₦airaland Forum

our next discussion will be on basic materials, including drugs and skills that every intending goat farmer should have .
just hang around

obiageIi:
poultry droppings?
That's interesting, how does that work?

YES. poultry droppings.

Fresh poultry droppings is about 30% protein and in abundance of minerals sufficient for goats. in fact you will only need minimal mineral supplementation with it for zero grazing goats.

therefore poultry droppings can be used as a dietary source of crude protein and minerals for goats. I regularly use it for my goats.

seriously speaking in both nutritional and economic terms, poultry droppings has the highest value and cattle waste the lowest. but ignorance and stubbornness will not allow most poultry farmers and goat farmers to see and yield to this.

The transmission of diseases from poultry to goats via poultry droppings is unlikely if it is well processed. I have not found a single case from experience with my goats . and there are no reports of any incidence to my knowledge except in situations of poor handling and inexperience.

caution : feeding poultry droppings to sheep should be done with care . sheep is sensitive to copper and poultry droppings is commonly very rich in copper. it can harm the sheep if done carelessly. take caution if you are a sheep farmer.

if processed and dried, goats will eat it. however it may take about one to three weeks for the goats and microbes in the goats floral to adjust. sometimes you may need to find ways to increase the acceptability at the initial stage.

Finally the droppings should also be low in ash (soil), free of metallic objects, hardwares, glass, and other foreign materials. try and pick them out as much as you can.


NB
I must sound a note of warning here.

pls process the droppings VERY WELL before you give them to goats . be careful . don't come back to blame me if things go wrong as a result of inexperience or poor knowledge .

if you are not sure of what you are doing don't do it.

although I use it regularly for my goats till today . but this is because I understand how it works and I have several ways by which I process the droppings and ensure quality control.

easylife16:
What a nice right up, can u help on how to compound feed, better still drop ur whatsapp number

yes particularly for goats

easylife16:
What a nice right up, can u help on how to compound feed, better still drop ur whatsapp number

yes particularly for goats

pat077:
How do I feed them

there are several feeding options. but in terms of cost, go for poultry droppings ( you need to dry it and if need be improve it before feeding them to goats ), brewery wastes, PKC and cassava peels. all these are very cheap, readily available and efficient. I feed them to my goats.

the caveat is that you may need to compound them properly, improve some of them and regulate how you give them to goats.

this is important . great care is needed please .

although great care is generally needed when feeding goats but greater care is needed for zero grazing goats.. but at present I use them.

olushollys:
I love this , how can i start. Pls i need the information capital outlay.,housing feeding methods and all that will make a sussessful farming. Thanks

for zero grazing urban goat farming, start with two goats male and female in you backyard. that will not cost much. with less than N50k, you can do this (cost of goats, feeding for two yrs, medications , housing in your backyard, etc)

in two years time the two goats would have increased to seven goats. yes seven goats in the least. it can actually be more. if you want to be daring you can get male northern breed and do some breed improvement.
I suggest you start small and learn the ropes. goat farming is not funny but not rocket science . with patience and passion anyone can do it.

updates

on 11/2/2017, my northern pregnant doe with pix above kidded with 2 lovely kids. see the update. mum and babies are fine. note that this is her first pregnancy.

proving that northern breeds can do well anywhere in the nation.

highrise07:
fellow nairalanders, pls i need your opinion i recently planted some cassava stems and stray goats have been eating the fresh leaves that are just sprouting thereby retarding their growth . how can i curb them . my farm is very big i can't fence it for now .....

soak goat faeces in water for some days. use the water with dissolved faeces and spray it on the leaves of the cassava especially at the edges where the goat usually graze or around the area where they gain access to the farm.

goats don't like to eat anything contaminated with their faeces and urine . once they smell the contamination they wont come near your cassava again.

here is my heavily pregnant northern breed. I promised to post the pix here. sokoto red cab do well in other parts of Nigeria if you know what you are doing

see the udder in the next pix

mfm04622:
This is very interesting. Please let anybody that want to start in the South start with West African Dwarf. The others do not have the immunity required to survive in the south

I have sokoto red , heavily pregnant now and will put to bed soon. the goat is doing well though not initially easy to rear. I will post the pix here later.

yes I lost one sokoto red when I was learning the rope. when we open her up we found three kids in her . painful . she would have delivered three kids and that was her first pregnancy, although not uncommon with northern breeds.

lalaray:
Oga stop what you are doing, I lost almost 10 goats cos of the wrong info you gave me, pls if you want to go into goat / sheep farming pls consult a professional VET. This guy is giving Info from d internet. Pls b warned n this is not about painting anybody black cos I fear God. Once again consult a VET if u want to go into any kind of animal farming pls

sorry for your loss. I lost many before. OK now straight to the point.


