Jonica Goat Breed – Everything You Need to Know

These beautiful friendly goats have a long neck and graceful profile with their long pendulous ears.

They are a gentle calm breed that is ideal for the small to large farming environment. They also make excellent pets that will produce a lot of very healthy fresh goats’ milk.

They have a beautiful white silky coat that sometimes appears to have a pink hue to it. This may have something to do with their very pink skin beneath their silky coats.

Jonica Goat Quick Profile Overview

Their pink skin and slightly pinkish/white silky coat makes the Jonica goat breed a very beautiful one
Country of Origin:	Italy
Other Names:	None
Breed Size:	Medium
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Main Purpose:	Milk
Can be used for	Breeding, Milk, Pets
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Temperament:	Easy going, friendly and calm
Good with Kids?	They are good around supervised children
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Ideal Environment:	Small to medium-sized farms
Ideal Climate:	All Climates
Conservation Status:	No Listed by the *ALC Status Common
Health Issues?	No known health issues
Good Starter Goat?	Yes, they are a good starter goat and can be kept in a medium sized garden
Goat Associations:	Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia
Goat Clubs:	No known goat breeders’ clubs
Note: *ALC stands for American Livestock Conservancy

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

A medium sized goat that is very friendly and calm. They are of medium sized with a small body. Their skin is a fresh pink which sometimes can make their coats look like they are a slightly pinkish color. They have very short legs with the thighs covered by long hair making their legs almost look like chicken legs. Both the bucks and does have white beards.
Color(s):	White Coats are the same for the does and bucks
Goat⇒	Doe	buck
Breed Weight:	105 lbs.	149 lbs.
Breed Height:	70 cm at withers	78 cm at withers
Hair:	Long silky coat	Long silky coat
Ears:	Medium pendulous ears	Medium pendulous ears
Horns:	Thick, short and curl backwards from the head	Thick, short and curl backwards from the head
Matures at age:	5 to 15 months	3 to 15 months
Puberty Age:	5 to 6 months	4 to 9 months
Breeding Age:	18 months	1 year
Breeding Traits:	1 Breeding cycle	Cover 20 to 30 does in 1 season

DOE BREEDING & MILKING INFORMATION

They have one breeding cycle a year but have quite big litters of kids compared to most other goat breeds
Breeding Period/cycle:	Usually lasts 12 to 36 hours Ave. 21 days/18 to 24 days
Gestation Period:	Usually, around 148 to 155 day but most are 150 days
Kids:	1 to 3 kids per litter
Good Mothers?	Yes, they are very good loving mothers that will wean their kids
Lactation Period:	Usually around 250 to 284 days. Most common is 284 days
Milking From:	4 to 6 weeks after kidding
Milk Quality:	Normal, They have well-positioned udders for easy milking
Milking Level:	Good, They have decent butterfat content and their milk is highly nutritious
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GOOD TO KNOW

So good to know information about the Jonica Goat breed
Where to buy them:	They are not a breed that is for sale in America although they are a really good milk producing breed. Check with the various goat societies and associations listed under the “Useful Links” section of this article for links to these
Agility:	They are quite agile and will get through any space they need to get through. Or over any obstacle that is in their way of getting to where they want to go
Interact with other animals:	They do not mind interacting with other domestic animals or farm livestock. As long as the animal does not pose a threat to them or their kids.
General Information:	These Italian goats produce a good quality milk that can be used in most dairy products such as ice-cream, cream, cheese and yoghurt.

HISTORY

The Jonica is a breed of domestic goat that originates from the province of Taranto in Puglia. Puglia is in Southern Italy where this breed is thought to have developed from the crossing of the Maltese breed with various local goat breeds.

The Jonica goat breed is one of the eight autochthonous Italian goat breeds to be registered in the genealogical herd book. A herd book which is maintained by the Italian National Association of sheep breeders.

The Jonica has been a prized milk breed for generations with a known milk yield of around 350 to 400 liters of milk a year.
Their temperament of well-behaved nature also makes them a top farm pet to have.

Like most of the Italian breeds listed in the herd book this breeds numbers drastically declined in the early 20th century. A census of the herd taken in 2012 showed that there was around a population of 232 of these goats left in their native lands.

Although that is not the complete number of the goat’s population as they are also spread through the Province of Taranto, Calabria, Province of Catanzaro, Province of Matera, Province of Reggio and the Province of Lecce and Murge.

USEFUL LINKS