Want to start goat farming business? If yes here’s the plan. Goat breeding and farming is mainly an occupation in Asian countries. China has the largest population of goats followed by India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Goat meat is very popular everywhere and this makes it a quite profitable business. You can opt for a large scale and a small scale farming business depending on your budget and space. You can even use your backyard if there is enough space for farming.

Also, being a new entrepreneur in this field, let us help you with some tips and a forming a plan for goat farming business. Goats are farmed for various other reasons too, except meat. Goats produce milk and fibre too. Goat milk has huge demand all over the world.

Full cream goat milk, goat milk powder, goat milk cream, fresh goat milk etc. Goat milk is very thick and tasty. Goat meat is preferred by many because of its taste. The wool for garment and the skin for the leather factory.

Let’s get started with the detail of goat farming to help you plan a successful business.

1#. Steps To Start A Goat Farming Business

There will be various steps involved before you can start a business.

1. Select the farm

First of all, you need to select a piece of land where you wish to set up the farm and feed the goats. There isn’t any rule in choosing a land, you can take up any land as long as it will serve your purpose. You wouldn’t take up a marshy land obviously to set up a farm!

Now, you have to make sure you surround your piece of land that is your farm with a fence. Check the availability of water because you will be needing it, a lot! Take up a piece of land that will have a large grazing area after setting up the goat shade. You have to make proper waste management too. Um, you can use them to produce compost manure for cultivation. Grow your own grass, feed them and again use the waste to enrich your soil with nutritions. It’s a recycling process.

2. Select your breed

Breed selection is the most important part of any animal farming business. Select the breeds according to your requirement and of course your shed management. Choose the breeds that can adjust with your local climate. There are varieties of goat breeds.

There is an option for you to select crossbreeds too. But as always we would like to remind you about the climate as a factor for goat breeding. The most popular goat breeds in India are

• Sirohi
• Jamunapari
• Beetle
• Black Bengal
• Chennai red
• Mecheri
• Vembur
• Neelagiri
• Barbari
• Kanni aadu
• Kodi aadu
• Changthangi
• Chegu
• Tellicherry

There are some varieties of crossbreeds too. The crossbreeds are

• NDRI (karnal) beetle goat crossed with alpine and Saanen
• KAU (Malabari) Balabari goat crossed with Saanen and alpine
• MPKVV (Rahuri) black Bengal crossed with alpine and Saanen.

3. Proper housing and equipment for goat breeding

Your profit depends on how much care you are giving to your raw materials. Keep your raw materials safe and you can earn some real profit. Anyways, let’s talk about the proper housing for your goats.

There should be a good shed to save your animals from sun, rain, wind or cold. The shed should be properly ventilated because, with improper ventilation, you goats will develop severe health diseases. It can also cause severe respiratory disease if not properly ventilated. Don’t overdo on the ventilation because that might affect productivity in your goats. Keep the floors dry and clean. A clean floor and good temperature will let your goats breed properly. Your material for farm construction can be anything like a concrete one or with bamboo. Care is all they need.

4. Health care for goats

There are various diseases that can attack your goats. Therefore it is necessary that you keep a veterinary doctor to check your goat’s health every day. Deworming is very essential for every animal especially if it is your source of income. If your farm is clean, there are chances that you won’t have issues with your goat’s health. To keep your farm clean, employ some people.

Proper vaccination is very important. Provide all the necessary vaccines to the kids properly. You need to give keen attention to sick goats, Pregnant-goats, mother goats and the kids. A single buck can handle 25 does in a single breeding season. Therefore you don’t need to worry much about it.

5. Goat food, fodder and essential mineral mixture

The best kind of fodder for your goats would be leguminous fodders. They are very much fond of it. Goats need pulses, maize, corn, wheat etc. They are even fond of fresh green grass but they do not eat maize silage or straw.

Goats need high mineral compositions. We will provide a chart for making mineral mixture to feed your goats.

Sterilized bone meal (35 parts), copper sulphate (22gms/ton mineral mixture), ferrous carbonate (11gms/ton), iodised salt (20 parts), finely ground high grade limestone (45 parts), zinc oxide (11gms/ton). This mineral mixture needs to be added at 2% for goats.

6. What to do during their heat season?

When you are buying goats for your farm, buy some does and a buck. A buck alone can take care of your goat multiplication. During their heat season, keep the does with the buck. Wait till they mate. The average period of gestation for a doe is 145 to 155 days.

Take extra care for the does who are about to mate. Give them healthy food and keep them clean. Also, you have to take care of the buck. Provide them with food that contains high nutrition. Provide them with fresh food. Fresh food will keep them healthy. This will help the fertile Does produce healthy kids. Be careful about their drinking water. Provide them clean and freshwater daily. Always keep a check in their behaviour. Any change in their behaviour should be reported immediately to the vet.

7. Advantages of Goat Farming

First of all, Goat, whether male or female, has equal value in the market. Therefore you need to worry about the female goats. Goat meat is cholesterol-free and easy to digest, therefore it has a high demand in the market. Goat farming needs very minimum investment. You can even make a shed with bamboo and soil. You just need to arrange freshwater supply and area for their grazing.

Goats can multiply within 7-12 months. You don’t have to wait for much to start earning your profit. Goat milk is thick but it is digestion-friendly. Therefore there is a demand for goat milk for patients who have digestion issues with cow milk. They are called the “foster mother of nature”. Goat milk is safe for even kids. It was used as ayurvedic medicine during the early period. Still, goat milk is used to cure asthma, diabetics etc.

These are multipurpose animal because you can sell them for meat, milk, fibre, leather and manure. Goat manure is rich in nutrition for the soil. This can work as a natural fertilizer and increase your crop production. Goats can be reared with other livestock because they are friendly in nature. Goats don’t get sick frequently if they are taken care of.

Goat farming has proved to provide employment to the unemployed where you don’t need to keep a lot of employees. You can do all the necessary work on your own or you might include your family to help you. Goats don’t need special attention, provide them with a clean shelter and the freshwater and green grass. Goat milk products are in demand in the International and even in the National market. If you don’t have enough cash to invest, you can take loans from government banks. They have lower interest rates for farmers.

8. Marketing Your Farm

You are farming but you don’t have a market, will it work? Therefore, first, survey your locality and then start your business. Create good liaison with the buyers. Talk to the manufacturing houses of cheese, milk packaging and slaughter-house.

Slaughter-houses are your main target. Otherwise, you can sell the milk yourself to various houses and restaurants. If you have enough cash, we would recommend you to set up an area inside your farm where you can make milk products and sell them locally. Slowly you will be able to start networking with your potential market.

9. Do You Need Training?

Training is very important before starting any farm business. You need proper guidance. The foods they need, the space they need, how can you sell them in the market etc needs to be well researched. Research is very important. Take a local survey before starting your business. You need to know if you are going to face any competition or not. Talk to the vets, and ask them to guide you properly.

Conclusion

Okay, ending this article here. We would love to congratulate you on your decision on choosing goat farming because it is a very profitable business. We hope you succeed in all your plans.