Goat breeding is considered a profitable business, bringing not only income and products, but also a high interest in the business. Breeding goats - an occupation that requires a serious approach - you need to know how to care for animals than how to feed them, depending on the time of year.
Prospects for Goat Breeding
Like any livestock industry, raising goats as a business has its own characteristics and disadvantages. Downy breeds are also bred for meat, while dairy goats will not show good results in this matter.
Indigenous goat breeds are easy to care for and maintain, but are unlikely to be able to reach peak productivity in at least one direction. Few chefs agree to work with goat meat, unlike sheep meat. And goat-based cheesemaking needs significant funds for refrigerators to store raw milk, and finished cheese.
Features of home and business breeding
Today, about 80% of the total number of goats in Russia is concentrated in private households. Large livestock complexes that specialize in this type of animal are also available, but there are only a few dozen of them all over the country. But in the last few years, the situation has begun to change. Entrepreneurs who develop agricultural sectors have become increasingly interested in the commercial production of goat milk, which is why an increase in the number of farms involved in goat breeding is likely.
Many investors who would like to contribute to this direction in agribusiness have abandoned this venture, the reason for which is the cost of goat milk - it is three times higher than cow's milk. But in the current economic instability, this minus has become the main advantage of goat breeding: the investment payback period is 5-6 years, while cattle breeding farms pay off in 10-12 years.
Goats are convenient farm animals for small businesses - they do not need large roomy premises. Unlike cows, goats can feel good in a small barn, which is important for those who are ready to invest in the first stage with minimal cost. Goats are unpretentious to the conditions of detention and not picky in food (more about the nutrition of goats can be found here). All this makes breeding animals at home a convenient type of business.
Goat milk is valued higher than cow milk, it contains more nutrients and vitamins. The product is actively used for medical and cosmetic purposes.
The breeder shares his experience of home breeding goats in the video below:
For those who have decided to engage in goat breeding, there is an article on the site that briefly describes the basics of goat breeding for beginners.
Goat breeds and their productivity
Before deciding on the breed of goats, it is necessary to decide which products are of more interest. In total, there are three areas in goat breeding: meat, dairy, downy.
Meat
Goats of any breeds are permissible to breed for meat. But in order to achieve better productivity, it is recommended to breed breeds that are specifically designed for this. The most popular meat breeds include the following:
Goat breed | Specifications |
Boerskaya | It gives little milk, but is characterized by good meat qualities. The meat is tender and juicy, somewhat similar to veal. There is no unpleasant odor. |
Gorkovskaya | An adult goat weighs more than 50 kg, a goat weighs about 60 kg, sometimes 75 kg. Goats are prolific, often producing several kids during lambing. They give about 500 liters of fat milk per year. |
Dairy
Dairy goats produce up to 5 liters of milk per day. Animals achieve better productivity after the completion of the second lambing, and it persists throughout life (about seven years). There are such popular dairy goats:
Goat breed | Specifications |
Zaanenskaya | Originally from Switzerland. It is characterized by a pure white color, usually with spots on the udder and skin. Large animals reaching 90-100 kg of weight. They have a large udder, well-developed nipples. Breed with high milk production. Up to a ton of milk is produced per year - a product of a thick, soft creamy taste. Used for cooking butter, cottage cheese and cheese. |
Toggenburg | The breed was bred in Switzerland. It has a brown color and white stripes on the face. The size is not as large as the Zaanen goats - their weight is in the region of 50-60 kg. Milk productivity is slightly less, but comes to a ton. A medium-fat product is about 3.5%. It makes delicious cheese. The advantage of the breed is the ability to give a lot of milk in the winter. |
Downy
During the season, one goat of this breed brings up to 700 g of fluff. Animal skins are used for sewing various leather products: shoes, gloves, warm clothes.
