apsenthil84
New Member
Goat Farm- Beginner Questions-Need suggestions from experienced hands!!!
I am based out of Sathyamangalam area in erode, Tamilnadu. We have 7 acres of fertile land and we are planning a small goat farm on a trial basis. We have enough water and land. But, labour is the only problem. I already have experience in a small scale dairy unit by growing C0-4, Co-3 etc. So, I have a fair idea of fodder crops. I have been researching our forums for the last 3 months and have a fair amount of idea about the goat farming, but, I still have few questions.
I need the experts in our forum to provide their valuable suggestions.
1. What is the male to female ratio suggested? My idea is only for meat purposes so any variety which can grow max weight in min time is important. I heard Thalasseri & Boer cross is good with 20:2 ratios for my plan. Please suggest possible good alternatives for my area.
2. Which is the best season to start the goat farming and what is the minimum unit size to start? I want to start on a trial and error basis in the beginning with 10-15 goats and gradually scale it up upto 100. Please suggest if this is a good method for beginners.
3. What should be the approximate age for the parent stock of goats? Should these be first time mothers or we can even buy even lactating goats which had previously given birth to kids. But, I am also assuming that if the age is more, the kidding capacity will decrease after 3-4 kidding and the price will be higher because of more weight.
4. What will be price of the parent stocks of Boers & Thalasseri breeds?
5. Please suggest some good tips for buying the goats to buy good original breeds and avoid fraud?
6. Any reliable farms /Brokers/Markets contacts to purchase the goats?
7. I only want to sell the goats for meat and not very much interested in milking the goats since this requires additional labour burden. Is the milking mandatory for lactating goats or we can give all the milk for the kids. But, the problem is once the kids are sold, the lactating goats will suffer? Please provide any suggestions for this aspect?
8. How to identify the heat signs for mating and at what age a goat will show this signs?
9. What is the best place to procure stall-fed system materials and any contractors are available?
10. My next important question is how to maintain the parent stock and scale up the farm. As per my plan, initially if am buying 20 female and 2 male goats. I am assuming that in 2 years there will be 3 kidding by each goat which will be approximately 4-5 goats on a conservative estimate? So approximately there will be 80-100 kids born every 2 years with average 40 per year. What should I do with these all the new kids?
• Should I sell all the kids after 6 months after it gained a weight of 25-30 kgs or should I retain few of them?
• If I retain few of the female kids I came to know from few members comments that I should not allow them to mate with the original 2 Boer males which gave birth to them.
• Also, of the 40 kids there will be both male and female kids, can i allow in-breeding between them? If not, then how can I avoid that since all of them will be in the same stall and live together and i cannot prevent that?
11. Then, how can I scale up my farm from the initial 20 to gradually to 40, 60 and 100 parent stock? Should i buy new male Boers to mate with the female kids?
12. How should I replenish my old parent stock which I started initially, at what time and after how may kidding/years I should sell them?
13. What is the market for the goats? All of us in the forum are saying there is a huge demand for goat and I understand that. But, what if after starting a farm with lot of expense, we are not finding enough orders and middlemen problem starts who always eat away our profit.
I am open for a joint-venture with experienced people in my land on a profit sharing basis.
Many more questions will follow!!!
Thanks,
Senthil
I am based out of Sathyamangalam area in erode, Tamilnadu. We have 7 acres of fertile land and we are planning a small goat farm on a trial basis. We have enough water and land. But, labour is the only problem. I already have experience in a small scale dairy unit by growing C0-4, Co-3 etc. So, I have a fair idea of fodder crops. I have been researching our forums for the last 3 months and have a fair amount of idea about the goat farming, but, I still have few questions.
I need the experts in our forum to provide their valuable suggestions.
1. What is the male to female ratio suggested? My idea is only for meat purposes so any variety which can grow max weight in min time is important. I heard Thalasseri & Boer cross is good with 20:2 ratios for my plan. Please suggest possible good alternatives for my area.
2. Which is the best season to start the goat farming and what is the minimum unit size to start? I want to start on a trial and error basis in the beginning with 10-15 goats and gradually scale it up upto 100. Please suggest if this is a good method for beginners.
3. What should be the approximate age for the parent stock of goats? Should these be first time mothers or we can even buy even lactating goats which had previously given birth to kids. But, I am also assuming that if the age is more, the kidding capacity will decrease after 3-4 kidding and the price will be higher because of more weight.
4. What will be price of the parent stocks of Boers & Thalasseri breeds?
5. Please suggest some good tips for buying the goats to buy good original breeds and avoid fraud?
6. Any reliable farms /Brokers/Markets contacts to purchase the goats?
7. I only want to sell the goats for meat and not very much interested in milking the goats since this requires additional labour burden. Is the milking mandatory for lactating goats or we can give all the milk for the kids. But, the problem is once the kids are sold, the lactating goats will suffer? Please provide any suggestions for this aspect?
8. How to identify the heat signs for mating and at what age a goat will show this signs?
9. What is the best place to procure stall-fed system materials and any contractors are available?
10. My next important question is how to maintain the parent stock and scale up the farm. As per my plan, initially if am buying 20 female and 2 male goats. I am assuming that in 2 years there will be 3 kidding by each goat which will be approximately 4-5 goats on a conservative estimate? So approximately there will be 80-100 kids born every 2 years with average 40 per year. What should I do with these all the new kids?
• Should I sell all the kids after 6 months after it gained a weight of 25-30 kgs or should I retain few of them?
• If I retain few of the female kids I came to know from few members comments that I should not allow them to mate with the original 2 Boer males which gave birth to them.
• Also, of the 40 kids there will be both male and female kids, can i allow in-breeding between them? If not, then how can I avoid that since all of them will be in the same stall and live together and i cannot prevent that?
11. Then, how can I scale up my farm from the initial 20 to gradually to 40, 60 and 100 parent stock? Should i buy new male Boers to mate with the female kids?
12. How should I replenish my old parent stock which I started initially, at what time and after how may kidding/years I should sell them?
13. What is the market for the goats? All of us in the forum are saying there is a huge demand for goat and I understand that. But, what if after starting a farm with lot of expense, we are not finding enough orders and middlemen problem starts who always eat away our profit.
I am open for a joint-venture with experienced people in my land on a profit sharing basis.
Many more questions will follow!!!
Thanks,
Senthil
