THE DAIRY GOAT
Goats are among the smallest domesticated ruminants and have served mankind longer than cattle or sheep. They thrive in arid, semitropical, or mountainous countries. More than 460 million goats in the world produce over 4.5 million tons of milk and 1.2 million tons of meat annually, besides mohair, cashmere, leather, and dung for fuel and fertilizer. Goats are friendly animals; with proper attention they maintain good health and can be managed easily even by children.
More people consume dairy products from goats than from any other animal. Goat’s milk greatly improves the diet of many rural families. It is traditionally valued for the elderly, the sick, babies, children who are allergic to cow’s milk, and patients with ulcers. It is even preferred for raising orphan foals and other young domestic animals. Goat milk is richer than cow’s milk in some important nutrients: vitamin A, niacin, choline, and inositol; it is poorer in folic acid.
Goats are browsers, preferring the new growth of shrubs and the seed heads of grasses to the lower quality older growth in a pasture. They are able to select the most nutritious parts of plants, even from thornbushes and higher tree branches not reached by sheep, and can use a wide range of forage. For this reason, they are able to survive in areas where other livestock do not.
As browsers, they are useful for clearing brush in small areas. However, because they strip the leaves and bark of young trees, they should be used in settled areas only if good fences can be provided. One or two animals can usually be controlled with a tether, but they must be watched carefully lest they get tangled in brush or wind their tethers around small trees.
Most efforts to improve dairy goat management have been designed to provide more and better milk. These efforts include:
1. Breeding and selecting to produce more and better milk.
2. Better feeding and pasturing practices.
3. Better housing for extremes of weather and climate.
4. Improved sanitation of milk and milk products.
5. Control of internal parasitic diseases that often lead to poor health and decreased milk production.
6. Improved marketing of dairy goat products.
7. Development of information and research services.
All goats, even those selected for milk production, eventually are used for meat unless they die or are destroyed for other reasons. Many people prefer goat meat to mutton, beef, or pork; it is the principal source of animal protein in many North African and West Asian nations. It is also important in the Caribbean area and in Southeast Asia, and relatively more so in developing tropical countries than in the temperate regions. The world production of edible meat from cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats, swine, and horses is estimated at 17.9 million tons, 5.7% of which comes from goats.
BREEDS
The major breeds of dairy goats are listed below:
Saanen, originally from Switzerland, where they were bred for odor-free
milk, are totally white. Like other Swiss breeds, they may or may not have horns. They are usually short haired. Saanen goats are used around the world as leading milk producers.
Toggenburg, brown with white stripes on the face, ears and legs, are mostly
short haired, erect eared goats. They too are of Swiss origin and are 10 cm shorter and 9 kg lighter than the Saanen. Pure bred for over 300 years, they are reliable milk producers summer and winter, in temperate and tropical zones.
Alpine (including French, Rock and British), another Swiss breed, are short
haired and as tall and strong as the Saanen. They are colored white on black, and produce less milk than Saanen or Toggenburg.
Anglo-Nubian is a breed developed in England from native and from Indian
and Nubian goats. They have heavy arched noses and long, pendulous ears, spiral horns (when horns are present), and short hair. Anglo-Nubian goats are as tall as Saanen, but give milk that is less in amount and higher in fat content. They are less tolerant of cold but do well in hot climates. They “talk” a lot, and are in numbers the most popular breed in the United States, Canada, and many parts of Asia. They often produce triplets and quadruplets. Goats of this breed show many colors and are often spotted.
Oberhasli (also called Swiss Alpine. Chamoisie, or Brienz) goats, of Swiss
origin, are usually solid red or black, have erect ears, and are not as tall as Saanen. They are very well adapted for high-altitude mountain grazing and long hours of marching. Milk production is variable.
Before selecting a breed consult local agricultural extension authorities for advice. Regardless of the breed selected for milk production, individual animals should have body characteristics as shown in Figure 1.
REPRODUCTION
Goats may breed at any month of the year, but in temperate climates they breed seasonally, generally showing estrus in the autumn as the days become shorter and producing young about five months later. Seasonal breeding is much less marked in the tropics. Most breeds reach sexual maturity at about five months; dwarf or pygmy goats as early as three months. In the tropics female goats often produce first young by 12 to 15 months even if poorly fed and not well developed.
The usual birth interval is about a year in the United States and Europe; in the tropics under good management the interval varies from 260 to 290 days.
A female goat is called a doe, males are bucks, and the young are kids. Mature does of most breeds produce more twins than single kids; triplets and quadruplets are common and are success-reared.
The usual litter size varies from 1.4 to 2.2 kids and in the tropics the kidding interval is
about 280 days. A female should produce young three times in two years, or 2.1 to 3.3 kids per year.
Swiss goat breeds are the world’s leaders in milk production. Indian and Nubian goat breeds are dual-purpose meat and milk animals. Spanish and South African Boer goats are best known for meat producing ability. The Turkish Angora, Asian Cashmere, and the Russian Don goats are kept for mohair and cashmere wool production. In addition, Pygmy goats from Western Africa are of increasing interest as laboratory and pet animals, and as successful meat and milk producers in areas infested by tsetse flies.
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