Gorky goat breed: description and characteristics, pros and cons, care

The Gorky breed of white goats is well known to the villagers. These are small (about half a meter in height) animals that give 1-3 liters of tasty and fatty milk per day. Goats almost do not get sick if they are kept clean, they eat high-quality feed. These animals tolerate freezing temperatures well, are very mobile and give birth to 2-3 kids annually.

History of the breed

Goats of the Gorky breed appeared from crossing Russian goats with Zaanen goats, which were brought privately at the end of the 19th century to the Nizhny Novgorod province (Gorky region) from Switzerland. The result was white animals with high rates of fertility and productivity.

Officially, the new breed was registered only under Soviet rule. In the middle of the 20th century, Gorky goats gained popularity among the rural population of the USSR. Animals are bred to this day. This breed was loved for unpretentiousness, high productivity and fertility.

Description and productivity

Appearance (exterior) and characteristics of the Gorky breed:

• color - white (grey tan marks are possible);
• hair is short, smooth, with slight downy undercoat;
• torso - trapezoidal, belly - barrel-shaped;
• chest girth - 70-77 cm;
• body length - 65-70cm;
• the head is small, with a beard and earrings, the ears are narrow and erect, the neck is of medium length;
• legs are parallel to each other;
• females are usually polled, males have small horns;
• height at the withers - 62 cm, at the sacrum - 67 cm;
• rounded udder (with noticeable milk veins on the belly), with two cylindrical teats;
• female weight - 40-45 kg;
• weight of males - 55-65 kg;
• females give birth to 2-3 kids;
• lactation lasts almost 10 months;
• in one lactation period, one female gives more than 500 kg of milk;
• daily milk yield - 1-3 liters each;
• milk fat content - 4.5-5.5 percent;
• slaughter yield of meat - 45 percent;
• 250 g of wool per year is sheared from one animal.

Pros and cons

Pros and consunpretentious to feed and maintenance;almost do not get sick;eat little;give high-fat milk, from which cheese and cheese can be made;regularly give birth to 2-3 kids.little kids are active, they like to butt;Goats are not bred for down.

Features of maintenance and care

Gorky goats tolerate temperate continental climate well. Throughout the warm period of the year (from early spring to late autumn), animals can be pastured. Goats love to explore the area, rarely graze in one place. These mobile animals often eat leaves from bushes and trees.

In winter, goats of the Gorky breed are recommended to be kept indoors. In the barn, the temperature should be maintained all year round + 15 … + 20 degrees (not higher). Goats tolerate sub-zero temperatures well, and in the heat they eat little, which is why milk yields are reduced.

In the room for winter maintenance, it is necessary to equip a nursery, a feeder and a drinker.Straw is laid on the floor. The litter is changed as it gets dirty (every day). The room where animals are kept should always be dry, warm and clean. It is better to arrange windows under the ceiling. Milk yield indicators will depend on the length of daylight hours in winter (goats do not eat during the dark period of the day).

Feeding

Gorky goats are ruminants. Their main food is grass in summer, hay in winter. Supplements (vegetables, grains) are given in small quantities. For the proper functioning of the stomach and the production of a large amount of milk, it is important that the animals consume a lot of grass and hay. In the summer, it is desirable to graze goats on a pasture. One animal eats up to 8 kg of grass per day. Preferred vegetation is legume-grass.

Gorky goats can be fed with finely chopped vegetables, beet tops, grain mixtures. Animals need to be watered 2 times a day (a bucket of water). Milk yield depends on the amount of liquid.

In winter, animals are given hay. Feed 2-3 times a day. As a top dressing during this period, you can give straw, finely chopped vegetables, grain mixtures (barley, oats, corn), compound feed, branches. On the day one animal eats up to 2.5 kg of hay, 1 kg of vegetables, 0.3 kg of grain mixture. In winter, the diet of Gorky goats should include sweetened water, s alt, branches of coniferous trees and pharmacy vitamin and mineral preparations.

Breeding

Puberty in goats comes to 5-8 months. True, it is desirable to inseminate females later. The optimal age for fertilization is 13-18 months. Pregnancy in a female lasts 5 months. It is desirable to breed animals in late autumn, then goats will be born in early spring, and in summer they can be pastured.

A pregnant female is transferred to deadwood 2 months before giving birth and slowly stop milking. Milking is completely stopped 30 days before lambing. At a time, the female gives birth to 2-3 kids. Goats give birth on their own, without human help. Immediately after birth, kids should drink colostrum.

In the first days of life, cubs eat 5 times a day. Then - three times a day. In the first weeks after birth, suckling kids are practiced. Then the animals are transferred to artificial feeding, and the females are milked. Babies should feed on their mother's milk for up to 3 months. In the first decade of life, kids begin to try plant foods. Usually, in summer, young animals are grazed in the meadow, and closer to winter they are sent to slaughter or sold. A dairy goat is kept for up to 10 years, the peak of productivity in females occurs at 3-4 years of age.

Diseases

Gorky goats almost never get sick. These animals have excellent immunity. At the age of 3 months, animals are vaccinated against contagious diseases (foot-and-mouth disease, smallpox, brucellosis, anthrax, rabies).

Main diseases and treatment:

• mastitis, inflammation of the udder (caused by keeping on dirty bedding, injuries, improper milking) - treated with diet, thinning drugs (Oxytocin), milking, antibiotics;
• tympania, or accumulation of gases in the rumen (due to the use of a large amount of legumes covered with dew) - is treated by stimulating the contraction of the scar, inserting a probe into the esophagus, pouring milk into it;
• ketosis (due to excess grain feed) - treated with diet, consumption of coniferous branches, sweetened water, vitamin and mineral preparations.

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