Farming Purpose

When Step-Inn Integrated farm fodder are in plenty they are conserved as either silage or hay to meet the demand of good quality fodder during lean season. Silage can be defined as a green material produced by controlled anaerobic fermentation of green fodder crop retaining its moisture content. Silage is the green succulent roughage preserved more or less in its original condition, with a minimum deterioration and minimum loss in respect of various nutritive constituents of fodder.

The process of conserving green fodder is called as ensilage. Silo is the receptacle in which silage is made. The best silage are moist to the touch, soft but not slimy and fragrant in their own characteristic way.

Green, fruity silage Is the most palatable and nutritious type. This can be produced only under careful management from crops that are cut at the right stage with a dry matter of 25 to 35%. A dark-brown colour indicates excessive heating.

Mineral deficiencies in goat diets can lead to a number of unhealthy symptoms that affect the value of the herd and negatively affect growth rates, dairy production, and breeding ability. The most common effects of mineral deficiencies include:

• Weak muscles
• Trouble breathing
• Stiff joints
• Skin problems
• Deformed hooves
• Excessive salivating
• Abortion
• Stillbirths
• Weight loss
• Low milk supply
• Rickets
• Anemia
• Slow kid growth
• Reduced fertility

The list goes on. Essentially, goat health is directly linked to their intake of minerals that support nutrient health.

Latest advances in sheep and goat medicine, including medical treatment, surgery, theriogenology, and nutrition. Full-color photographs and clear instructions provide the answers you need, guiding you through common procedures and techniques such as restraint for examination, administration of drugs, blood collection, and grooming; these descriptions are often accompanied by explanatory diagrams and charts. With diseases, surgeries, and treatments organized by body system, information is always easy to find. New to this edition are chapters on parasite control, nutritional requirements, and performing a necropsy. Developed by a world-renowned expert on the medical care of sheep and goats.

Goats generally produce more milk than a cow from the same quantity of nutrients. The nutrient conversion efficiency for the production of milk in goats is 45.71 per cent, whereas a dairy cow averages 38 per cent. It has been observed that goats are 4.04 per cent superior to sheep, 7.90 per cent superior to buffaloes, and 8.60 per cent superior to cows in crude fibre utilization. The goat uses more useless feeds for its maintenance than a cow.

The secret of successful feeding is in devising a cheap and efficient ration. While preparing a ration for goats, factors like bulk, palatability, availability, price and digestibility should be considered along with the nutritive quality of the feed. Abundant clean, fresh water, changed every morning and evening should be made available to goats at all times. Some of the most serious diseases of goats result from the drinking of dirty water from shallow pools. Water troughs should be thoroughly washed at least twice a month. Goats in milk require more water than dry goats and should be watered regularly at least three times a day.

The nutrients needed may be divided into maintenance, production and pregnancy requirements:-

a) Maintenance ration : As goats have a higher BMR than cattle, their maintenance requirements are higher. The maintenance requirement is 0.09 per cent DCP and 0.09 per cent TDN. For its size, a goat can consume substantially more feed than cattle or sheep, viz. 6.5-11 per cent of its body weight in dry matter when compared with 2.5-3 per cent for cattle or sheep. This means that the goat can satisfy its maintenance requirement and produce milk from forage alone.

b) Production ration : Requirements for the production of 1 litre of milk with 3 % and 4.5 % fat is 43 gm of DCP and 200 gm of starch equivalent (SE), and 60 gm of DCP and 285 gm of SE, respectively. The nutritional requirement of a goat weighing 50 kg and yielding 2 litres of milk with 4% fat may be met by feeding 400gm of concentrate mixture and 5 kg of berseem or lucerne. The ration should have 12-15 % protein content.

The following concentrate mixtures may be used to feed the goat : (i) 1 part of wheat bran, 2 parts of maize grain, and 1 part of linseed cake, or (ii) 2 parts of maize grain, 1 part of barley, 2 parts of mustard-cake, and 2 parts of gram husk, or (iii) 1 part of wheat bran, 2 parts of barley grain, and 1 part of groundnut cake, or (iv) 2 parts of gram grain and 1 part of wheat bran. The above mixtures should also contain 2 % each of mineral mixture and salt.

c) Pregnancy ration : The foetal growth in the last 2 months of pregnancy is rapid and the metabolic rate of the goat rises rapidly. During this period, the content of ration should be increased to the level of production ration. A week before she kids, the doe should be provided with more succulent type of food. For three or four days after kidding, the level of diet should be lowered and made more fibrous. This is necessary to minimize the shock to the goat’s udder. After this period, the feeding should be done at a normal rate.

