The Maltese is a breed of domestic goat from the east and central Mediterranean area. It originates in

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

, and takes its name from the island of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. It is raised mainly in southern Italy, and particularly in the islands of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label= Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, af ...

. Although the mt, is reported to DAD-IS, the official view is that there are no pure-bred specimens of the breed in the Maltese islands, although it is possible that some modern Maltese goats are closely related to the original type. The Maltese is also present in Greece, Turkey and the Maghreb.

Characteristics

The Maltese is a long-haired white goat characterised by a raven-black area on the top and sides of the head and long pendulous black ears which turn outwards at the tip.

Registration and numbers

In Italy, the Maltese is one of the eight autochthonous Italian goat breeds for which a genealogical herdbook is kept by the

Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia The Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, or roughly "national association of pastoralists", is the Italian national body responsible for the administration of sheep- and goat-breeding. It maintains the herd books for more than a hundred i ...

, the Italian national association of sheep- and goat-breeders. The herdbook was established in 1976. The Italian population of the breed was estimated in 1983 to be about 70,000, and in 2005 at 40,000. At the end of 2013 the registered population reported was 1934.

Use

The Maltese is a valued

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulati ...

breed; the milk has pleasant taste without an excessively "goaty" odour or flavour. Yield per lactation is for primiparous, for

secondiparous In biology and human medicine, gravidity and parity are the number of times a woman is or has been pregnant (gravidity) and carried the pregnancies to a viable gestational age (parity). These terms are usually coupled, sometimes with additional te ...

, and for

pluriparous In biology and human medicine, gravidity and parity are the number of times a woman is or has been pregnant (gravidity) and carried the pregnancies to a viable gestational age (parity). These terms are usually coupled, sometimes with additional ...

, nannies; it may reach in 300 days. The milk has an average of 4.28% fat and 3.66% protein. In Sicily the milk is used to make ricotta and traditional caprino cheeses including Padduni, which has PAT status, and Formaggiu ri crapa. Kids are slaughtered at a weight of .

References

{{Goat breeds of Italy Goat breeds Dairy goat breeds Goat breeds originating in Italy