 








Stretch (dam is Thelma Frances's sister, sire is 1/2 Arapawa, 99% sure his sire is the black goat behind him (Gale who we have since sold).


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

THANK YOU for these pics.


21goaties said:


> We used to have some of these when we first got goats! (don't ask how).


Now, you KNOW I have to ask "how"!
Please tell the story. And what went wrong.


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## 21goaties (Mar 13, 2018)

mariarose said:


> THANK YOU for these pics.
> 
> Now, you KNOW I have to ask "how"!
> Please tell the story. And what went wrong.


Well, basically it happened about 8 years ago, when we first got goats and knew almost nothing about them. A friend who raised goats got some of them (I think in an attempt to make a profit on them), and then gave us some. We had way too many goats and didn't know much about them. In addition, the goats were very stressed from being relocated to the wet south (they had come from somewhere near Kansas) and so that did not contribute to their health. Looking back on it, it was probably stress, parasites, and mineral deficiencies that caused them to do so poorly. Most of their babies were very weak. Some of them were very wild (wouldn't let you touch them), some were friendly (I think from a petting zoo).

We finally sold the surviving ones a few years ago to some people with good intentions for them who drove here and loaded them all up and were glad we did.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

21goaties said:


> We finally sold the surviving ones a few years ago


Well, I loved the pictures of the crosses you still have. Thank you!


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## Goatzrule (Feb 7, 2013)

wow thats so cool


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## Nibaga (Jul 13, 2017)

mariarose said:


> Do they have a breed, or type, name? Or does everyone just call them Native goats? Do they vary a lot from island to island?
> 
> Your pictures are beautiful. They look so alert and healthy.


for i know, we just call them native.
typically they are all the same if not mistaken even from diffrent island.

thank you maria


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Nice


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## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

I have been asked to had my elf goats here. They are Australian Mini elf goats. They come from our feral population but unfortunately there is only 2 big breeders in Australia (some other studs may also have 2-3 elf goats but not many) they are different to the Aussie mini in their build. They are often more fine in their body and a different head shape, plus the ears are obviously different  they can have 2 different ear types:
Gopher ear: An approximate maximum length of one inch but preferably nonexistent and with very little or no cartilage. The end of the ear must be turned up or down.

Elf ear: An approximate maximum length of two inches is allowed, the end of the ear must be turned up or turned down and cartilage shaping the small ear is allowed

Here are some photos of mine past and present (I was the 3rd big breeder with 20 elf goats but with the move I just kept 2 of my girls. I had to decide NDs or elfs 
















Briawell Phoebe (also called flea- 3 year old doe 57cm)
And below is baby flea (5 months old)








Flea with her kids (25% ND)









Next is Stella (also 3 years old and 54cm)
























This is Stella with her first baby Lyla and then her baby again. Better ears than her momma

















This was my main elf buck Aztec Warrior. Unfortunately he was put down this year due to age 






































These are 2 other elfs bucks I used. Black is call King and other is White knight
















This is Arabian Lady








And her Daughter Cheyenne warrior (Aztec daughter)








And her twins (she was bred back to aztec)

































And some of the other kids:
Pollyanne (daughter of Priscilla)








Rhubarb with her daughters Tinkerbell and Roxanne 
















Tink with flea 








This is little Escada








Briawell Bridget and daughter Shilo








2 other kids. They had been sold as pets even though the doe (red collar) I wanted to keep O had to sell for the price offered

















And then my trio Flea, Stella and Priscilla. They were my first 3 elfs and I used to show them together all the time. They were inseparable until Priscilla had her first daughter. Since then she was crazy attached to polly. I tried showing them but even the 5 mins one was in the ring the other would scream and fret. I ended up giving them away before I moved to a friend I trust to never seperate Priscilla and Polly









This is Priscilla and Polly even now at the new place. Polly is now 18 months old
























Her whole herd mainly wethers. The new owner couldn't believe how clingy they are! They left me when polly way. 12 months old and even loading one in the car the other panicked cause she couldn't see her baby.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

@Bree_6293 I LOVE THIS!!!! Thank you so much! I think they are wonderful and I do hope the breed survives.
Here is some info I found on the web
https://www.australianallbreedsofminiaturegoatsociety.com/elf-goat
You gave us great pictures, thank you.


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## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

Yes! Oops was supposed to link that in  my plan it to use my small pixie ear boys (2) and hopefully get some elf girls to keep and then buy in a elf buck and ship him to me once I have a few more elf does


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Bree_6293 said:


> Oops was supposed to link that in


Not at all. You did so much more than I even could hope for. Great to hear your plan to keep them going on your farm.


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## Goatzrule (Feb 7, 2013)

Thats such a cool breed


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

I really like them too. The elf does seem dainty compared to Nigerian Dwarf does. They do seem to have the structure of LaMancha in a smaller package. Do you know if DNA goes back to LaMancha?


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## mariella (Feb 23, 2017)

I don't know how rare they are but I know they would cost and arm and lag to buy. There is a breeder in TX that breeds Nubian Ibex. I know nothing about Ibex but here is the breeders website https://www.centexibex.com/


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## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

Dwarf Dad said:


> I really like them too. The elf does seem dainty compared to Nigerian Dwarf does. They do seem to have the structure of LaMancha in a smaller package. Do you know if DNA goes back to LaMancha?


The elfs I have Bred or bought aimed towards dairy lines. I wanted to make mini lamanchas as much as I could. One of the breeders has crossed with very stocky Aussie minis so they look completely different to my lines. It was so hard having to sell my herd of dairy type elfs because the judges were saying I was finally getting to close to the goal and with good udders too. Obviously would've still been years to perfect it but they were getting the right dairy type consistently


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

I feel for you on having to give them up. Hopefully you and your goats will complete your plans this time.


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## elvis&oliver (Jun 28, 2018)

You’re pictures really made me smile! Thank you for all of them they are just beautiful! Feel free to post them anytime and some pictures of your beautiful Australia. I love your elf goats and everyone looks so healthy what a great goat mama you are.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Nice


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## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

Dwarf Dad said:


> I feel for you on having to give them up. Hopefully you and your goats will complete your plans this time.


Yes hopefully. I kept my 2 favourite elfs based on personality and chose a lot with my heart but still has a good udder and good dairy type. Flea has a good udder too and why I used her in my NDs but she is quite hocky. The rest of her is ok but she was chosen to stay because she is my baby. My main focus will stay on my NDs so only running a few elfs means a t may take many years to achieve my goals but hopefully I get there. They will be more of a fun side project. I want to keep my herd under 20-25 too so have to be careful with keeping too many babies. And there are some does that I want to keep one doe kid from and the doe so will have to sell some of my other does and kids to be able to do that. I have 2 does that I am planing on selling next year. One is a Aussie mini and the other is a 50% ND. I already have one of her daughters. I was going to breed her again and then sell her and her kids depending how her Current daughter matures. I think I need to be more practical and say I want to keep my herd under 30


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