d) Feeding of young stock : Performance of the adult stock depends on how they are reared when young. Feeding schedule for kids should be such that a weekly growth rate of 0.6 kg is obtained. The kids should be fed 56-112 gm of colostrum 4-5 times a day, depending on its birth weight, for three days. From the fourth day onwards, they may be fed the following ration schedule:-

e) Mineral mixture : the requirements of calcium and phosphorous for maintenance are 6.5 and 3.5 gm, respectively, per 50 kg body weight. Goats require slightly larger quantities of calcium than sheep. The mineral mixture may be included in the concentrate ration at the rate of 2 per cent.

f) Salt : 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. This is important as goats secrete a good amount of sodium and chloride ions in the milk.

g) Vitamins and antibiotics : Goats particularly need vitamins A, D and E. Vitamin A can be supplied by feeding green forage and yellow maize; 1 kg of lush-green fodder will provide 1500 IU. Vitamin D can be obtained by exposure to sunlight. Vitamin E is present in adequate amounts in most normal rations. Synthetic vitamins A and D may be supplemented in the ration of growing kids. Feeding of aureomycin or terramycin increases the growth rate of young kids, reduced the incidence of scours and other infectious diseases and improves the general appearance of the kids.

• Composition of goat milk (%) : Water 86.81, Total solids 13.19, SNF 8.17, Fat 4.17, Protein 3.75, Lactose 4.54, Ash 0.80
• Goat milk protein has a digestibility coefficient of 85% and biological value of 67.5%, and contains many essential amino acids.
• Fat globules are small in size and hence easily assimilated, facilitating easy assimilation in children and invalids.
• It is rich in lactoperoxidase (Lp) which is effective against a variety of bacterial diseases.

• It is preferred to mutton in India.
• The digestibility coefficient and biological value of dried goat emat are 95.2 and 60.4 per cent, respectively.
• It has less fat due to active disposition of the animal.
• It has no religious taboo.
• It is liked by all classes of people.
• Its markets are well-established.
• Chevon is pinkish-red in colour, coarse-textured and has a characteristic goaty odour.
• Good quality, tender meat is obtained from 6-8 month old goats.
• Black Bengal & Angora chevon is considered more delicious than meat of other goats and fetches more price.
• Guts from goats are preserved in refined salt and exported for use as casings in sausage making.

Groundnut hay is valuable because it has protein which makes cattle grow faster. Just as some farmers feed the beautiful green leaves and stems to their oxen to keep them strong and healthy, they should also feed it to their cows to get more milk and to their young animals to make them grow faster. Where there is a good market for groundnut hay, farmers may sell it to people who keep horses and donkeys.

The best groundnut hay has lots of leaves. It is the leaves of this plant that have the most protein. The leaves will fall off the plants if the groundnuts are harvested too late, if they’re dried too quickly under the hot sun, or if they’re left lying in the field for too long.

Vaccination protocols should be minimally aimed toward the prevention of diseases in your herd and should be developed in consultation with your local veterinarian.

Recommended Vaccination
The vaccine commonly known as “CDT” or “CD&T” is a vaccination for Clostridium perfringens type C + D and tetanus. This is the vaccine that everyone raising goats should use. The label directions should be followed closely, including those for handling and storage. Several companies make CDT vaccines and some of those include vaccines for additional clostridial diseases. Consult with your veterinarian to determine if those other diseases are common in your area or are on your farm before spending the extra money for the multiple combination vaccines.

Does should be vaccinated for CDT approximately 30 days prior to giving birth to provide protection to the kids through the first milk, or colostrum. If the doe has not been given a priming booster of two shots adminstered three to four weeks apart at some time in her life, the pre-kidding annual shot will not really be effective. This priming set of shots is usually given when the doe is a young kid but can be done at any age.

Kids should be vaccinated at 5 to 6 weeks of age and then given a booster three to four weeks later. Vaccination of kids from properly vaccinated does prior to 5 weeks of age may result in kids that are not protected and annual boosters may be ineffective.

Kids born to does with uncertain vaccination history or with questionable colostrum ingestion within the first 24 hours of birth should be vaccinated at 7 to 21 days of age and then given a booster three to four weeks later. Alternately, tetanus antitoxin (150 – 250 units) can be given at birth or at castration.

Breeding bucks, yearlings and other adults should get annual boosters 30 days prior to the breeding season or when others in the herd are given booster vaccines. New breeding bucks and does with unknown vaccination history should get two initial doses, three to six weeks apart, and then annually. Some research has shown that goats might benefit from booster vaccinations twice a year, six months apart.