Seriously you must be kidding. which information on this thread will replace a professional vet attention where necessary ?

and which information on this thread is wrong ? point it out . how can just reading an online thread replace a professional input ? if you fail because of your mistake how is that my own doing ? did you pay me and consult me for your goat farming ?

myself have lost goats before now. have you not heard the warning " if symptoms persist after two days see your doctor ?

how did I become your vet or goat consultant simply by reading bits of information online FREE ?

I DONT. KNOW YOU FROM ADAM. and NEVER COLLECTED A DIME FROM YOU FOR CONSULTATION

we have never met before physically . I have never being to your farm. don't even know if you have one. don't know your name or who you are.

If you are one of the several people who call me once in a while on phone for FREE to ask questions, pray bros , how does this turn into professional consultation ? just a minute question and answer once in a blue moon ? no contract , no agreement. is that how they do it ? do you consult a professional like that ?

your loss is painful. maybe you are paying your dues. I have paid mine in huge terms and never played blame games.

I once lost three goats in a space of hours. I did all I know. even got paid help but they still died. but I was learning. now I know better and that crisis never came up again. I have developed skills to prevent or even handle it.

You never pay me or contract me for physical or online or telephone consultation. if am your goat consultant I will know you and follow up on your progress. you were. on your own and now that you fail you are looking for scape goat. fear God. fear God. it is not everybody you can mess up especially those who never wrong you and have been good to you.

you should fear God .you never put me in FULL picture of what you are doing and just by reading bits here which is meant to stir your interest, you go turn yourself into goat farmer and now come blaming me: no learning, no guidance , no paid consultation .

How can a person rear more than ten goats without the constant professional input of a vet who is well skilled in goat care or a goat consultant ? is that not foolishness or being miserly ?


consultants input begins even before you purchase your goat. if you go. purchase a sick goat how is that my own headache when am even not your consultant ?
dont even know when and how you bought them


you talked about internet stuffs . really ? . is that how to reward good deeds ? some of the stuffs you read free here I paid dearly for them in manhours, in rigorous studies and training , in painful and costly experimental trials and in huge monetary terms. since they are free internet stuffs then don't read them again.

I can see the kind of mind you have . Google is your friend. go get them on the free internet. but next time hope you will not blame Google or even the internet..


I practice what I teach and only tell you what works. . I learnt some of them under someone who spent over twenty years doing these stuffs.. under whom did you learn yours ? if you fail go check yourself up. don't come here play blame games.

or am I your consultant ? did you pay me ? fear God and say it here.

I should add something. while you should always seek the help of a vet, pls note that NOT all vets are well skilled in goat care. you should hold him tight if you find one. and importantly a vet DOES NOT automatically translate to goat farming consultant. goat farming is more than treating infections or performing surgery to get the kids out out. I know what am saying because myself am a professional .

costeve:
The information is really helpful thank u very much sir.please specify d villages i can get the WAD in oyo state

igboho. in Oke Ogun or kishi in Irepo LGA or surrounding villages

First Thing First

Decide on Breed First

In deciding to go into zero grazing goat farming, decide on the breed first. which particular breed do you want to start with?

there ate three major Nigerian breeds reported and recognised (although there are others)
1. sokoto red 2. Bornu white 3. WAD .

start with one out these three especially the one common in your locality. if you are in the northern part choose sokoto red except in the northeast where you should start with Bornu white. southern . eastern and western part, choose WAD. later you add other breeds.

am now into mixed breed because my experience had developed.

see the pix of some of my goats under zero grazing in my small demonstration urban goat farm

costeve:
I want you to put me through the buying,the best market,transportation,thanks sir

if you are doing buying and selling choose and focus on a breed: either the sokoto red or WAD.

for sokoto red either you go to Taraba or Kano ( if you have enough fund. otherwise book your stock through the existing dealers. transport for each goat is usually around N1,000).
when buying the sokoto red check the hair - it should be red and not turning white or else you will be buying sick goat.

for WAD.go to the local markets in the towns and villages arround you. there are some towns in Oyo state where you get it cheap. but transportation cost and low start up capital are issues to consider for beginners like you .

costeve:
I want to into buying and selling of goats.please help 07031874324

what form of help do you need ?

ezybaba:
start feeding goat with conc after u wean them from there mother becos with that they will get used to d feed. D mature goat will hardly feed on d conc

yes you have a point. in a way you made a point but not completely the reality . goats can adapt to any other diet at any age including adult goats.