The most popular breeds are presented in the table:
Goat breed | Specifications |
Orenburg | Males weigh about 60 kg, females - 45 kg. They give a little milk - up to 250 liters per year. Goat fluff is gray in color, short but thinner than other breeds. Sometimes the fluff is white. About 300, sometimes 800 g, per animal can be combed over a year. |
Pridonskaya | Goats are medium sized. Animals adapt well to steppe conditions. Males with horns. Wool is most on the back, chest and neck. Males give more fluff than females - up to 1 kg per year. The best quality indicators have fluff combed in autumn and winter. |
Goat purchase
Buying goats is a responsible business requiring the right approach. Pay attention not only to the external qualities of the animal, but also to other criteria:
- Goats should look healthy. Such animals have a smooth, tangle-free coat. There are 32 teeth in the oral cavity.
- All veterinary certificates must be provided. Ask about vaccinations.
- Do not buy young goats, as high productivity is observed in dairy females after the first lambing. Do not buy those goats that are more than 7 years old, at this age, productive indicators are reduced.
- Do not get a goat at the initial stage - it is not profitable. It is better to invite a tribal male directly for occasions.
- If possible, try to milk the future goat. In this case, it will be possible to find out the nature of the animal.
Take your veterinarian with you if you are buying an adult, milking goat. Some unscrupulous breeders tend to sell "defective" animals. An experienced specialist will help to avoid an awkward situation when buying.
Goat content
It will be possible to obtain maximum productivity indicators from an animal, regardless of age, by creating comfortable conditions. Goats of any breeds are kept on pasture-stall mode. Animals on pastures are in warm time when there are a lot of green vegetation on pastures. The rest of the time, goats are found around the clock in the goat house, where they feed on pre-prepared feeds.
Goat-house
The room for keeping goats must meet the basic requirements that must always be observed:
- It should have good ventilation. Animals react poorly to moist and polluted air.
- Young, pregnant and just giving birth females are kept separately from the main herd. This also applies to male males.
- The goat house should be clean and fresh. Dirty rooms and neglect of care can cause some diseases.
- Be sure to provide good lighting. This directly affects the milk production of animals.
- In winter, the optimal temperature regime is observed - 18-20 degrees. The main thing is that in the goat house it should be not lower than +10 degrees, and in the room where young growth is kept - not lower than +12 degrees. In summer, observe the same climate.
With any type of content, goats need space, therefore it is undesirable to bind or restrict the movement of animals.
Pastures
The farmer must take care of the pasture. Goats are herbivores. In a day they are able to eat as much grass as they can’t collect in the whole district. Grazing goats on unknown pastures can cause animals to suffer from various ailments that can be transmitted to humans.
Experienced farmers recommend renting land in advance if there is no land. The territory is sown with perennial high-quality herbs.
Corrals
The pens should be on the farm for keeping goats in summer. It is better to install canopies in the pens, under which the animals will hide from the rain and the scorching rays of the sun.
Milking
There are several options for milking goats: manual and hardware milking. The choice depends on the number of goats on the farm.
Manual
In order for the animal to regularly please with a large amount of tasty and healthy milk, it is recommended to milk the goat strictly at a certain time. It is advisable to carry out milking three times a day, maintaining equal intervals of time. Breeders confirm that such a system contributes to an increase in goat productivity by about 20%.
The choice of manual milking technique depends on the size of the udder.
Fist
This milking technique is suitable for goats with a large udder. The milking scheme is carried out in this way:
- Squeeze the nipple near the base with the thumb and forefinger.
- Press a few times to remove the first portion of colostrum.
- Squeeze the nipple in a fist, squeezing milk with rhythmic movements.
Pinch
The pinch milking technique follows the same principle as a fist, only fingers are used instead. This option of manual milking is suitable for goats with a small udder.
Mixed
This manual milking technique is considered the most popular. The bulk of the milk is produced with a fist, and the remainder with tweaks. The main thing is to completely milk the goat - the residues in the nipples contain more fat.
