Meat production

All of the main meat-producing animals are bred in Geneva in state of the art conditions.

Cattle

Cows are bred for both their milk and their meat. A dairy cow supplies up to 9,000 liters of milk every 305 days.

Sheep and goats

Two-thousand sheep dot the canton’s countryside, raised mainly for their meat but also their milk and wool. Yoghurt and cheese are made from ewe’s milk, and wool is used to make clothes, duvets and isolation materials.

There are also some 200 goats of different breeds. In Switzerland, goats are primarily bred for their milk. In Geneva, several sorts of goat’s milk cheese are produced as is goat’s milk soap. Goat meat – and kid at Easter – is also available.

Poultry

The members of an association called the Basse-cour Carougeoise breed chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons and rabbits for their meat. Every year the association organizes a livestock show on Place de la Sardaigne in Carouge.

Some Geneva chicken farmers specialize in one type of fowl such as Marsillon, for example, that is better known under the name of Black Naked Neck and is raised for its particularly high quality meat..

Bees

There are over 1,500 bee colonies registered in Geneva. Honey is the best-known product from these hives.

Bison and elks

Bison and elks, two animals originally from North America, are bred on Geneva’s Right Bank, in Collex-Bossy.
Lean, tender and tasty, bison meat gets high marks from nutritionists.
Elks – one of the world’s largest species of deer – produce very fine distinctively flavored meat that is low on fat.