Commercial Goat Farming: Learning Resource Material Book PDF Download[Grade-11]

Table of content

Unit - 1 ......................................................................................................................... 1

Introduction and Status of Goat Farming in Nepal ...................................................... 1

Unit - 2 ......................................................................................................................... 9

Major Breeds of Goat ................................................................................................... 9

Unit - 3 ....................................................................................................................... 17

Breeding Management of Goat .................................................................................. 17

Care of pregnant ewes: ............................................................................................... 27

Unit - 4 ....................................................................................................................... 30

Nutrition and Feeding Management in Goat.............................................................. 30

Unit - 5 ....................................................................................................................... 46

Housing Management for Commercial Goat Farming .............................................. 46

Unit - 6 ....................................................................................................................... 51

Care and Management of Goats of Different Stage of Growth ................................. 51

Unit - 7 ....................................................................................................................... 56

Identification .............................................................................................................. 56

Unit - 8 ....................................................................................................................... 63

Goat Health Management .......................................................................................... 63

Unit - 9 ....................................................................................................................... 77

Goat Enterprise and Business Planning ..................................................................... 77

Unit - 10 ..................................................................................................................... 89

Record Keeping.......................................................................................................... 89

Unit - 11 ..................................................................................................................... 92

Livestock Insurance and Risk Management .............................................................. 92

Commercial Goat Farming : Grade 11 1

Unit - 1

Introduction and Status of Goat Farming in Nepal

Background and history of goat farming

The goat is a versatile animal. It is also known as the ‘poor man’s cow’ in Nepal and

‘wet nurse’ of infants in Europe. The goat was one of the earliest ruminants to be

domesticated (before 6700 BC) probably in Palestine or Iran. The following four

species of wild goats are found:-

Capra ibex Ibex

Capra pyrenacia Spanish Ibex

Capra falconeri Markhor – found in Quetta, Turkistan, Afghanistan, Baluchistan

& Kashmir

Capra aegarus Bezoar / Psang / Wild goat - found in Baluchistan, Sind, Asia

Minor; various domestic goat breeds have evolved from this

The present world-wide distribution of goats shows that the number of milch type

goats is more in the temperate zone and dual types are mostly located in sub-tropical

Asian and African countries.

Zoological classification of Goat

Kingdom: Animal

Phylum: Chordata (with Back bone)

Class: Mammalia (Suckle their young)

Order: Artiodactyla (Even toed hoofed)

Family: Bovidae (presence of rumen, gall bladder)

Genus: Capra

Species: C. hircus

2 Commercial Goat Farming : Grade 11

Important facts about goat

Group of sheep: Flock/ Band

Act of mating: Serving

Act of parturition: Kidding

Castrated male: Wether

Castrated female: Spayed

New-born: Kid

Young male: Buckling

Female with its offspring: Suckling

Young female: Goatling

Pregnancy: Gestation

Adult male: Buck/Billy

Adult female: Doe/Nanny

Sound Produced: Bleating

Length of Estrus cycle: 19 days

Length of estrus: 48hrs

Type of estrus: Seasonal Polyestrus

Volume of Semen per ejaculation: 1ml

Sperm per ml: 3000 million

Gestation Period: 5month and 5 days

Puberty: 4-12 month

Temperature: 101.5-103.5 ̊F

Heart rate: 70-90 / min

Respiration rate: 20-30 / min

Meat: Chevon

Commercial Goat Farming : Grade 11 3

Chromosome No.: 60(2n)

Age of weaning: 16wks (Add 2wks in sheep)

Castration age: 4wks (Add 2wks in sheep)

Age of docking: 10 days

Dental formula: Temporary 0030/4030 Permanent 0033/4033

Dressing Percentage: 48-50

1.2 Importance of goat farming

 Poor man's cow (or mini-cow).

 Contribution to the poor people's economy.

 Supplies nutritious and easily digestible milk.

 Additional income for poor and landless or marginal farmer.

 Being small sized animal, easily managed by women and children.

 Cost of feeding is very low.

 Returns on capital of up to 50% and recovery of 70% of retail price are possible in

goat farming

 Five goats can be maintained as cheaply as one cow.

 No market problem and can be sold whenever people have money problem.

 Provide meat, milk, skin and manure and also used as pack animal.

 Goat milk is finer than cow milk i.e. the fats and proteins are present in a finer state

and are more easily digestible, especially by children and invalids.

 Do not need expensive building for housing.

 Can survive in extreme condition.

 Goats can be raised by landless agricultural laboures, ladies and children because

they can thrive well on variety of leaves, shrubs, bushes, kitchen waste etc.

 Resist to diseases, especially tuberculosis.

 Goat milk has a higher content of B-complex vitamins.

 Goat milk has less allergic problem.

 Due to the small-sized fat globules, and the soft curd, it is easily digested.

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 Goat is called "Foster mother of man" as milk is considered better in human

nutrition.

 Excreta and urine of the goat is 2.5 times richer in Nitrogen, potash and

phosphorus than cow dung.

 They are highly prolific and multiplied rapidly.

 Goat milk is used as a Ayurvedic medicine for person ailing with asthma, cough,

diabetes etc..

 There is no prejudice by any community towards mutton.

 Goat milk has higher buffering qualities and this enhances its value for patients

suffering from peptic ulcers, liver dysfunction, jaundice, biliary disorders and

other digestive problems.

 Buck has special preference for religious purpose.

 Goats form an excellent animal for physiological and biomedical research

 Pusmina (Cashmere) from Chyangra prized for its fitness and warmth.

Constraints of the Goat farming

The following could be considered as the technical constraints for securing a thriving

goat industry in the country:-

a) Non-availability of high-yielding breeding stock.

b) Low level of nutrition and managerial efficiency.

c) Lack of definition of the production objectives.

d) Limited attention to application of the modern techniques for improving the

reproductive efficiency, e.g. AI, synchronization of estrous, semen freezing etc.

e) Limited use of outstanding exotic breeds for improvement.

f) Inadequate control of diseases and parasites due to non-availability of

prophylactic vaccines against important contagious diseases.

g) Lack of knowledge on successful rearing of kids. Kid mortality is very high

when weaning is practiced at a very young age.

h) Lack of knowledge on silvi-pastoral system.

i) Housing for goats in different eco-zones requires a very elaborate and systematic

Commercial Goat Farming : Grade 11 5

study.

j) Organized marketing is very limited. This has resulted in unscrupulous

exploitation by the middle-man who is often seen moving with the goats along

the migratory routes.

1.3 Terminology related Goat farming

Creep Ration:

System of feeding of young animals prior to weaning

FCR (Feed conversion ratio):

Number of kg of food consumed by an animal required to produce a live weight gain

of 1 kg.

Full mouthed:

Condition in which complete set of permanent teeth have grown i.e. 4 yrs in

sheep & goat.

Mohair:

The covering of Angora goat

Pica:

Depraved appetite, It is often the result of a deficiency in the diet such as lack of fibre

or salt or inadequate trace elements such as phosphorus or copper.

Ottorrhoea:

Discharge from ear.

Nymphomania:

Prolonged or constant estrus causing excessive sexual desire in female

Red Meat:

Meat that is red when raw. It includes beef, veal, pork, mutton and lamb.

1.4 Population distribution of goats in Nepal

Situation of Goat farming in Nepal