Valais Blackneck


The Valais Blackneck is a Swiss breed of domestic goat from the canton of Valais. It has a distinctive colouring, black from the nose to behind the shoulder and white from there to the tail.
It is distributed in southern Switzerland – the largest concentration is in the area of Visp – and in neighbouring areas of northern Italy; it is present in modest numbers in Austria and Germany. It is known by many names, including or Gletschergeiss;, Chèvre des Glaciers or Race de Viège; and or Vallese.

History

The Walliser Schwarzhalsziege is a traditional breed of the Swiss canton of Valais. A herd-book was established in 1920.
Within Italy, the Vallesana is raised in the provinces of Verbania and Vercelli. It is one of the forty-three autochthonous Italian goat breeds of limited distribution for which a herd-book is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the Italian national association of sheep- and goat-breeders.
At the end of 2013 the total numbers for the breed were in Switzerland and either 191 or 446 in Italy. In 2012 Austria reported head and Germany 429.

Characteristics

The Valais Blackneck is of medium size; nannies stand on average at the withers, with a body weight of at least, billies are on average about taller and weigh no less than. The colouring of the coat is distinctive: coal black from the nose to behind the shoulder and snow white from there to the tail; the division between the two colours is clearly defined, and should be within ± of the point where the last rib meets the spine. The fore hooves are black, the hind ones pale. The coat hair is long and the skin is fine; horns are present in both sexes, as is a black beard; the horns are larger in billies.
The English Bagot is similarly coloured, and has been thought to derive from this breed by descent from one presented to Richard II of England in 1387; DNA studies have shown that the Bagot originated in Spain.

Use

The Valais Blackneck is reared principally for its meat; it is not usually milked. The milk yield is approximately per lactation. The pelts may be used to make leather goods.
The goats are also used for vegetation management: they move freely on steep mountain terrain, which they help to keep clear of excess scrub vegetation.