We finally decided to grow goats and we managed to get two of them for the beginning.
This idea came to us since we got plenty of land for them and since we need to cut the grass always, why not get some help and benefits from it as well. We prefer goats over cows since goats are easier to handle and less dangerous. Plus that they are a source of milk, and we are vegetarians so this is a great thing. Goats are amazing, very intelligent, our goats even learned a few tricks. I recommend goats to everyone, including vegans. For vegans maybe male goats, as amazing intelligent pets, natural lawnmower, and great fertilizer. The poop from the goats helps develop champignon mushrooms in the grass, and this offers an extra source of food. Plus that their poop can be used in the garden to fertilize the soil very well. Growing goats and carrying about them: Goats are easy to be taken care of, if you have enough land to supply hay for them during the winter is a great thing since you won't need to buy hay. You will still need to get some salt blocks for them and offer them fresh water to drink. Depending on the breed, you may need to have some extra care against rain and cold. They require care for their hoves, there are special clippers for them, but if you don't want too much work with that, then do like us, place a few big stones so they can maintain their hoves by themselves. Goat's milk, called by Hippocrates "miraculous liquid and healing essence," has innumerable benefits and a composition similar to breast milk. The goat produces 8-20 times more milk than its own body weight. In addition, it has an exceptional prolificacy, 3-4 kids 2 times a year, and biological longevity of up to 10-12 years. From goat, you can capitalize on everything from milk, fur to poop. She is loving and loves to eat from your palm. A real treasure, unpretentious to eat, and easy to grow. Is he hungry and thirsty? It is a job that you can do in the morning and in the evening with feed in the gutters and water in the drinking troughs. If you're busy, you can go during the day, but in the morning and in the evening you have to be there. If you have a small plot of land and you like goats, find out that the investment is not big at all. In fact, you can start with a few heads and, given their prolificacy, in two years you can boast a small farm. The area required for the construction of a farm of 300 goats is about 2500 square meters. Reproduction in goats In goats, the rut (mating period) is seasonal, starting in autumn. The duration of the route is 36-48 hours, this being repeated every 17 (10-23) days. In a small proportion of animals, the route may appear earlier, in June-July, they must be identified, sown, grouped separately, because the trait is hereditary and goats can be used in organizing extra-early calving. The maximum intensity of the route is in October-November, and in freedom the natural mounting takes place throughout the period, being distributed according to the principle: one male to 30-40 females. Young goats, up to two years old, will perform only two mounts a day - morning and evening - to avoid physical and sexual exhaustion, obtaining non-viable products. The use of hornless goats for reproduction, regardless of the mounting system - natural or artificial - can be done after careful verification of reproduction skills, avoid the occurrence of sterility, hermaphrodites, non-reproducible, etc. Gestation Gestation in goats lasts, on average, 150 days, with variations between 145 and 158 days, depending on the precocity of the breed, the age of the mother and the date of first calving, the number and sex of products, the level of maintenance, etc. The state of gestation is known after the absence of the route and the gradual development and asymmetry, prominent on the right, of the abdomen. At least four weeks before calving, milking should be stopped for the preparation of the future lactation and the accumulation of nutrients necessary for the development of the fetus. If some goats show a gradual secretion of milk before calving, they should be milked to avoid mastitis. In case of abnormal positions of the fetus (dystocia) the intervention of the specialist is required. In the shelter, it is necessary to create and maintain a proper microclimate, with a temperature of 14-15 degrees C, without currents and humidity, with clean and well-dried bedding. After calving, at an interval of 1-1.5 hours, the animal is given warm water for drinking or boiling bran and is left to rest for 2-3 days. Good quality fodder is administered in small quantities: alfalfa hay or green meal, depending on the season, a mixture of concentrates, salt in the form of lumps or briquettes, and drinking water at a temperature of 10-15 degrees C. Goat food A biological and, implicitly, economic peculiarity of the species is represented by the superior capitalization of all categories of fodder: vegetables - green mass, flours, chaff, straw, silage, roots, leaves, concentrates, technical waste, etc .; industrial - bran, feed flour, microbiological residues, etc. The need for feed depends on milk production, followed by the state of maintenance or physiology of the animals and the quality of the feed. Goats are not pretentious, but greedy with a pronounced sense of preference for certain varieties of fodder and even parts of them and very capricious to the hygiene of feed. It prefers mountain pastures, with different shrubs, leaves, shoots, tree buds, aromatic plants. Also kitchen scraps, from vegetable gardens, fruit peels, melons, potatoes, cabbage, lettuce, legume paste, fallen fruit from trees. In extensive exploitation, in the wild, the consumption of herbs varies from 5 to 80 percent. Under conditions of permanent housing in the shelter, with directed feeding, goats are fed on the basis of rules and rations to intensify their production. Perfected breeds generally produce 20 times more milk than their own weight, and breeding is 155 percent higher. |
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