Goats need proper care
May 24, 2011
<b>Improving goat production</b><br>It is necessary to prevent and treat diseases in goats by: <br><br>Vaccinating at the right time. Kids can be vaccinated at 6 months against pulpy kidney, toxaemia and tetanus. Contagious Vaprine Pleuropneumonia (CCP) vaccination is done annually.
Improving goat production
It is necessary to prevent and treat diseases in goats by:
Vaccinating at the right time. Kids can be vaccinated at 6 months against pulpy kidney, toxaemia and tetanus. Contagious Vaprine Pleuropneumonia (CCP) vaccination is done annually.
l When goats are ill, it is better to have them treated promptly.
D) Proper breeding
It is not proper to practice inbreeding. Inbreeding is when goats produced from the same parentage mate. A farmer can do either pure or cross breeding.
Reproductive cycle of a goat
Characteristic age of attainment/duration.
Puberty 5 months.
First Service; male 4-6months.
First service female 7-18months.
Oestrus cycle 19-21 days.
Oestrus (heat) 36-40 hours.
Gestation 150 days.
E) Good husbandry practices
Housing: Proper housing should have enough space, good lighting and proper ventilation. A housing pen should provide enough space of 1.5m squared per goat, room for an exercise yard, feed and water troughs.
Maintaining correct stocking rates: One hectare of free range can maintain 8-15 goats annually.
Sanitation and hygiene: The goats’ house, water and feed troughs have to be clean all the time.
iv) Record keeping: It is a good practice for a farmer to keep records of all events taking place at the farm. This helps the farmer to find out whether they are making profit from their enterprise or not, so that the necessary corrective measures can be taken.
NEXT WEEK: IMPROVED BOER GOAT REPRODUCTION
It is necessary to prevent and treat diseases in goats by:
Vaccinating at the right time. Kids can be vaccinated at 6 months against pulpy kidney, toxaemia and tetanus. Contagious Vaprine Pleuropneumonia (CCP) vaccination is done annually.
l When goats are ill, it is better to have them treated promptly.
D) Proper breeding
It is not proper to practice inbreeding. Inbreeding is when goats produced from the same parentage mate. A farmer can do either pure or cross breeding.
Reproductive cycle of a goat
Characteristic age of attainment/duration.
Puberty 5 months.
First Service; male 4-6months.
First service female 7-18months.
Oestrus cycle 19-21 days.
Oestrus (heat) 36-40 hours.
Gestation 150 days.
E) Good husbandry practices
Housing: Proper housing should have enough space, good lighting and proper ventilation. A housing pen should provide enough space of 1.5m squared per goat, room for an exercise yard, feed and water troughs.
Maintaining correct stocking rates: One hectare of free range can maintain 8-15 goats annually.
Sanitation and hygiene: The goats’ house, water and feed troughs have to be clean all the time.
iv) Record keeping: It is a good practice for a farmer to keep records of all events taking place at the farm. This helps the farmer to find out whether they are making profit from their enterprise or not, so that the necessary corrective measures can be taken.
NEXT WEEK: IMPROVED BOER GOAT REPRODUCTION