Handling of goats for new goat farmers.

Handling of goats plays an important role in stall feed and semi-stall feed goat farming methods.It is one of the main factor responsible for a successful and non successful goat farm.

New goat farmers must have some previous experience of goat breeding or should have workers on his farm that have some knowledge regarding goat farming.Also you can't depend on workers at all as most of them are not trusty now days.So its always better to handle the goats personally or should spend maximum of your day time in your farm.

If you won’t handle your goats properly you will surely face severe losses.

Here handling of goats means-

1.Providing balanced nutrition.

2.Proper vaccinations, for example if not vaccinated  against F.M.D they develops ulcers surrounding their mouths and it gets easily spread to all goats of your pen.

3. Identifying of a specific symptom of a disease , if a disease is identified to late it will surely spread to all goats of your farm.

4.Properly milking of goats, especially of miscarriage/aborted goats you have to take all milk from their glands manually.If they have not milk and are placed as they are,there will be blocking of udder(mammary glands) which may even lead to death.

5.Proper cleaning of floor where goats are sitting, if not cleaned properly germs(bacteria) gets accumulated in their internal openings like udder,vagina,eyes,nose etc which further leads to cancer(developing of tumors).In such case goat shows poor performance,yields less milk and gives birth to single kid even if it is of excellent quality of breed,takes longer time to get pregnant,miscarrages several times,gestation period increase beyond the normal limit.

At such time,most of the goat farmers curses the sellers assuming that they have provided them low quality breed or diseased breed.But thats not true,its the goat farmers(buyers) responsibilty to handle it properly.Such things mostly happens when the owner doesnt looks his farm personaly or don’t have any knowledge regarding breeding of goats,he depends on their workers assuming that they will/are doing well and the problem is with the goat(breed) only which the seller has provided to him.

These are only a few examples to explain handling of goats,there are lots of other things too which the goat farmer have to consider while breeding them

Estrus cycle,Mating,Puberty:

ESTROUS CYCLE:The estrous cycle is the period of time from the beginning of one heat period to the beginning of the next. Estrous cycle length of goats  is of 21 days.

Goats are seasonal and short-day breeders, The most natural time for Goat to breed is from
late June -Sept and feb-march, but stall feed goats may breeds  throughout the year.

Estrus, or heat, is the period of time when the female is sexually receptive to the buck.It is also called as mating period. Estrus can last from 24 to 48 hours in does at the end or beginning of oestrus cycle. Ovulation normally occurs toward the end of the estrus cycle. Typical ovulation times for the does are about 24 to 36 hours from the beginning of estrus. Following ovulation, goat eggs are generally capable of fertilization for 10 to 25 hours. Mating of a buck with a doe in the estrus period causes successful fertilization, which makes the doe pregnant and will be ready to deliver kids in next 5 months.

SIGN OF HEAT IN DOE:A doe in heat is restless, bleats and urinates frequently, and wags her tail rapidly. She may also experience loss of appetite and rub against other goats in the herd. Other signs include redness and swelling around the vulva, which may have a thin mucous discharge.

NATURAL PROCESS OF MATING:A doe in season (in heat) will indicate her interest in breeding by wagging her tail rapidly for the buck; this is called flagging. Her urine contains chemicals which tell the buck that she is ready to breed. The buck will urinate upon his face, beard, and front legs. He will approach the flagging doe, she will squat and urinate, and he will place his nose in the urine stream. Raising his head high, the buck will curl his upper lip to detect the pheromones which tell him that the doe is receptive to being bred.

PUBERTY:In goats sexual development is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. In does and bucks the age at puberty ranges from 150 to 230 days, dependent on nutrition, location and season of birth. Nutrition is among the most significant factors influencing reproductive development and the onset of puberty. A low plane of nutrition delays first estrus and reduces uterine and ovarian weights, while having no effect on the partitioning of fat and protein and the weight of other organs. Increasing the overall plane of nutrition generally advances the onset of puberty, but overfeeding will decrease subsequent fertility and impair mammary gland development.