Goat Breeding: Grow and Care at Home for Beginners

Small livestock do not require such care and maintenance costs as cattle. Goat breeding is becoming popular because the abundance of breeds allows you to choose animals that are suitable for growing conditions and forage. Breeding goats gives the greatest effect on the productivity of meat, wool, milk, but requires certain knowledge and experience.

Breed selection rules

Specialization in goat breeding is based on demand and profitability of the final product. In turn, the profitability of a farm depends on compliance with the requirements for keeping animals with climatic conditions, food supply, and financial capabilities.

Dairy

Dairy goats are selected according to productivity and maintenance and care requirements. The most productive breeds are from Switzerland:

• zaanenskaya;
• alpine;
• Toggenburg.

Saanen goats with good maintenance can produce up to 1000 liters of milk per year (8-10 liters per day with 2 milkings). Peak productivity - after 4 lambing. The average fecundity is 1.8-2.5 kids per queen.

Alpine dairy breed pleases breeders with annual milk yields of up to 1500 liters, with an annual offspring of 2 kids. Toggenburg goats are inferior in size and milk yield to Saanen and Alpine goats, but surpass them in milk fat content, unpretentious to the conditions of keeping.

In Russia, Swiss women are rarely found in goat stock due to the high cost of breeding individuals.Among farmers, when breeding goats for milk, the Russian White breed and its hybrid with the Saanen - Gorky are popular. Growing these breeds gives a good result: with lactation for 9-10 months - from 500 to 700 liters of milk with a fat content of up to 5%.

Downy

Goat down is highly valued, from which the finest thread is made for knitting the famous Orenburg shawls and other woolen products. Down goats of the Orenburg and Don breeds receive 300-400 grams of down per individual, as well as up to 300 liters of milk per year and meat that is not inferior in taste to lamb.

Meat

Breeds bred for meat have meager milk yields and fur quality. Animals are distinguished by large physique, large mass, fertility. The most famous breeds in Russia are Boer, Kiko, Spanish. A distinctive feature of goat meat is its dietary qualities, the absence of a specific aftertaste.

Decorative

Dwarf breeds, which include the Cameroon Pygmy and the Nigerian Dwarf, are bred in the USA and have African roots. Small animals require little space, feed. Up to 300 liters of milk with a fat content of 6% are produced per year.

Preparations

Goat pens, pens, feeders and drinkers are needed for breeding animals.

Requirements for the premises

The premises where goats will be kept must be dry and well ventilated. To avoid drafts, the entrance to the goat's house is arranged through the vestibule. The floors can be wood or earthen. As bedding use:

• straw;
• sawdust;
• pine needles.

Lighting provides for natural and artificial: through high windows and electrical appliances. In autumn and winter, the light must be on 12 hours a day.

At least 25 square meters is required for 1 animal. Inside it is necessary to have partitions so that you can separate from the herd of cat goats, young animals, newborn kids.

Feeder and drinker

Feeders and drinkers are installed at a height of 30-40 centimeters above the floor. There should be a separate feeder for each animal.

Purchase of breeding animals

Pedigree animals must have passports, certificates, certificates from a veterinarian. It is more profitable to purchase a goat after lambing, not older than 7 years. She should have a smooth, shiny coat, 32 teeth, matching the appearance of the description of the breed.

Content Features

In temperate latitudes, with cold winters, autumn rains, goats are kept in a pasture-stall way.

Spring, summer and autumn

In the warm season, goats are free-range. Animals eat green mass, tree bark, branches, young shoots. As additional food, the breeder gives them some hay in the morning and evening, as well as succulent food. Constant access to fresh water is needed in the pasture and in the goat house.

If there are few animals and no pastures, they are kept in a corral or on a leash, providing fresh grass. Fresh air, active movements harden goats, allow you to grow he althy young animals.

In winter

With the onset of cold weather, goats are transferred to the goat house, keeping daily walks in the fresh air in the paddock. Duration of walks depends on air temperature and breed.Downy and long-haired goats are not afraid of the cold. On the contrary, frosty weather stimulates the growth of a thick undercoat.

Animal care

Goat herd has a clear hierarchy by sex, age. Each group has its own physiological characteristics and requires special care.

For females

It is important for goats that the room where they are kept is dry, clean, without harmful odors. For animals, it is necessary to have sun loungers on which they sleep, separate feeders and drinkers. The floor is covered with bedding. The general corral is cleaned once a week, individual - daily. Goats should be cared for year-round:

• cut hooves;
• cut hair from the udder;
• comb fur;
• treat the skin with soda solution from lice;
• vaccinate.