Hardware
Mechanical milking is carried out using special machines. It is advisable to give preference to such a technique if the farm contains more than five goats. Milking machines not only securely fix the animal, but also help milk milk to the remainder. Using this technique, up to 20 animals can be processed per hour. Among the shortcomings note the high cost of such devices.
Goat feeding
An important point in goat care is feeding animals. The health of goats and the rate of productivity directly depends on the quality, quantity, nutrition, diversity and timeliness of food.
Summer
In the summer, goats feed on grass found in the pasture. Also at this time, animals are fed with hay specially prepared for them. As a nutritious and fortified supplement, farmers often give feed to animals - it effectively strengthens the immune system and prevents the development of many different diseases.
In winter
In winter, animals feed on what the goat breeder has prepared for them in the summer:
- hay - 1-2 kg (per 1 goat);
- tree branches (birch, cherry, etc.);
- compound feed;
- greens stored in acid.
In summer, the farmer must carefully prepare for the winter by preparing food for the animals for the winter.
More about feeding goats in winter is written here.
Goat care
If there are several animals on the farm, it will not be difficult to cope on their own. But if the goats are much larger, you can not do without help. Goats are not only regularly fed, but also bathed, combed, milked, and their stalls are cleaned.
It is equally important to remember that the products that will have to be processed and sold will be obtained. It is most convenient to deliver milk to collection points. It is more difficult to trade independently, it takes a lot of time and effort. Managing alone is unlikely.
There should be a veterinarian in the state or a nearby veterinary clinic, since animals tend to get sick periodically, only a specialist can deal with them.
Case and Lamb
When buying young animals, females are planted separately. They are ready for the first mating at the age of 1.5 years. By mating, the female is brought down with the goat at the most favorable time for sexual hunting. The cycle time for goats is about 3 weeks. It is often determined by swelling of the genitals and the behavior of the goat - it behaves uneasily.
If the mating fails, a second attempt is not required. If, after 2-3 weeks, the goat is again troubled, the mating is repeated.
Pregnancy in animals lasts 147-150 days, so it is more favorable to mate animals in September. In this case, the cubs will appear in early spring, so that they will have enough time to restore strength until the sprouts of green mass and exit to grazing.
It is not recommended to reduce closely related animals - this degenerates the breed. For this reason, it is advisable to purchase females and males from different breeders.
Mating is considered a natural process that does not require human intervention, if the female is healthy, and the course of pregnancy was without complications. The main features of the approaching birth include such moments:
- The goat has no appetite, signs of anxiety appear.
- The external genitalia begin to swell.
- The goat begins to bleat softly, often looks back, digs the litter.
- After the fetus takes a generic position, the goat becomes less voluminous, cavities may appear in the groin.
- The animal pushes every 5-10 minutes.
- A week before the birth, a hollow forms between the sciatic bones, the reason is the relaxation of the ligaments connecting the pelvis and caudal vertebrae.
- About a day before birth, rectal temperature decreases by several degrees. The norm is 39-40 degrees.
- With the onset of an attempt, a cervical tube comes out of the vagina - a transparent straw-colored mucus. If white or creamy mucus is secreted, this may indicate a disease - vaginitis. In this case, contact your veterinarian.
Baby Care
After the kids are born, the farmer chooses one of two options for keeping young animals:
- Immediately after the female licks the baby, it is placed in a separate paddock. In the first month of life, the baby is fed breast milk, but the milking of the goat and feeding the baby falls on the breeder's shoulders. If raising goats is a business, this option of keeping young animals is considered the most optimal.
- The kid is kept with his mother. In this case, all the milk will go to feed offspring. That is, in the first few months, the farmer will not make a profit. But the advantage of this method is the absence of hassle in keeping and feeding the kid. Goats are famous for their good maternal instinct, because they are quite capable of taking care of their offspring.
