Goat farming can be a fulfilling business exercise

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Farmer’s Diary with Sheuneni Kurasha

7 April 2019

Welcome dear reader to our column where we explore all things farming.

This week we focus on goat farming as a business like I promised last week. I am thrilled with the feedback received from many of our readers expressing their desire to venture into goat farming.

In this instalment we explore how to determine the best breed or crossbreeds for a farming enterprise and the importance of a selecting quality bucks and does to ensure genetics superiority and hybrid vigour in a breeding programme.

One of the very first decisions a farmer has to make when venturing into goat farming as a business is which breed or crosses of breeds to produce and why. This is crucial because various breeds have different traits, that is, strengths and weaknesses, which make them more suitable to different environments and markets.

The main purpose for which a farmer is venturing into goat farming is one of the major determinant factors for the type of breed or crossbreeds one chooses. Those focusing on meat production for instance, will likely consider breeds with bigger frame sizes. It may also be more convenient and cheaper for farmers to focus on improving the breeds they already have than to replace and start anew, since these are already adapted to their local environment. Crossbreeding is one of the most viable options particularly if one is targeting high growth rate. Genetic improvement is achieved through sourcing higher performing genetics and cross breeding with indigenous varieties in order to provide the benefits of hybrid vigour.

The most common types of goats found in Zimbabwe are the large Matebele and the Small East African (SEA) goats, which are indigenous breeds and well adapted to the local environment. In addition, there are other exotic breeds such as the Boer goat, Savannah and Kalahari Red, which are mainly produced for meat given their large frame sizes when compared with indigenous breeds. There are also other breeds that are reared for milk like the Saanen and Anglo-Nubian goats. The Angora goat on the other hand is reared for the fibre which is derived from its fleece, the mohair.

Among the most critical traits that farmers should consider in deciding on the breed of goats to produce include growth rate, conformation such as feet, udder and jaw, frame size, carcase and meat characteristics, fertility and fecundity, mothering ability, temperament, food conversion rate, milk production and physical characteristics such as skin colour.

At the end of the day, it is not easy to have a breed with all the positive traits and as such, farmers should focus on those traits that are most important to their business models. For instance, those doing goat milk will prefer breeds with superior milk production abilities while those in meat production will prefer breeds that have bigger frame sizes for obvious reasons.

Having decided on the type of breed or crosses of breeds to focus on, a farmer must pay equal attention to genetic improvement of his or her herd through careful selection and breeding of quality bucks and does.

Considering that costs of goat farming such as vaccinations and treatment, labour, feed, land, shelter and transport, are proportional to the number of animals on the farm, it is critical for goat farmers to keep only quality and productive animals. By keeping inferior and less productive animals, farmers will end up incurring additional costs, thereby reducing their profit margins.

To be able to select quality breeding animals, a farmer should set clear their breeding objectives from the onset. Breeding objectives will not only help the farmer to determine the breed or crossbreeds they will produce, but will also assist in identifying the genetic priorities and planning the selection methods to be used by the farmer.

To achieve genetic superiority and hybrid vigour, farmers need to pay attention to three things, namely the bucks they purchase, the does they retain and the ones they purchase as replacements.

Accurate selection of does is vital as it will raise the average productivity of the herd. However, it is critical to note that buck selection is the main driver of ongoing genetic improvement in the farmer’s herd.

Remember that a doe will contribute on average 6 to 12 kids during its breeding life, while a buck contributes 60 to 100 kids per year.

Most readers have been inquiring about how best they should start goat farming with a limited budget. My advice is that if you have a limited budget, it is better to get average local does, preferably the ones that have given birth before, and spend money on a good buck to improve on your genetics. From experience, if you cross a purebred buck on average does, the progeny results are always amazing.

To improve on genetic quality, save money and buy the best buck at the beginning, rather than keeping a bunch of mediocre bucks.

“Paswera badza hapanyepi” (results of a noble effort always speak for themselves).

Till next week.

Sheuneni Kurasha is a farmer specialising in stud breeding in boran cattle, boer goats and damara sheep, as well as dairy farming. For feedback, kindly get in touch on email: kurashas@gmail.com or WhatsApp: +263 772 874 523.