Goats for meat, milk, fur.

Spanish, Tennessee breed, African boar are ideal for meat production. Angora, Cashmere perfect for fur while Nigerian dwarf, La Mancha and Alpine breed good milk producers. Make sure you build a shed to protect them from direct sunlight.

Feed

• Palm kernel cake
• Lump of rock salt
• Brewery waste roots tubers

Profitability

Let’s assume you start with 100 goats (does) and they collectively birth 160 kids. If you sell each goat at current prices in Nigeria at N35, 000($100) each, then N35, 000 x 160 = N5, 600,000. Total expenses (does) maintenance and feeding will leave a profit margin of N4, 000, 0000.

Mating

Mating is either seasonal or all year round depending on the breed. Reproduction is natural or through insemination, doe cycle is 21 days. Introduce the bucks to the doe and leave them for about a month. A single goat can produce two kids a year with gestation period of 149 days.

Pregnancy and Abortion

Abortions of embryo in early stages of pregnancy may be indicative of infectious diseases. Common problems are listeriosis, Q fever, brucellosis or chlamydiosis. Late pregnancy problems or tacemia may be due to nutritional deficiencies.

Goat diseases and Symptoms

Symptoms of illness

Goats are generally hardy creatures, resistant to many livestock diseases. However intensive farming increases the likelihood of spread of bacteria, viral endo-parasitic or ecto-parasitic diseases.

Symptoms to look out for are fever, swellings of lower mandible, dysentery. Others are color bloody discharge for orifice, respiratory distress wounds. You might notice a change in milk consistency or unusual swellings. More symptoms are excessive salivary secretions reduced growth rate.

Poultry Farming Equipment

Symptoms

• Fever
• Swellings of lower mandible
• Dysentery
• Color bloody discharge for orifice
• Respiratory distress wounds
• Change in milk or unusual swellings
• Excessive salivary secretions
• Reduced growth rate

Goat diseases

Common viral disease that affect goat are goat pox, peste Des Petits Ruminants, foot and mouth disease. Endo-parasitic diseases include tape worm, round worm, coccidiosis and fluke worm.

Ecto-parasite infestation are things like lice, ticks. They suffer from many bacteria diseases such as mastitis, foot rot and pneumonia. Others are Anthrax, brucellosis or hemorrhagic septicemia.

Diseases

Viral disease

• Goat pox
• Peste Des Petits Ruminants
• Foot and mouth disease

Endo-parasitic diseases

• Tape worm
• Round worm
• Coccidiosis
• Fluke worm

Ecto parasite infestation

• Lice
• Ticks

Bacteria diseases

• Mastitis
• Foot rot
• Pneumonia
• Anthrax
• Brucellosis
• Hemorrhagic septicemia

Preventive measures

Different preventive measure are used based on type of disease or symptoms. Common measures are regular barn cleaning, annual vaccination. Others are laboratory testing of any abscess, treatment with Pro-bios, de-worming, drenching kids.

Disease management measure includes alertness to illnesses, regular use of veterinarians. De-worm the goats regularly, provide clean water, barn, proper scheduled vaccination.

• barn cleaning
• annual vaccination
• laboratory testing of any abscess
• treatment with Pro-bios
• de-worming
• drenching kids

Meat Goat Marketing

Goat is affordable regarded as lean meat, low in cholesterol. Favored for its unique flavor, taste premium cut is boar. Farmers can sell at consignment sales, private buyers, and auction markets. Sell through personal contact, online, local grocery store or on-farm.

• consignment sales
• private buyers
• auction markets
• personal contact
• online
• local grocery store
• on-farm

Types of Goat Meat

Kid meat is referred to as Cabrito while mature meat is Chevon. Types of goat meat include pygmy, Kiko, Nubian, Spanish or boar.

• Cabrit
• Chevon
• Pygmy
• Kiko
• Nubian
• Spanish
• boar