General Characteristics of Bagot Goats

History of Bagot Goats

• The exact history of how the Bagot goat came to be is not known, but the first Bagot documentation occurred in the 1380s when the goats arrived at Blithfield Hall in Staffordshire, England. Blithfiled Hall at the time was home to the Bagot family, and the goats were subsequently given the family name. The goats roamed the Blithfiled Estate for more than 600 years, and they were used primarily as a form of game for hunting on the estate. The Bagot Goat Breed Database indicates that the goats were sent to other country parks in England in 1954, as well as being released into the Rhinog Mountains in Wales. Bagot goats were also turned over to the Rare Breed Survival Trust in 1979 to ensure the continuation of the breed.

Physical Characteristics of Bagot Goats

• Bagot goats have a characteristic black and white coat that is long and quite shaggy. The front part of the body including the face, front legs, chest and shoulder is usually solid black. At about the shoulders, the black coloration abruptly ends and the rest of the coat is usually all white. Bagots are medium sized goats, standing about 30 inches high at the shoulder. Males have large curved horns that sweep back in a generous arc. Females have horns, too, which are straighter, smaller and more delicate than the males'.

Bagot Goat Breed Standards

• Breed standards for the Bagot goat include black color on the forequarters and the head (Bagots with white patches on the head or neck may be disqualified depending on the size of the patch); hindquarters should be mostly white in color. Horns on males need to be large and curved, while females' horns are straighter and smaller; horns on both sexes need to be located slightly off-center on the head. The coat should be long and shaggy and the ears self-supporting. Bagot goats can be disqualified from registration if they have droopy ears, tassels on the neck, abnormalities on the teats or a short coat.

Uses for the Bagot Goat

• Numbers for the Bagot goat breed have suffered because Bagot goats do not excel as dairy or meat goats. While Bagot goats can be used for meat, other breeds (e.g., La Mancha and Nubian) are much larger and provide higher monetary returns. Likewise, the Bagot goat does not produce as much milk as the high producing dairy goat breeds (e.g., Alpine and Toggenburg). The Bagot goat has a nervous temperament, so it cannot be used as a harness goat. This characteristic also interferes with using it as a milking goat. Bagot breeders and enthusiasts concede that the Bagot breed has little agricultural use, but they enjoy Bagot goats for their beauty and rarity.