Important Tips for Goat Farming

I. Benefits of Goat Farming In India 

There are some benefits of domestic or commercial goat farming. If you want to start goat farming business then you must read the benefits of raising goats.

• Goats are multi-purpose animals which can produce milk, meat, fiber, skin together.
• Compared to cow and other livestock farming, goat farming requires less space and additional facilities. They have a less demand of housing and other management. In small scale production they are also able to share their homes with their owners and his/her other livestock.
• Production costs like infrastructure, feeding and treatment are less.
• You don’t have to think about marketing your farm products. Because there are already an established market in the country for marketing your products.
• It is really very easy to maintain a goat farm compared to other farm animals.
• Goats can adopt themselves with almost all types of agro-climatic conditions. And diseases are less in goats.
• They are smaller in size but reach slaughter age faster.
• Goat products like meat and milk has no religious taboo. And highly accepted for consumption throughout the world.

Goat Milk:- Doctors recommend goat milk for its health benefits & therapeutic values. Compared to cow or buffalo milk, goat milk is deemed far closer to mother’s milk in its chemical structure and digestibility. It also has better composition of proteins and useful amino acids, lending it anti-inflammatory and immunity boosting traits to guard against infections. Besides, can be milked any time of the day (ATM - any time milk), thus acquiring the well deserved epithet of “mobile milk vending machine” or “walking refrigerators”.

II. Select A Suitable Location/Site for Goat Farming

Almost all areas of India are very suitable for goat farming. You can select a land for goat farming near your home or select a land which has all types of facilities for successful goat farming business. While selecting land for starting goat farming business, consider the followings.

• Select a suitable land that has a great source of fresh and clean water.
• Suitable for grass, crop and other green plants production. These are used as goat feed to reduce supplementary feeding cost.
• The selected land will not be too far from the market or town.
• Ensure there is a suitable market near your selected area for purchasing necessary commodities and medicines.
• Find out if there are any other goat farms located in your selected area.
• A suitable market with high demands of goat products is available near the selected farm area.
• Try to select land in village area. Because, lands and labors can easily be found within very cheap rate in village areas.
• Ensure availability of all types of veterinary service in the area. If not available, stock all types of necessary vaccines and medicines in your farm.
• Good transportation system so that you can easily sell your products and buy necessary commodities from nearest market or town.

III.    Housing of Goats

• The houses should be semi-closed type & orientation should be East- West direction. Sloppy roof is best for the comfort of the goats.
• Maximum length of shed = 100 ft. Width of the shed = 15-20 ft.
• Central height=3 mtrs. , Side height= 2 mtrs. 
• Height of North & South side walls=1 mtr.( 50% of side height)
• There should be separate houses for keeping different category of goats such as -  (dry, pregnant, lactating, sick bucks & kids).
• Shed premises should have sufficient plantation which protects the animals from direct wind & scorching sun during summer. At least 2 trees in each paddock should be planted.  
• Shed Area:-

Type of goat           |  Floor space (Sq. mtrs)  |  No.of goats/ shed
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Dry goat                      |  1.0-1.2        |  60-80
Buck                            |  1.5-2.0        |  Individual pen
Milch goat(stall size)   |  1.4x1.2                |  50-60
Kids (3-6 m.)               |  0.5-0.6                |  75-100*
Kids (6-12m)               |  0.8-1.0                |  60-80*
Open yard/paddock     |  1.5-2.0 times of floor space in shed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
* With 3-4 partition & 20-25 kids in each portion.

• Feeding Mangers: made of concrete/bricks partition with GI pipe at a distance of 30 cms. are cheap & last long.
• Outer dimensions: 8.2x0.8x0.3 m
• Inner dimensions: 8.0x0.6x0.2 m
• A manger of same dimensions is also required in each paddock.
• Watering:  
• For adult: - made of concrete/bricks. Size: Inner diam.: 4.80x0.90x0.37 m. 
• For kids (3-6 m. old) : 3.60x0.75x0.30 m. Height of water tank from ground level should be 30 cm & 15 cm. respectively.
• For kids (0-3 m. old) : plastic tubs of 8-10 litre capacity may be used

IV. Type of Feed and Fodder         

Goat is fastidious eater & likes browsing. Common feeds & fodders of goat are :-

• Roughage
• Tree/Bushes/Shrubs leaves, Neem, Peepal, Bargad, Golar, Jamun, Angir, Babul, Jharberi, Bhimal, Ber, Mulberry, anjan, Bamboo, Subabul, Karonda, Gokhuru etc.
• Hays - Cowpea, Berseem, Oats.
• Straws - Arhar, Gram, Wheat and Paddy.
• Grasses - Dub, Anjana, Sawain, Zarga, Kankunwa etc.
• Cultivated fodders & their hay/bhusa- Lobia, bereseem, Lucerne, oats,                          maize, bajra, para grass.
• Concentrate 
• Cheap & easily available feed ingredients shall be used for computing concentrate feed for goats. Babul Pods, Gram, Wheat Bran, GNC, Sesame Cake, Arhar Grain, Maize, owar, Bajra, Barley and Guar, Jungle Bean Pods. Mineral mixture 2% & Iodized common salt 1% shall be mixed.

