Goat Farming-Arunachal Pradesh

Goat farming- Introduction

Goat farming an important role in the socio-economic life of the rural people. It is one of the main sources of income for landless labours and marginal farmers for whom it is a saviour during distress. India ranks first in the world goat population occupied 19% of the total goat population in the world. There are 20 different breeds of goat found in India.

Advances of Goat farming

1. Low investment requires to establish a herd in compare to other livestock like a cow, buffalo etc.
2. Different breeds of goat are well adapted in all most all climatic zones viz. dry, arid, semi-arid, temperate etc.
3. It requires very little care and maintenance as it has the unique ability to survive in adverse conditions with the habit of eating almost all types of grasses and tree leaves.
4. It provides meat, milk, manure, fibre and skin.
5. Acquires quick maturity animal with high fertility and fecundity. Requires low feed and managerial attention.
6. Have high feed conversion efficiency.
7. Quick pay-off and low risk involved.
8. Plays important role in income generation.
9. Scope for employment generation.

Housing

Goat shed requires adequate sunlight, well ventilation for the free flow of fresh air and dry floor particularly in the region where rainfall and humidity are very high. The height of the floor of the house should have at least 3-3.5 fts from the ground so that cleanliness of both inside and outside area could be done easily. An adult goat requires 2.5ft × 4.5ft of space. Bamboo slats or wooden slats 3” thick and 1” wide (7.5 cm and 2.5 cm respectively) may be used as flooring material which is laid one after another leaving about 1” gap in between. The wall of the shed should have the provision of good ventilation.

Some important breeds of goat and their native

Feeding 

Goat eats almost all types of grasses and tree leaves. It does not require any extra feed after grazing. But, if provides some amount of concentrated feed (150-200g) to them then that improves its body weight as well as general health of the animals. Pregnant and milch animals should be provided feed supplemented with more protein and energy. The ingredients of concentrated feed for goat as given below.

Kitchen waste may be utilized as goat feed that can be reduced the requirement of concentrated feed.

Some important information on goat breeding management

1.  Weak, low productive female should not be used for breeding
2. The breeding female should have a faster growth rate, optimum body weight with increased milk yield and better health.
3. Goat can be utilized maximum 7-8 years for the breeding purpose. Breeding animals should be selected considering their bodyweight at birth and weaning, early puberty and growth rate, intercalving period and litre size, a structure of udder etc.
4.  Castration is suggested at the age of 3 months in case of a goat.

Source-

• Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Arunachal Pradesh.