Pack Goat Central

I am wondering if there are any other Toggenburg fans out there? I have been breeding and working with them the past couple years. I think they're great, and underrated as pack goats. I use a Toggenburg stud, Andre, who is actually very big, and produces awesome, mellow babies. The moms are various crosses of Toggenburg, Nubian, and Alpine, and after two years of training these babies, here are my thoughts:

1/2 Togg/1/2 Alpine makes goats that have the Toggenburg sturdiness but the Alpine long legs, athleticism and energy. They are quiet, and good for someone who really wants to work them, and will hike for miles. But be sure to have high fences, and not let them out in your yard where there are nice cars around. Also make sure to have a spray bottle during the head butting baby stage so you can train them out of that.

3/4 Togg, 1/8 Alpine, 1/8 Nubian makes a mellower goat who still has the same Alpine energy as the previous cross. But the Nubian voice is a dominant trait, and you will have to be okay with that. It does come in handy to have one or two of them in your herd, because if you ever lose the goats you can call and they will give a yell and lead the rest of the herd to you. Too many, and it might get noisy around the farm, but you can mitigate this by not babying them too much when they are little.

3/4 Togg or more: sturdy, mellowest of all, and I personally like these the best, but they seem to be a little less athletic than the ones with more Alpine traits and it's important to keep them in shape. They also may have a little less work ethic, so it seems important to bottle feed them or at least not let them bond to their moms too much. Quiet, don't head butt much, don't jump on things or jump fences. The yearling I have is the nicest goat I've ever met, friendly but not at all obnoxious, I can even keep him with the milk goat herd and he behaves. He does seem to be getting pretty big, he's my biggest one at this point but is the least dominant of the three big boys. Best for less strenuous backpackers who like to stop and smell the flowers and not have to deal with a bunch of goat drama.

So in conclusion, I'd say that it's worth it to consider Toggenburgs or crosses when buying a pack goat. Also, the moms are the best milk goats - Cricket is tiny but makes about 1 1/2 gallons a day of the best tasting milk, larger Toggs can make up to 3 gallons a day- and the girls are also mellow and don't jump on things. I like to have a breed that is good for both milkers and packers, so all my babies get good homes and don't get eaten. And the babies that seem like they may be too mellow for packing, those are the ones that will be most valuable to sell as breeders.

Well I love mine. They're among the finest goats I've had conformation and personality wise. Mine arent giant, but they're the 'right' size. Felix is now 4 and he's in the running to be herd leader once Woodstock gives up his place at the top. You'd think he'd be bossy but he's incredibly kind and friendly.

I am very interested in Toggenburgs! I suspicion that my favorite wether Dill my have some in him as he has a very tan skin and is super mellow and sweet. How do you think a 1/2 Toggenburg 1/4 Alpine 1/4 Boer cross would come out? It's funny but I asked on another forum what was their favorite breed for packgoats and people really glowed about Toggenburgs! So I guess I will have to get some!

Interesting, I really have no idea. I know Boers have a reputation for being big and lazy (I have no experience with them), Alpines are buttheads, Toggenburgs are big and calm...could be they all balance each other and it turns out great.

I think full blood Boers probably are lazy but mine are commercial so they have a lot of other things mixed in and are very slight for Boers. You can see them here https://www.thegoatspot.net/threads/dill...st-2718521. I just bought 3 Alpines this year and I am quite taken with them, they are so sweet, so I hope they stay that way. Did I understand that the Toggenburgs milk tasted fine because I had heard it was goaty so hadnt really considered them for a dairy goat. Anyway maybe one day I will get a chance to try out the cross and if so will let y'all know how it goes

One of John Mionczynski's best packgoats was a Togg. He was small but super strong. I forget his name (was it Menu maybe?), but he carried 90 lbs. up a glacier. John had a single large piece of equipment that was around 40 lbs. and couldn't be broken down, so he had to balance it out on the other side to keep the saddle even. All told with the saddle and everything that little Togg was hefting 90 or more lbs. up the mountain!

I've always noticed that Toggs tend to have the nicest feet and legs of any of the dairy breeds. They're not big goats, but they are very stout. I hear they can have somewhat standoffish personalities though.

Toggenburg milk is the best I've had (we also have Nubians and Alpines), sweet and creamy, high producers and very easy to milk (at least the ones I have are). The broad backs are great, and I think the standoffish personality doesn't happen if they just get worked with a lot in the first couple months. They might be more sensitive to punishment than other breeds: Tito (3/4 Togg) gets his feelings hurt if I yell at him, however I just haven't needed to discipline him much. He is shyer with strangers than my other boys, but we are working on that, and partly I think that is because he got less rides in the car than the other boys when he was little, as he was so easy that I neglected him a little. Andre (Toggenburg buck) is the nicest stud goat I've ever met and not at all standoffish, but again, I hand raised him.