Goats are contact animals and can be kept with other livestock and poultry, with the exception of chickens (as a source of lice). It is important for dairy goats to have easy access to water.

For newborn kids

There are two ways to raise newborn kids: by leaving them in the care of the uterus or by removing them to a separate room. In the first case, the goat feeds the young. It is the responsibility of the breeder to milk milk after feeding, so that there is no mastitis and to maintain milk yield. For the first 20 days, kids receive colostrum, and then milk 4 times a day. On day 21, they are fed chalk and s alt (5 grams per day). At 3 months, the norm is increased to 10 grams.

When kids grow up without a mother, they get colostrum and milk from human hands. The goat is milked to get the maximum amount of product.

For young growth

In the second month, concentrates are added to milk, starting from 50 grams. At 3 months, the norm increases to 300 grams, the kids are transferred to an adult diet. They should drink plenty of water, spend as much time as possible in the open air. Young animals do not require as much space as adult animals. The corral can be equipped in the country, where on free walks and with the right diet, kids will gain from 3 to 5 kilograms per month.

Behind the goats

It is profitable to breed goats if there are more than 50 females. In the village they keep 1 goat, which provides mating to all females. In dairy breeds, males are kept separately from dairy goats so that the milk does not acquire the smell of goat meat. For meat, downy breeds, with pasture breeding, this does not play a role. The role of goats is a continuation of the breed. During the breaks between mating, the producer is fed in the same way as goats, preventing his obesity.During mating, increase the proportion of concentrated feed containing proteins in the diet.

Breeding rules

Cultivation of a breeding herd in a private household includes the acquisition of a breeding animal, the correct organization of coverage.

Choice of animals for breeding

Before purchasing, a goat should be carefully examined to determine if it is he althy, clarify its age, compare the description of the breed with its appearance.

The main features by which breed varieties can be identified:

1. Dairy. The head is light, the neck is thin, the ears are small, erect, the legs are straight, the hooves are strong, the udder is pear-shaped or cone-shaped. The coat is sparse, shiny, adjacent to the croup.
2. Down. Overgrown with down from eyes to hocks. Down length - from 6 to 10 centimeters (depending on the specific breed). The legs are straight, the hooves are black, strong. Medium horns.
3. Meat. Large head, strong bones, height at the withers - 70-90 centimeters. Ears are long, drooping.

The milk production of a goat is checked by the udder: it should be resilient, elastic, covered with sparse hairs, with teats of medium length.

Case

A breeding goat is found at home for goats. An adult, he althy male covers up to 50 females (2 matings per day). For young goats who have come hunting for the first time, a goat is selected from 6 months to a year.

Signs of hunting

A goat does not get pregnant, which means it does not breed until she is in heat. The period when she is ready to meet the male lasts 24-72 hours. The animal looks restless, irritable, wags its tail, often mekat. The genitals swell and mucus comes out.

Types of mating

There are 4 ways to knit:

• artificial (on large farms, no male);
• manual (under human supervision);
• free (with herd keeping of goats and goats);
• harem (one goat with 20 goats hunting).

Hand knitting is best for beginner goat breeders.

How to spend it right

Begin preparation for mating from the fence on the site. A small area is separated with a net, a goat is tied and the goat is launched. After two effective cages of the male, the animals are bred and the behavior of the goat is observed. There are no trifles in goat breeding, especially when raising breeding stock.

Pregnancy and lambing

The duration of gestation in goats lasts, on average, 150 days (+/- 10 days). Most often, the pregnancy is multiple: 2 and 3 kids. The number of cubs does not depend on the number of cats. The coat of a goat is determined by external signs:

• changing the shape of the genital loop;
• udder swelling;
• belly enlargement.

Not all goat breeders can listen and feel the fetus. In downy, long-haired animals, this is impossible.

An important preparation for the lambing of dairy breeds is the launch, during which the goats stop milking. This is necessary for the formation of the fetus and the preparation of the animal's body for postpartum activities: the production of colostrum. If you do not stop milking before lambing, then the amount of colostrum will not be enough to feed the goat offspring.

During the launch, after giving birth, the goats are given a special diet, thanks to which she will give birth to he althy kids, maintain milk production.

In goats of meat, down, wool breeds, lactation, most often, begins after the birth of cubs and ends with their transfer to pasture.During pregnancy and after lambing, they also need a special diet with easily digestible food rich in trace elements and vitamins.

Recommended