goats can be irrational in their eating pattern. one key issue with goat nutrition is the issue of variety . goat love variety . at any age they will accept concentrates. this is true for all Nigerian breeds including adults. this is my experience on the field.

with variety you develop their gut better especially if they are young.

ezybaba:
start feeding goat with conc after u wean them from there mother becos with that they will get used to d feed. D mature goat will hardly feed on d conc

yes you have a point. in a way you made a point but not completely the reality . goats can adapt to any other diet at any age including adult goats.

goats can be irrational in their eating pattern. one key issue with goat nutrition is the issue of variety . goat love variety . at any age they will accept concentrates. this is true for all Nigerian breeds including adults. this is my experience on the field.

with variety you develop their gut better especially if they are young.

ezybaba:
I used conc to feed my goat during my final year project but I will advice other to pelletitized the feed to prevent wastage and also Salt licks or lumps of rock salt of fairly good size should be hung up in some suitable place where the goats can easily get them

pelletizing the concentrates is good but. business minded goat farmers should consider the issue of cost.

the price of pelletizing machine is not outrageous but if you add labour cost you have a dangerously high bill.

sometimes ago I wanted to pelletize some concentrates but had to suspend the plan because the figures coming out of my analysis were not good.

I won't advise business minded beginner goat farmer to start with palletizing . it will eat up your profit.
it may make sense for research project purpose but not profitable for business purpose

yes there is possibility of wastage of concentrates but there are ways around this. if proper measures are not taken goats will waste any food even if not concentrates. that is where your skill as goat farmer comes in.

I have been running an NGO : centre for zero grazing and urban goat farming for sometime now. I have a small demonstration farm around where I live in an urban city in Nigeria. the journey has been an interesting one.

I intend to share few of the stuffs I gathered to encourage new entrants . yes just few stuffs. but for serious minded guys you are good to go.

I must submit here that you can actually have a goat farm in an urban centre without any pasture or grazing field .yes in a city , in your backyard with almost zero percent or less than 5% of your expenses spent on nutrition.

you know nutrition usually take about 60% your expenses in goat farming . imagine if you can reduce this figure just by half.

although I have another thread on goat business , this thread is different . this one is focusing specifically on zero grazing and urban (backyard) goat farming.

for serious minded folks get ready .

lanre2009:
What is the total cost of raising 10 baby goats to maturity. And what would the profit margin be?

I wish I could give an immediate answer with the figures. but it is not as dimple as that.

in preparing a profit and loss projections for a goat farming business , several important information are needed such as the farmland availability, pens availability, goat farming model to be adopted , nutritional system, security etc .

without the answers to these key questions and many others , you can't arrive at what your profit would be.

eurogee:
please house help me with the right information. i am ready to go into buying and selling goat. in the business course of my research, i find out dat where 2 buy cheap is gembu. I tend to take off from Asaba. does anyone know how much it cost to transport a goat from taraba. will 300k be enough to take off

depends on what you have on ground for take off . if you have nothing at all then it is too small . if you have space/shop, and good will then you are good to go. the other thing is this : are you focusing only on one breed - the northern breed alone ? if yes don't start with more than ten for a start . you will need to learn the ropes.

PKC As Goat Feed. cont'd

Goats dont really like PKC. It is usually dry and gritty. However, as it is mainly used in compound feeds, its lack of palatability is of less importance and goats will take them .

PKC as the sole component of the goat formulated feed is an adequate protein source for West African Dwarf goats, in fact better than brewery waste and cottonseed (for WAD).

determining the right quantity in concentrates requires skill and experience. acquiring the expertise is worth it judging by the economic gains that comes with this expertise.

remember PKC is cheap and this can serve as a cheap source of nutrition for your goats and reduce your farm expenses.

NB
feeding PKC to sheep is not totally safe at a certain percentage due to Corper toxicity which is lethal to sheep. the best way out for beginner sheep farmers is to totally avoid PKC if they are not sure of what they are doing.

goats can handle Corper toxicity to a certain extent.

Concentrates As Goat Feed cont'd.

PKC As Goat Feed

Palm kernel meal. or palm kernel cake(PKC) are terms referring to same thing. PKC is an important feed ingredient and the by-product of oil palm.

Although its nutritive value is inferior to that of some oil meals, e.g soybean meal,and groundnut meal due to its low protein content(14-20% DM),

yet it remains a source of protein and energy and its cost may make it particularly attractive when compared to more expensive ingredients such as maize grain and soybean, and it can often partially replace them in goat feeds.

