Gulabi goats: breed description and pros and cons, rules of keeping

Gulabi is a rare goat breed with long ears that lives in countries with hot climates. In our latitudes, animals can also be bred. In summer, goats can graze on the pasture, eat fresh grass. They need to make hay for the winter. Gulabi milking begins from the second year of life, that is, after the first lambing. The milk of this breed is tasty and very fatty, suitable for making cheese.

Origin of the breed

Gulabi goats are rare animals for our places with long ears hanging down to the knees. They come from Pakistan and India. We call gulabis oriental goats. These animals are considered an exotic breed and cost from $500 each.

The very word "gulabi" in translation means "pink". This does not apply to the coat color, it is white in goats. Gulabi skin color is pink. At home, these animals are called bass. Their progenitors are considered to be Camori goats and breeds with a white coat color.

Selection has been carried out by Pakistani and Indian goat breeders for many centuries. Animals of exclusively white color with long ears were selected. Gulabi crosses have red and brown spots on the head or on other parts of the body. Goats of this breed are bred in many hot Asian countries, because it is white short hair and long thin ears that save animals from overheating. True, gulabis adapt well to the climate of the middle zone. In winter, they need to be kept in a warm room where the air temperature is not lower than 15 degrees Celsius.

Description and characteristics of Gulabi

Goats of this breed have an unusual appearance. First of all, long, thin, wide, soft ears hanging in folds to the very knees are striking.At home in a hot climate, they help regulate heat transfer. Long ears do not allow the body of goats to overheat. The head is small but slightly unusual. The nasal bone has a hump. There is a skin dewlap under the lower jaw. The neck is long and muscular.

These animals have tall and strong legs. The body is muscular, elongated, compact. The coat is white, but short. In height, the gulabis reach a meter at the withers. Weight - 50-90 kilograms. The udder is medium sized, cupped, with long teats, perfect for machine milking.

Gulabi give from 1 to 4 liters of milk a day. Fat content is high, about 5 percent. At one time, you can milk from 500 grams to 1-2 liters of milk. True, goats begin to be milked only after the first lambing.

Milk has a pleasant creamy-sweet taste. It doesn't smell like goat. Milk contains almost 4 percent casein. It does not cause allergies, is very nutritious and suitable for making cheese. From 10 liters of milk, 1.3 kg of goat cheese is obtained.

Main pros and cons

Dignity of the Gulabi breed:

high milk yield (1-4 liters per day);
milk fat - 5%;
casein protein content - 4%;
the ability to get cheese from milk;
machine-friendly udder;
suitable for meat and dairy breeding;
calm character.

Flaws:

high cost;
need for quality feed;
females bring one goat each;
for fertilization and prolongation of lactation, a goat of the Gulabi breed is needed.

Rules for keeping and caring for animals

This heat-loving goat breed can graze on pastures in summer. True, in rainy weather it is not recommended to bring the gulabi to the meadow. Goats do not want to eat wet or dewy grass.

In winter, this breed needs to be kept in a special non-residential premises. It can be a barn made of brick, wood or gas silicate, foam concrete blocks. In the room where the goats are kept, the temperature should be maintained from 15 to 20 degrees Celsius all year round. Ventilation is equipped in the barn; infrared lamps are bought for heating in winter. Straw bedding is laid on the floor, which is replaced with a clean one as it gets dirty. There should be a feeder and drinker in the room. Goats can be watered from a bucket. There should be at least 2-4 square meters of space per animal.

Gulabi are fed three times a day. Goats are milked only after the first lambing, the frequency is 2 times a day. Animals must be kept warm and clean, otherwise they will get sick. They don't need to brush their fur. This is a shorthaired breed. Gulabi's wool does not tangle and does not form tangles. In addition, the coat is adapted to self-cleaning from straw and grass.Flea and worm treatment only needed quarterly.

What the breed is fed with

There is a myth that you can feed goats anything. This is not true. Not only the well-being of animals, their ability to reproduce he althy offspring, but also milk production depends on nutrition. The better the animals are fed, the more nutritious their milk is.

Gulabis should eat meadow grass. In summer, they can be pastured all day long. In winter, the animals are given meadow hay dried in the sun. In winter, the diet of goats can include spring straw, birch and oak branches, cake, silage, bran, cereals - oats, barley, corn. Animals are allowed to be fed with vegetables and root crops (carrots, cabbage, fodder beet, pumpkin). S alted porridge is cooked from grain. Vegetables are served finely chopped.

The main food for gulabis is fresh grass in summer and hay in winter. Goats should be given clean water twice a day.In winter, pharmacy vitamin supplements can be added to the drink, vitamin D is a must. It is also recommended to give goats some s alt, mineral preparations, crushed chalk, bone meal.

Gulabi goat breeding rules

This breed has a friendly and calm nature. Gulabis are like dogs. They quickly become attached to their master, follow him, sleep at the door of the house, waiting for a person. Goats respond to the nickname, they are unobtrusive, phlegmatic, rarely bleat.

This breed can be kept in any household, even in the country. Gulabi will definitely make friends with other animals, for example, with cats or dogs. Goats of this breed do not eat so much, about 4 kg of grass per day. For the winter, they need to prepare at least 500 kg of hay, which is 25 bales weighing 20 kg each.

Gulabi start milking only after the first birth. The first mating is carried out when the females are 12-18 months old, not earlier. Body weight must be at least 40 kg.Pregnancy in goats lasts 5 months. In the first lamb, a goat brings one cub. With the uterus, the kid is left up to 3-4 months.

Common diseases and their treatments

If the gulabis are kept clean and warm, fed with high-quality food, then they will not get sick. True, the condition of animals should always be closely monitored. He althy goats eat well and give their milk quota.

Sick - refuse food, they have a fever, cough, nasal discharge, constipation or diarrhea.

Animals suffer from infectious and non-contagious diseases resulting from improper metabolism (obesity, osteodystrophy, ketosis). At the age of 3-4 months, goats are vaccinated against rabies, brucellosis, anthrax and foot-and-mouth disease. Goats are often vaccinated against tetanus, tick-borne encephalitis.

In the cold season, animals with improper maintenance experience respiratory diseases.Various drugs are used for treatment, including antibiotics. As a preventive measure, it is recommended to keep the gulabi in favorable conditions, that is, in warmth, not in dampness and not in a draft, give them dried chamomile, coltsfoot, sage, St. John's wort.

With improper feeding, animals develop diseases of the digestive system (blockage of the esophagus, stomatitis, gastroenteritis, poisoning). You can prevent diseases if you feed animals with high-quality, fresh, not wet food, free of mold and pollution. Root crops are recommended to be finely chopped. It is necessary to ensure that the animals do not swallow foreign objects (pieces of wire, whole vegetables).

Gulabis may have udder problems. You can prevent the disease if you do not keep animals in a draft, wet and dirty bedding. When cracks appear on the nipples, the udder is washed with a solution of boric acid and lubricated with vaseline oil. In case of complications, it is imperative to show the gulabi to a veterinarian.