HEAL:

Oga Maple please share your cattle theft experience and how you have overcome it as I hear this is a big issue in cattle rearing.

phillings247:
hello oga mapple im into cattle fattening pls.can u advice me on how to get d bokolo or gudali breed at a good price.u can whatsapp me on 08027915498.nd pls i want to know which plant can i use in growing fodder through hydroponics dat readily available in nigeria

phillings247:
pls oga maple pls whats d composition of d fertilizer u use for ur hydroponics fodder

felixzo1:
I have always wanted to go into animal rearing, the challenges s are enormous, especially for the inexperience and underfunded beginners. For people with background in animal husbandry or people whose parents have been in animal rearing, It is quite easy to learn and adopt. Personally I love ruminants, I believe they are easier to rear and mange. This is because they do not compete for the same food source as we humans, they feed on grass, and grass can be easily stored in form of silage and hay. Unlike keeping pigs or chicken who feed basically or maize and other ingredients eaten by man also.
I hope to start my cattle and goat farm soon, I have done a lot of research on ruminants, ( cattle and goats , sheep)I have done some research or cattle farming and goats farming, practical steps to start a goat or a cattle farm(small holder). This is real life experiences about cattle fating/goat rearing in Nigeria. I have visited some research institution and big cattle ranches in Nigeria. I will be sharing pictures from time to time on this topic. This topic is for people who want to start a backyard goat farm or want to fatten 10 cows or less. I shall provide practical steps to start, housing and feeding/silage making tips and solutions. The greatest challenge in ruminants rearing is housing/ security, the cost of housing is high, even cows will need a form of fencing at night to prevent thieves.
I will start with cattle fating and marketing, practical steps

phillings247:
pls oga mi,how much do u buy ur feed concentrate per bag nd whats d size

felixzo1:
I have always wanted to go into animal rearing, the challenges s are enormous, especially for the inexperience and underfunded beginners. For people with background in animal husbandry or people whose parents have been in animal rearing, It is quite easy to learn and adopt. Personally I love ruminants, I believe they are easier to rear and mange. This is because they do not compete for the same food source as we humans, they feed on grass, and grass can be easily stored in form of silage and hay. Unlike keeping pigs or chicken who feed basically or maize and other ingredients eaten by man also.
I hope to start my cattle and goat farm soon, I have done a lot of research on ruminants, ( cattle and goats , sheep)I have done some research or cattle farming and goats farming, practical steps to start a goat or a cattle farm(small holder). This is real life experiences about cattle fating/goat rearing in Nigeria. I have visited some research institution and big cattle ranches in Nigeria. I will be sharing pictures from time to time on this topic. This topic is for people who want to start a backyard goat farm or want to fatten 10 cows or less. I shall provide practical steps to start, housing and feeding/silage making tips and solutions. The greatest challenge in ruminants rearing is housing/ security, the cost of housing is high, even cows will need a form of fencing at night to prevent thieves.
I will start with cattle fating and marketing, practical steps

iFarms:


Hello Felixzo1, Our Boss saw this your thread on Nairaland here and he developed interest in it. Can u make the soft copy available for ifarms and to be published in our coming edition of ifarms journal (international) which will be release on 25th of this month.

Maple:
1) Farm hydroponic fodder lab

2) 4 days old sorghum fodder

3) farm feed concentrates + bovine medications

felixzo1:
Maize silage requirements
Whole maize crop at second milk line stage
Silo pit
Silage addatives
Chaff cutter
200 gsm polyethlene sheets
Heavy stones
Silage making is the process of harvesting and preserving folder (grasses crop/legumes) for latter use. Silage can be made from many field crops, including maize, sorghum or other cereals,/ grasses like nippier grass or elephant grass. Fully mature maize is harvested while still fresh with the gains, it is then chaff in to smaller particles with the aid of chaff cuter. It is then poured into the silo pit while adding the silage additive mix in water; it then properly covered with the 200 gsm polyethylene sheets, to prevent air and water from entering the pit. The heavy stones are then placed on top of the covered pit. The silage can be ready for use just after 3 weeks, the importance of silage is to preserve folder during the raining season when there is plenty of grasses to be used in the dry season. Silage is also very important in zero grazing/intensive systems.

are the foreign breed anywhere in Nigeria.

what are the food they eat apart from grass.