When babies are raised separately from their mother, they are kept from a birth in a separate paddock and fed from a bottle with a rubber or plastic nipple. In the future, the kids learn to drink from a bowl. In the first week they are fed 5 times a day, with a break of 3.5 hours.
On the first day, babies are given 100 ml of milk, then the dose is increased, and the number of feedings is reduced. Up to 10-20 days of age, the daily norm of milk is up to 1.2 liters. From 40 days of age, it is gradually reduced, during this period the kids must eat concentrated, succulent or roughage.
From 10 days of age, it is advisable to feed the kids with liquid oatmeal or decoction of oatmeal, adding 150-200 ml of milk per individual. Lure is cooked daily, filtered, cooled and salted. Gradually, its amount is brought up to 600 g per day, and from 2 months of age it is gradually removed from the diet.
From 10-15 days of age, young animals are preferably released for walks in good weather. In summer, it is recommended to graze in the pasture.If this is not possible, the goats are fed 3-3.5 kg of green mass from forbs daily.
When growing kids with their mother, they are also fed with concentrated feed, root crops and hay. With the onset of the stall period, young animals are fed as adult goats.
Diseases of goats and methods for their treatment
Animals can suffer from infectious and non-communicable diseases. You need to know what diseases goats are susceptible to in time to cope with the ailment:
Disease | The reasons | Symptoms | Control measures |
Gastroenteritis | Noncommunicable disease leading to inflammation of the gastrointestinal mucosa. The reason is poor feeding. | Young animals suffer from rapid breathing, fever, lack of appetite, constipation, which changes diarrhea. | Do not give the animal food 24 hours, but take care of the presence of water. In addition, antibiotics are required. |
Pneumonia | Noncommunicable disease that occurs due to weakened immunity as a result of hypothermia, overheating, or being in a dusty room for a long time. | In goats, breathing quickens, purulent mucus from the nose is secreted, body temperature rises, appetite disappears, cough appears. | Goats need to be transferred to a clean, dry room, adjust nutrition, give penicillin and norsulfazole. |
Mastitis | Infection. | It leads to the fact that the goat increases and hardens the udder, acquiring a blue-violet hue. Lost appetite and chewing gum. | Sick animals are isolated and disinfected in a common room. The udder needs a little massage, express milk. Then diseased goats are given penicillin and erythromycin is injected intramuscularly. |
Dyspepsia | Noncommunicable disease inherent in newborn animals. It occurs due to metabolic disorders, leading to dehydration and intoxication of the body. The reason for this is an unbalanced diet of a pregnant goat before and after childbirth. | Young animals suffer from diarrhea, bloating, lowering body temperature. | Isolate sick animals, stop feeding them for 6-12 hours. Pour sodium chloride solution or normal boiled water 5 times a day into babies. |
Echinococcosis | An infectious disease when bacteria enter the lungs, liver, kidneys and spleen. | Manifested by jaundice, malfunctioning of the digestive tract and leanness. | There are no treatments. |
Poisoning | Noncommunicable disease resulting from feeding an animal with pesticide-treated feed. | The animal refuses to feed, there is vomiting and diarrhea. Occasionally, cramps, paralysis of the limbs. | Rinse the goat's stomach, give a laxative and activated charcoal. |
Product sales
In addition to the need to take care of animals, the realization of the products obtained is equally important. A farmer cannot just pick up and place a barrel of milk or lay out his produce anywhere in the city.
Based on the Technical Regulations of the Customs Union, trade in dairy products is allowed only on agricultural markets with the mandatory presence of documents on conducting veterinary and sanitary examination.
Farmers sell milk from their own goats on the market, hand it over to procuring enterprises, and sell it through retail chains or the Internet. It is promising to offer products to trading cooperatives that willingly enter into long-term contracts with farmers. For the sale of products required to obtain a veterinary certificate.
Goat meat is sold on the market and offered to catering establishments or specialty stores. To increase profitability, some farmers organize mini-production at the farm. From milk at home make yogurt, cottage cheese, butter, cheese, yogurt. Smoked goat, cooked from it sausages, stew, snack sets.