V. Breeding Season 

Sr.No  |   Season    |   Season in Heat     |    Kidding Season   |    Remark

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    a     |   Summer  |   March - April       |    Aug - Sept           |

    b     |   Rainy      |   June - July            |    Nov - Dec            |   Best

    c     |   Winter     |  Oct - Nov              |    Jan - Feb              |

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a. Kidding=80-90%, b. Twinning=40%, c. Triplicate=10%, d. Single=50%

VI. Livestock Terminology for: Goat &Sheep

• Buck -  an adult, male rabbit or goat
• Doe - an adult, female rabbit or goat
• Ewe - a mature female sheep  
• Kid - a young goat
• Kidding – a process of giving birth in goat
• Lactation – milk yielding period
• Lamb - a sheep less than one year in age
• Lambing – a process of giving birth in sheep
• Livestock - domestic farm animals kept for productive purposes (meat, milk, work, wool)
• Market animal - livestock bred and produced for food consumption
• Ram/Buck- An uncastrated male sheep
• Wether - a castrated shortly after birth male sheep or goat

Indicative Cost of Goat Farming Unit

Here is the sample model unit cost for goat farming unit. Govt. of India is providing subsidy for sheep, goat, pig, and rabbit farming units under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme: Integrated Development of Small Ruminants and Rabbits.

Indicative Farm Model: Goat Farming

Sample Model Unit Costs for Sheep, Goat, Pigs and Angora Rabbits

I have been getting many requests for sample model unit cost of sheep, goat, pigs and Angora rabbits units from various entrepreneurs including small farmers, marginal farmers and landless labourers.

So, I'll be providing these sample model unit costs in a series of posts in near future. 

If you have not subscribed to my blog but you want these sample model unit costs, I would suggest you to subscribe by email now. 

As a matter of fact, the Government of India is providing subsidy through financial institutions like Nationalised Banks, District Cooperative Banks, State Cooperative banks, Regional Rural Banks and Land Development Banks for sheep, goat, pigs and Angora rabbits under centrally sponsored schemes.National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is the main implementing agency in the country.

The capital subsidy is backended and is linked with bank finance only. The subsidy is 25% of project outlay for general category and 33.33% for SC/ST, hilly and NE states including Sikkim, subject to a maximum ceiling in each scheme and category.

If you have not subscribed to my blog, I would suggest you to subscribe now for free to stay updated. 

Goat Farming – Records and Record Keeping using a Goat Register

I am giving away for free a simple goat register for keeping records of goat farming and rearing.

Record keeping is very essential for good animal farm management and is considered one of the best practices for animal farming. It allows you to make informed decisions regarding the management and animal farming business. Record keeping does not take much time if the record register is simple and is updated frequently.

Depending on the type of goat rearing and breeding systems, the register format may differ based on an individuals’ need. In general, you may want to keep records of doe and buck history, goat breeding, kidding, kid history, health and veterinary, mortality, etc.

Creating a goat register from scratch can be overwhelming and difficult. Existing record keeping tools are either very complicated or are not free.

To ease the process of record keeping for goat farming and rearing, I have prepared a general purpose Simple-Goat-Register. You can modify the register based on your needs.

I am giving away this Simple-Goat-Register for free. See below for instructions on how to download the Simple-Goat-Register for free.

Goat Farming in India IV: Recommendations

This article is part of a series I am writing on goat farming that will provide basic introduction, information about a centrally sponsored scheme, project cost at a glance, goat farm register for record keeping, and general tips on goat farming. (Also see part I, part II, part III)

Here are some general recommended practices for goat farming regarding housing of goats, feed and fodder, and vaccination and deworming schedule.

Housing of Goats

1. The houses should be semi-closed type and orientation should be along the east-west direction. Sloped roof is best for the comfort of the goats.
   1. Maximum length of shed = 100 ft.
   2. Width of the shed = 15-20 ft.
   3. Central height = 3 m
   4. Side height= 2 m
   5. Height of north/south side walls=1 m (50% of side height)
2. There should be separate houses for keeping different category of goats such as:
   1. dry,
   2. pregnant,
   3. lactating,
   4. sick bucks, and
   5. kids.
3. Shed premises should have sufficient plantation which protects the animals from direct wind and scorching sun during summer. At least two trees should be planted in each paddock.

Goat Farming in India III: Project Cost at a Glance

This article is part of a series I am writing on goat farming that will provide basic introduction, information about a centrally sponsored scheme, project cost at a glance, goat farm register for record keeping, and general tips on goat farming. (Also see part I, part II)




To help you understand the economics of goat farming, I have prepared a summary of the project cost for a semi intensive system of goat breeding farm with the latest information to my knowledge.

The project cost is provided for 500 Does and 25 Bucks. The breeds of the goat considered in this cost estimate are Osmanabadi and/or Sangamneri breeds.

This project cost summary will provide you information on the investment cost related to the land, shed, equipments, breeding stock etc. and on the bank loan, interest etc.

Goat Farming in India II – Centrally Sponsored Scheme

Since many of you have asked about goat farming, I am going to write a series of posts that will provide basic introduction, information about a centrally sponsored scheme, project cost at a glance, goat farm register for record keeping, and general tips on goat farming. (Also see part I)

Integral farming of small ruminants can help in rural development and can also reduce unemployment leading to rural prosperity. Toward this, the Government of India has launched a Centrally Sponsored Scheme – Integrated Development of Small Ruminants (Sheep/Goats) and Rabbits – to promote commercial farming of sheep, goat and rabbit.

This scheme will provide venture capital assistance through an interest free loan with a focus on 114 districts for small ruminants and 12 districts for rabbits in 24 states. It is valid during the remaining period of XI Five Year Plan.

Goat Farming in India I

Since many of you have asked about goat farming, I am going to write a series of posts that will provide basic introduction, information about a centrally sponsored scheme, project cost at a glance, goat farm register for record keeping, and general tips on goat farming.

Goat has been considered as dairy and meat animal for long in India. It has been given the popular name of "poor man's cow" for milk production. Goats are small animals and easy to manage. They are economical to the poor farmers and demand less labor for milk, meat and fiber. Goats provide a considerable source of income and occupation to a sizeable rural population, especially the economically and socially backward classes of the society in India.