if weather is a problem to the foreign ones that has higher potentials of return on investment, is there no way around that like putting them in a pen, the type the use to rear horses at polo clubs like the one in ph

felixzo1:
I have always wanted to go into animal rearing, the challenges s are enormous, especially for the inexperience and underfunded beginners. For people with background in animal husbandry or people whose parents have been in animal rearing, It is quite easy to learn and adopt. Personally I love ruminants, I believe they are easier to rear and mange. This is because they do not compete for the same food source as we humans, they feed on grass, and grass can be easily stored in form of silage and hay. Unlike keeping pigs or chicken who feed basically or maize and other ingredients eaten by man also.
I hope to start my cattle and goat farm soon, I have done a lot of research on ruminants, ( cattle and goats , sheep)I have done some research or cattle farming and goats farming, practical steps to start a goat or a cattle farm(small holder). This is real life experiences about cattle fating/goat rearing in Nigeria. I have visited some research institution and big cattle ranches in Nigeria. I will be sharing pictures from time to time on this topic. This topic is for people who want to start a backyard goat farm or want to fatten 10 cows or less. I shall provide practical steps to start, housing and feeding/silage making tips and solutions. The greatest challenge in ruminants rearing is housing/ security, the cost of housing is high, even cows will need a form of fencing at night to prevent thieves.
I will start with cattle fating and marketing, practical steps

felixzo1:
I have always wanted to go into animal rearing, the challenges s are enormous, especially for the inexperience and underfunded beginners. For people with background in animal husbandry or people whose parents have been in animal rearing, It is quite easy to learn and adopt. Personally I love ruminants, I believe they are easier to rear and mange. This is because they do not compete for the same food source as we humans, they feed on grass, and grass can be easily stored in form of silage and hay. Unlike keeping pigs or chicken who feed basically or maize and other ingredients eaten by man also.
I hope to start my cattle and goat farm soon, I have done a lot of research on ruminants, ( cattle and goats , sheep)I have done some research or cattle farming and goats farming, practical steps to start a goat or a cattle farm(small holder). This is real life experiences about cattle fating/goat rearing in Nigeria. I have visited some research institution and big cattle ranches in Nigeria. I will be sharing pictures from time to time on this topic. This topic is for people who want to start a backyard goat farm or want to fatten 10 cows or less. I shall provide practical steps to start, housing and feeding/silage making tips and solutions. The greatest challenge in ruminants rearing is housing/ security, the cost of housing is high, even cows will need a form of fencing at night to prevent thieves.
I will start with cattle fating and marketing, practical steps

ElCule:
I woul like to know more about dairy cattle. How much would 1 cow go for? I don't think weather is going to be a problem because I live in Jos.

phillings247:
pls oga maple pls whats d composition of d fertilizer u use for ur hydroponics

bigval:

silage is good but if you really want to go into intensive culture I recommend Hydroponics (soiless culture of fodder), it's 50% cheaper and requires less than 100x space as silage or soil fodder growing, plus it also puts total feed production at your disposal and its more nutritious than hay, silage or soil grown fodder. you can Private chat me for more info. bigval007@gmail.com

Maple:


Most would be glad if u share your infos here as many have done. Anyways, the use of hydroponic fodder should not diminish the importance of silage, which is a nutritious dry fodder with lots of fibres. Ruminants like cattles can not survive on hydroponic fodders alone, hence its important they are fed dry fodder or hay as well, perhaps even more. Hydroponic fodder should be used mostly as a feed supplement.

bigval:

No Sir, the only reason why Ruminants have been fed dry fodder or silage is the perceived ease at which it is stored, and Hydroponic fodder is same Roughage constituent as dry fodder only this time with higher moisture content, higher digest ability and much higher nutrient base. I wish I had the time to create a thread on Hydroponics now, but in fullness if time

heryour64:
Join the group on whatsapp all abt goat farming...........08064248493

felixzo1:
Alhaji Suleiman Tafida is one of the directors of Maidoki Interagric Farm Nigeria Limited located in Dinki village of Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State. In this interview with, Tafida said goats rearing has the capacity of changing the fortunes of Nigerian farmers, among other issues. Excerpts:

Can we start by knowing the different types of red goats that we have?

We have three types of these red goats. We have the local ones that are known in this part of the country, that is, northwest. We also have the ones that crossed-bred with the types that are found in Niger Republic. These types are more prominent in areas like Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi and they are taller than the local ones we have but their height is not as high as those from Niger Republic. We also have other breeds from Niger Republic.

Apart from that some goats are purely white; others are black while others have mixed-colour; red and white, black and white, among others.
Do these types of goats differ in character?

All these goats have the same status and character. The only difference is that those that have the higher height produce bigger kids. Another difference is that those from Niger Republic are more vulnerable to rains because of the nature of their area that is more of Sahara. Although even our local goats have problem with rains but those from Niger Republic are more devastated by rains.
Therefore, the best thing to do for a farmer that wants to engage in goats rearing is to provide shelter for them; like a house where they can always run to when it rains. A special place for their feeding and taking water should also be provided.
A farmer should also ensure that his goats did not move out when it rains or if there is sign of rain. Therefore, goats should only be allowed to go out if the weather is dry. A farmer should ensure that he does not release his goats early in the morning. Releasing goats early in the morning usually results to disease infection. Therefore, it is better for a farmer to only release his goats from their shelter at about 11am during rainy season or at about 9am during the dry season. Goats are more prone to diseases during the rainy season, but one interesting thing about them is that immediately they notice the signs of rains; they would usually run back to their shelter.