It is even possible to sell goat manure - it is actively used by owners of vegetable farms and personal subsidiary plots.
A farmer should always have with him documents that he will provide to customers:
- documents with information about the supplier and his / their contact details;
- trade permit;
- documents about the seller;
- paper with the shelf life of the product and the date of its production;
- sanitary book;
- certificate of sanitation of the barrel (if it is milk);
- seal number;
- documents confirming the quality of the goods with marks on the planned annual veterinary measures;
- Veterinary certificate Form No. 2 (for transporting milk to the market).
Be sure to get:
- passport for keeping animals;
- The conclusion of the state veterinary service certifying the product's compliance with the requirements of veterinary standards;
- a certificate of quality compliance from any certified laboratory;
- conclusion of the veterinary service on the implementation of all rules and regulations.
Goat farming as a business: preparing a business plan
To determine where to start a business and what to do next, it is initially recommended to draw up a business plan - with its help it will be possible to determine the costs and income of the future enterprise, as well as attract financial investments from investors.
Product Information
Usually, goats are raised to get milk. This point must be indicated in the business plan, the stages of activities for obtaining the final product that is planned to be implemented are also indicated. For example, to sell goat milk you will have to go through several steps:
- Buying young or adult goats. At the start, it is advisable to buy at least two animals.
- Organization of proper care: feeding, keeping, grazing, washing, etc.
- Receiving and selling products.
Production plan
The production plan describes in detail how the production will take place. For example, like this:
- The acquisition of animals in the amount of about 50,000 rubles.
- Purchase of special feeds for nutritious nutrition - 15 000 rubles.
- Construction of stalls and repair of a building for keeping animals - 17,000 rubles.
- Contributions to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation - 6,500 rubles.
- Transportation of goats - 3,500 rubles.
- Proceeds from the sale of goat milk. For example, plans to sell 600 liters of products at 200 rubles per 1 liter.
Receiving milk from purchased goats is planned after the first coating of the animal. Depending on how old the kids are, a specific figure is indicated, for example, after 1 year.
So, the total annual revenue will be 120,000 rubles, and the expense is 92,000 rubles.
Marketing plan
At this stage, choose the methods of product sales:
- directly (there is a list of potential buyers);
- on the market;
- sales to various shops and stores as a supplier.
Organizational plan
This plan includes people involved in business development. These are not only farm workers, but also people who fund the event:
The organizational plan should indicate:
- How the activity of the enterprise is registered. It is better to issue an IP (individual entrepreneur).
- Name, surname, patronymic of the entrepreneur.
- How much money is invested in a business (own and received from someone).
- Plans to attract hired labor to assist in housekeeping.
- The total cost of the project, dividing it into separate amounts: personal investment in the business, borrowers ’funds, state subsidies, etc.
Financial plan
The financial plan is drawn up only after obtaining the status of an individual entrepreneur - it is drawn up in the tax service. Phased drafting:
- Find out what taxes will be taxed income. It is better to switch to a specialized tax regime with a single agricultural tax.
- Indicate the tax system rate at which the organization operates - 4%, 6%, etc.
- Designate a taxable property. In your case, these are enterprise incomes that have been reduced by the amount of expenses spent by the farmer.
- Indicate in the plan how the state treasury will receive pension contributions.
The last step is to create tables indicating some of the nuances:
Income and expense plan | Cash flow plan |
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Only when calculating the costs and revenues from sales will it be possible to more accurately calculate how long it will be possible to get a stable net profit from such a business.
This ends the preparation of the plan and a decision is made whether it is profitable for you to raise goats in the household or not.
Breeding goats is a serious matter, it is necessary to approach it responsibly. If you do not provide the animals with proper care, they will not give a lot of products, respectively, and the proceeds will decline. This can lead to the fact that the business does not pay off, and debts increase.
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