Goat farming

Goat farming is of interest to me for a couple of reasons; unlike cows goats are cheaper ( Dorep sells a pregnant breed goat at 22,00 shillings - this is of course on the higher end), and they feed much less than cows do. In fact goats feeds on 5 kg of fodder a day.

A goat is pregnant for 5 months and after weaning of the kid one can start milking. The kid shouldnt be weaned before 3 months although you can let is suck for longer. The kid is ready for reproduction at 9 months or so. I recently talked to a farmer who told me his goat ( kienyeji goat using German Alpine male for ferterlisation) gives birth to twins on season 1 and then a single kid in the next in an alternative fashion. He also told me he would sell the kid aged 3 months for 4,000 shilling if it were female.

Obviously if you are crossing a Kienyeji with a grade goat you need to be careful how you do it. For instance buying a female grade goat gives you a lower return because she can only give birth to so many of them. Whilst buying a male grade goat, you know he will spread it about and get value for your purchase. There is also a formula on how genes are crossed over, for instance if you want the offsprings to be of a better grade, then you need to use a male grade goat and kienyeji female as oppossed to the other way around. This applies to milking goats - this is my interest, but i can only assume you could cross for meat breeds to achieve a bigger goat which translates to more meat and thus more cash in your pocket.

If in commercial farming, be it pigs, chicken, goats, sheep or even rabbits be sure to sell you animals at the right age. If it matures at 2 months, keeping it for 3 months makes no commercial sense not unless the sale price will have increased to cover the feeds and other costs for the additional one month.

Goat meat goes for 360 shllings a kilo in Nairobi, those in Wazuan think there is a big problem in the market but personally this is not something that would stop me from getting into the business. The fact is that the Nairobi Middle class is on the up and the food prices are just ridiculous at the best.

Here is a link to Common Goat breeds - lets face it that is where most Milk Goat breeds originated from

http://www.allgoats.com/breeds4.htm