PKC is usually cheap.

to be cont'd

mfm04622:
I will appreciate if I can get some from you. I will prefer to wait till the rainy season as you said it is better planted after a rain. Do you know the local name in any Nigerian language? Thank you so much

I don't know the local name and am not sure if there is a local name for it most likely because mulbery is not native to Nigeria.

ekekwe1:
Good morning.please am new in goat breeding. I purchased two pregnant WAD last week of December.. lately I noticed one is them is suffering from catarrh and coughs.. milkish discharge coming outta her nose, loss of appetite and always on her own. She has also refused to drink water. Please how do I go about this?

catarrh and cough - that look like a respiratory tract infection. if you are fortunate to get a vet skilled in goat care then you should see him.

in the alternative go and get amoxyl or any other broad spectrum antibiotics from vet shop and give them. but be careful about this due to their pregnancy. except you know what you are doing and can monitor them don't give injection.

also ensure that they are not exposed to cold excessively . Dec is cold and try and keep them warm in particular their pen .

ekekwe1:
Good morning.please am new in goat breeding. I purchased two pregnant WAD last week of December.. lately I noticed one is them is suffering from catarrh and coughs.. milkish discharge coming outta her nose, loss of appetite and always on her own. She has also refused to drink water. Please how do I go about this?

catarrh and cough - that look like a respiratory tract infection. if you are fortunate to get a vet skilled in goat care then you should see him.

in the alternative go and get amoxyl or any other broad spectrum antibiotics from vet shop and give them. but be careful about this due to their pregnancy. except you know what you are doing and can monitor them don't give injection.

also ensure that they are not exposed to cold excessively . Dec is cold and try and keep them warm in particular their pen .

mfm04622:
Thank you for your efforts. Please where can I get Mulberry to plant? Do they grow from seeds or seedlings? Can I get from you?

Thank you

mulberry grow mainly from stem. it is the stem you should plant. any part of the stem should grow but younger stems are better and grow faster.

now there is a trick in planting it - let it be about 45 degrees to the ground i.e slanted . in that way many of them will grow. also better planted immediately after rain

I know only of Ondo and Ekiti as places where you can get the stems to buy from the farmers who planted them except if you need small quantity which I think they can give you free

petrchuks:
Messrs Zayons, please could you drop your contact phone number for the discerning ones who do not think that your hard earned knowledge on experience is a fraud.Thanks ojere ee better person let them keep on thinking what ever they like after all thinking is free.

thank you my bro. the goat market is so huge that I don't need to sell anything on this thread. just having fun cheering some information free - what ordinarily I sell as information products. they just think anyone offering uncommon service is a fraud. poor minds

this December I still sold goat . the market is always there.

goat breeding is not rocket science yet it is not funny. zero grazing which I practice is the real test that will show whether you are big boy or not. I have acquired huge skills and experience and knowledge in it overtime. just wanted to have fun releasing bits of them
you requested for my number ?
0816 806 4251

Concentrates As Goat Feed cont'd.

Brewery wastes : wherever there is Brewery , then you can easily get the wastes from beer production and is usually free of charge.

usually in wet form but you will need to sun dry it. you feed it to goats in dry powdery form compounded with other materials in specific ratio .

even if you don't have access to brewery, you can get the dry form from any feed mill around you.
the protein content is OK for goats especially when mixed with others

cont'd

Concentrates As Goat. Feed

if you intend to practice zero grazing goat farming like I do , then you need to sharpen your skill in this area. Nutrition is one subject that will determine your success or failure in goat farming especially zero grazing goat farming

in determining appropriate concentrate feed formulae many factors come into play . these include availability , cost , acceptability by the goat breed, the farmer's skill , nutritive power , goat breed etc.

again remember that goat don't just eat anything. they are picky in their eating pattern.

I should add this. diff goat breeds and age don't have exact similar behaviour when it comes to feeds. but adaption may come into play here.

to be contd

phillings247:
i have 4 adult female dwarf goats,2 amongst dem give birth to 3 kids,while d other 2 produce 2kids at a go.1 male goat,3pregnant dwarf goats and 4 weaned goats all are for sale at a good price call or whatsapp me on 08027915498

your goat breeds appears to be good ones. why do you want to sell them ? are they sick ? I thought they should serve as your breeding stock

Mulbery contd

Goats love mulbery - all nigerian breeds for that matter. our goats does

either dried or fresh. that means it cant be wasted. sometimes sliced and dried and kept for future use

although mulbery is not native to nigeria, it grows very well and luxuriantly on nigerian soils without much stress

the leaves can also be harvested, and mixed with goat feed dried or fresh