Agriculture and Horticulture snaps

Thanks to Agriculture and Horticulture Department, Perianaickenpalayam, Coimbatore for their valuable assistance and technical expertise, without which my transition from a Software engineer to a Farmer would not have been possible.

Goat Farming Tips

I have established M/s Rajsri Goat Farm under the technical guidance of the Veterinary University Training and Research Centre, Coimbatore a peripheral unit of TANUVAS, Chennai located at No. 63, Kalappatti Pirivu, Saravanampatty Post, Coimbatore, TamilNadu (Phone: 0422-2669965).

I would like to thank the Veterinary Department, Thudiyalur, Coimbatore for all their help and assistance.

Points to note:

• I never consider my goat farm as a commercial enterprise.
• To me it is an important allied activity to agriculture and it is an important component of my integrated farming system.
• The goat unit should not have a separate labor component for maximum gains.
• For good profits, the goat farm should be maintained using family labor as much as possible.
• It is always better to start the goat unit in own land with good water source for irrigation. Sufficient electrical power supply is equally important. Minimum of 2 Acres of land is necessary to start a goat farm.
• Select the area of the farm & shed so that the length of the shed is oriented east to west. (For good ventilation)
• Minimum 15 Sq.ft. per adult goat in the stall would be ideal (pen).
• The run area should be two to three times the floor space given in the pen area (30 to 45 sq.ft. per adult goat)

Plan for the fodder production:

• About one acre of fodder is required for 30 goats.
• In this one acre cultivate Co-4, CoFs 29, CoFs 31, Desmanthus, Lucerne and tree fodders like agathi, subabul, mulberry, moringa etc.
• An adult goat will require 4 to 5 kg of green fodder per day and about one kg of dry fodder per day.
• Concentrate feed to be given minimum 50 - 250 gm per animal based on its body weight.
• Drinking water should be made available at all times.
• A chaff cutter with 1 HP motor is required for chaffing of fodder into ½ inch that's ideal for consumption.

Maintaining the farm:

1. Goat selection during Purchase

Classify the goats based on the following age groups:

• 3 Months old
• 6-8 Months old
• 12-18 Months old (may be in pregnancy or with a kid) 

2. Identification / Number Tagging should be done for each goat.

3. Deworming and Vaccination Procedure

• Consultation with a Doctor should be done at-least once every three months.
• Keep the area neat and clean to spray the medicines.
• PPR is an important disease affecting goats.
• Vaccinate the goats at 3 months of age and then once in a year.
• FMD vaccination may be done after consulting the Vet.

4. Process of Separation

• This is very important.
• Pregnant goats should be kept in separate pens from 2nd month onward with extra care.
• Separate out 3-6 months old and 7-10 month old kids.
• All the male goats should be kept separately.

5. Mating

• Female goat should be at least 12 months old and should weigh more than 20 kg.
• It is a natural process - the mating female goat will look for its partner periodically. 
• The male goat should be tied at all times except during mating and should be at least 12 months old.
• To have healthy kid, it is important to change the male partner once in 2 years. 
• The newly born kid should be left with its mother for 2 months with extra care and for the first 7 days it should be ensured that it gets milk from its mother without fail. 
• The newly born kid should weigh at least 2 Kg.

6.Register

Maintain the following records for effective maintenance:

• Stock register
• Feeding details – green and dry fodder and concentrate feed per day
• Reproductive record
• Disease, vaccination, deworming details
• Expenditure register
• Sale register

7. Insurance

It is advised to insure every goat - consult the Doctor.

8. Culling

If the goat which is not growing well even after good feeding, it is should be sold out.
(if a goat is not gaining a weight of at least 2 kg per month).

9. Breeding:

• Only the healthy females should be kept for breeding.
• The females should have high milk production capacity and mothering ability.
• The female should give twins or triplets.
• A healthy goat should gain a body weight of at least  2.5 kg per month.

Goat Farm Snaps

Posting some snaps of my goat farm, hoping it would help someone planning to build one for their own:

With my wife and parents

African farmers visiting my farm

Sakshi Article

I would like to thank the delegates from Andhra Pradesh who had visited my goat farm last week and published an article in "Sakshi" news paper dated 24-March-2014.

I would like to thank everyone who had contacted me after reading this article. The response to the article was overwhelming and I apologize that I was not able to respond to each and every one of your mail. Some of the mails were very encouraging. Yesterday alone I had received more than 200 e-mails and I am unable to respond to every one. Most of the mails were about specifics of goat farming. I felt obliged to answer them all, but could not do so due to lack of time and resources. So, I hit upon the idea of blogging to reach out to all.

I would be adding more posts specific to goat farming and sharing my experience, hoping it would help others. If you have any questions about the farm, please feel free to ask them here. I would be more than happy to answer them as soon as time permits.

Thanks again for all your support and words of encouragement !