What benefits are there in rearing red goats?

To be honest, rearing of red goats is more profitable than rearing of cows; in my own opinion. My reason is that red goats usually give birth twice in a year unlike cows, and their kids are very simple to raise unlike calves. If a farmer allows his goats to move around freely in spacious place, he would not have problem with them. The other preference of red goats is connected with their nature of giving birth. A female red goat may give birth to a single kid at a start but afterwards the production would keep on increasing from one kid to two, three, four or even more in every six or seven months. Apart from that, the first kid, if it happens to be female, would also join its mother in giving birth after six or seven months. That is how they would keep on multiplying. Therefore, if a farmer starts rearing red goats with let's say 50 females; in two to three years they can multiply to 200 or 300. You can see the profit margin.
Honestly, rearing of red goats is highly profitable. Some of these goats give birth to as much as six kids at a time. So, if a farmer is lucky to have such type; his herd can multiply to about 12 times in a year because they usually give birth twice in a year. This is why I said rearing of red goats is more profitable than even cows or other animals.

Despite all these virtues of the local red goats that you have mentioned, is there any effort in place aimed at improving their production ability?

During the regime of Obasanjo, the government imported another variety of red goats called Kalahari Red Goats from South Africa. The male goat can weigh up to 110 kilograms, that is, it is as heavy as some cows. I know that there was an attempt to cross-breed those Kalahari Red Goats with our own local goats so that we can develop unique types of red goats. We wanted to start cross-breeding of red goats just like we did with cows; especially here in Northern Nigeria. You can imagine the gains our farmers would be getting if every year their goats would be producing hundreds of male goats that would weigh up to about 110 kilograms.

As farmers in Northern Nigeria, what can you say are the challenges you face?

Honestly, our major challenge is our inability to form unions or associations especially at the grassroots. For example, in the whole North we don't have any association that is specially formed for the cross-breeding of the Kalahari Red Goats with our local types. However, when we realised that, we formed that association recently, and we have decided to be holding regular meetings so that government can be hearing our voices and through that we can, perhaps, receive assistance to improve our farming activities. This association of ours is meant to be for the whole North, and it is intended to be an association for rearers of red goats. When the association is finally registered, we would import those Kalahari Red Goats for cross-breeding with our local types in order to improve our production.
Another dimension to these efforts of improving the production of red goats has to do with milk production. There is a plan to even start producing red goats' yoghurt just like we have that of cows; these are largely some of the objectives. Apart from that, the price of red goat is also encouraging. For example, a matured local male goat can be sold at between N12,000 to N20,000, but the ones from Niger and Cameroun that are bigger can go as high as N60,000 and above. In this farm, we bought one recently at the cost of N60,000.

What is the major problem that is associated with rearing of red goats?

The major problem of red goats the is rainy season. They are more prone to diseases during rainy season. These diseases can even kill them. We have however embarked on research to find solution to those diseases in collaboration with NAPRI of the ABU, Zaria. Apart from rainy season, I don't know of any problem that is associated with rearing of red goats. If a farmer can provide spacious shelter for them with feed and water points, a farmer would not have problem with his goats even during rainy season.

Is there any feed that red goats like most?

Red goats eat different types of food. They eat beans, maize and groundnut; corn as well as grass. They also like 'Stallon' grass. All these feeds improve, their productivity. In a nutshell, all farming activities cannot be effective without government intervention. Unfortunately however, government is paying less attention to farming and farmers. In this farm, for example, we have never received any form of intervention from government; even supply of fertilizers.
We sustain our activities here through the marketing of our products where we sell our produce locally. Even on the marketing issue, government needs to come in by buying these products at reasonable prices and even export them like what obtains in other countries where their governments highly subsidise and is actively involved in agriculture.

Rzq4:
ruminants are fed on 'as fed' basis. The animals will require lil quantity of silage compare d hydroponic fodder. Silage is equally palatable, has high nutritive value. It takes just 3 weeks to prepare what ur herd/flock will consume throughout d year provided u have d fodder crop and some of d fodder are grass and weed plants which are readily available during the rainy season. Hydroponic is good but silage is equally good if not better...my opinion...however u are doing a wonderful job sir. Pls where are u based? Would like to learn from u

mediatorboy:
add me up plz 08149151615