Guernsey (Golden)

Golden goats have been on Guernsey for about two centuries. The earliest written reference is in a guide book of 1826, and through the 1800s they were called the Golden Gessenay, after the Saanen valley.

Registration began in 1922 in the Guernsey Goat Society's general herd book, with a dedicated register from 1965. Milbourne's herd at L'Ancresse, begun in 1937, is the one that came through the occupation. From 1967 animals were exported to England and crossed with British stock, creating the British Guernsey. In 2024 the breed was granted Royal status.

They are gold, from pale cream to deep bronze, medium sized, and finer boned than the Swiss breeds. Coat length varies considerably from animal to animal.

They are docile, easy to handle and easy to keep. They are also selective, fussy grazers.

They give a moderate volume of high-butterfat milk on less feed than a larger breed needs, which is their real case: efficiency rather than output.

Not much land. The Golden Guernsey Goat Society says the breed adapts to free range or stall feeding and can be kept by people without much land, needing only a house and a fenced yard. The Royal Golden Guernsey Goat Society calls it suitable for keepers without grazing.

Less feed than the larger breeds. The society puts the average yield at about 3.5 British pints of milk a day, roughly 2 quarts, less than other breeds but comparable once the lower food intake is taken into account.

A damp, temperate climate suits them. Goat Journal's breed profile says a long acclimatization to the British Isles left them coping well with one.

The breed is rare everywhere. The FAO listed it as endangered-maintained in 2007, when about 120 animals were counted; the 2019 international count was 1,381 Golden Guernseys and 171 British Guernseys, and the UK's Rare Breeds Survival Trust carries it as a minority breed. The American population is smaller still.

The trade is availability. The American population is very small and derives from limited imports, so breeding stock is scarce and expensive, and anyone buying should ask carefully about the herd's genetic base.

The Guernsey Goat Breeders of America is the national breed association, and it exists for the preservation and success of the breed here. Ask which register an animal is recorded in and how the pedigree traces back.

Recent sale prices on HoofnHorn, where there are any, are further down this page.