Rove Goat Characteristics

Rove goat is a hardy and robust breed from ‘Le Rove’ in France. Rover goat breed was on the verge of extinction in 1970 due to less consumption of Rover goat meat. But later a French animal group named ‘Association De Defense Des Carprins Du Rove‘ encourage farmers to breed Rove goat as a dairy goat. Now Rove goat is not used as a meat goat. Long back their leather had huge value, but now it’s not allowed.

Rove goats can clear out inaccessible areas around various reserves or landscapes to counteract fires that these areas are prone to. So today the Rove goat is still only used for milk and fire control, but their numbers have increased to over 6000 heads on some French farms.

Physical characteristics of the Rove goat

1. Rove goat has long, thick lyre-shaped horns that can reach up to 4 foot in length
2. Rove goats are large antelope types of goats.
3. Long tubular/hard pendulous ears held out front facing from their heads.
4. The ears are usually a light version of their coat color.
5. Rove goat hairs are short, thick and glossy.
6. Rove goat color of coats are often black, red, grey, mottled grey/white, red speckled white or black with tan markings
7. The Rove goat weight of an adult Bucks and Does are 90 kg and 60 kg respectively.
8. Rove goat breed height at the stage of the adult varies from  74 cm to 81 cm at withers.
9. The age at Breeding age in male and female are 1 year and 18 months respectively.

Production characteristics of the Rove goat

The growth rate, milk yield, milk composition and reproductive(kidding) efficiency of Rove goats are high.

1. Growth rate

• The Rove goat weight of an adult  Buck and Doe is 90 kg and 60 kg respectively

2. Milk yield

• The milk yield ranges from 2.0 to 2.5 liters a day with an average of 500 to 600 liters in a lactation period of 280 days.
• The Rove goat milk is richer, creamier, and a lot sweeter.

3. Reproductive efficiency(kidding)

• Kids are around 1 to 4.
• The gestation period is usually around 148 to 155 days.
• The age at Breeding age in male and female are 1 year and 18 months respectively.

Advantages of Rove Goat

1. Used to clear the inaccessible landscapes to protect from forest fires.
2. Brousse du Rove is a fresh, unsalted cheese made from Rove Goat milk.
3. Rove goat cheese shelf life is only for 8 days, so mostly sold on farms only which will not travel far.
4. They are very agile and able to get into places that are basically inaccessible to most creatures.
5. Higher milk yields around 2.0 to 2.5 liters a day.
6. Rover goats are hardy and robust breed

Brief characteristics of Rove goat

Breed Name	Rove goat
Other Name	Chevre du Rove
Country/Place of Origin	France
Breed Purpose	Dairy breed
Breed Size	large
Weight Buck(Male)	90 kg
Doe(Female)	60 kg
Kidding	single and twins  are common
Milk Yield	2.0 to 2.5 liters a day
Good for Stall Fed	No
Climate Tolerance	All Climates