SMALL RUMINANTS

1. A dairy breed of goat known for its roman

nose with pendulous ears, coat color ranges
from brown to black producing 1-2 kg milk
per day
a. Boer c. Saanen
b. Anglo nubian d. Alpine
2. Floor space for adult goats
a. 0.75-1.50 sq. m. C.0.20-0.50 sq m
b. 0.50-0.75 sq. m d. all of the above
 3. Space between post in a goat pasture area

a. 2 meters c. 10 meters
b. 4 meters d. 5 meters
4. A hectare of well developed improve pasture can
accommodate
a. 5 goats c. 15 goats
b. 10 goats d. all of the above
5. Ideal drying period
a. Kidding date c. all of the above
b. 1-2 months before d. none of the
kidding above
 6. Ideal schedule of buck replacement
a. Every 3 years c. yearly
b. every 5 years d. no replacement at all

7. The term referring to difficulty in giving birth

a. Dystocia c. apnea
b. Anorexia d. mastitis
8. Recommended breeding age of doelings
a. 10-12 months c. 6 months
b. 4-8 months d. over 1 year
 9. Estrus cycle of does
a. 18-21 days b. 28 days c. 30 days d. all of the above

[Link] period of does

a. 150 days c. 114 days
b. 175 days d. 284 days
[Link] number of services a buck can make in a
year
a. 25 to 30 doe services
b. more than 30 doe services
c. less than 25 doe services
d. All of the above
 12. Failure to come to heat is:
a. Anestrus b. diestrus [Link] [Link]
13. A mature male goat
a. Buckling c. doe
b. Buck d. doeling
14. The region in the Philippines with the most
number of goats
a. Region X c. Region VII
b. Region II d. Region 12
15. Which is referred to as the “poor man’s cow”

a. Pig c. Goat
b. Chicken d. pea fowl
 Small Ruminant Production and Mgt.

Status of the small ruminant industry

• Still with the smallholder level
• Tethering is the predominant system being
practiced
• Goat in the smallholder mixed farming system
provides meat, milk and extra income to the
household
• Goats are heavily concentrated in Region VII
(15% of the total population)
 Advantages

• Goats and sheep require only a small initial

investment, risk of loss is therefore less. Handling
goats and sheep could be done by women and
children.
• Readily integrated in crop-based farming system
(provides meat, milk, added income, organic fertilizer
• Goats are intelligent browsers
• Mature earlier,higher fertility,capable of multiple
births
 Disadvantages

• Lack of and high cost of quality breeders

• High mortality at preweaning stage
• Endoparasitism and anthelminthic resistance
• Absence of a defined breeding program
• Socioeconomic problems (land ownership,
institutional credit facilities, undefined
marketing system)
 Prospects/opportunities

• Demand for chevon (goat’s meat) is relatively high

• Price per head and per kg is increasing
• Products (meat, milk) has already a niche in the
market for specific group of consumers
• ROI for goat production offers a positive status
• Abundant technologies in goat raising are available
 Production Systems

• Tethering: tied up to a rope(6-10 m long),

transferred twice a day, given water at night in
their shed, little or no concentrate, vitamins
and mineral supplementation is given
• Extensive production:herds of 5-10 animals
browsing/grazing in natural vegetation,
herded before night fall or goats simply return
to their house
 Production system continued

• Intensive Production: complete confinement,

cultivation of forages is a requisite, cut-and-carry
method is practiced. Mixture of grasses, legumes and
tree leaves are provided
• Semi-intensive production: Grazing is limited but it is
coupled with stall feeding. 2-4 hours grazing then
returned to the house for stall feeding. Concentrate
supplementation should be provided when and if
quality of forage is low.
 Selection criteria for foundation stock

• Consider the physical, productive and reproductive

performances of goats.
• Performance data of importance: offsprings
weaned/yr/doe exposed to buck, mortality, length of
production life (for buck, for doe), incidence of major
defects
• Male breeding stock: blood composition,
constitution and vigor, breeding
quality,aggresiveness, choose breeder male that is
heaviest in the herd,testicles should be both
descended
 Selection criteria continued

• Breeding male:active and ready to mount an

in heat doe,testicles should remain firm and
large thru out the year, no adhesions or
swelling in the sac.
• For female:reproductive
capacity,temperament, motherly [Link]
mouth,normal genitals and udder
 Selection criteria continued

• For both sexes of breeders: large size,straight

and strong legs,bright clear eyes,high feeding
capacity
 Breeds and Strains of Goats in the Phil

Breed Character,color,markings Mature Milk prodn Ave.

weight(kg) (Kg/day) lactati
on
(days)
Native Small, stocky,low 20 0.3 187
set,red,white
Up Taller and bigger than 30 0.7 - 1 215
grades native
Anglo Roman nose,long 75 1.5-2 250
nubian pendulous ears,black,
gray,cream,reddish brown
 Breeds continued

Boer Meat type,short to 80 0.75-1.25 200

medium hair,horns are
prominent,reddish
brown in the neck &
head,white body and
legs
Togge Sturdy,vigorous,long 60 1.5-1.75 220
nburg life,ears short and
erect,light fawn to
dark chocolate,2 white
stripes in the
muzzle,knees to hind
legs
 Local performances of upgrades

Parameter Complete Semi Extensive

confinement intensive
Birth weight,kg 3.16 1.80 1.70
Weaning 10.33 8.70 6.77
weight,kg
Kidding 1.5 -- 1.5
rate/year
Kidding 8 9.3 8.5
interval,month
Kid size 1.50 1.50 1.75
Mortality%
Pre 5 14.8 15
Post 3 4.4 12
 Management

• Housing:goat house/shed (prevention of

pneumonia), elevated platforms,well
ventilated,drained and easily cleaned, slatted
floor,feeding racks readily accessible
(preferably in front of the aisle)
• Separate pens for lactating and dry does, kids,
growers and bucks. Buck pen should be visible
to the does
 Management cont.

Space Req/class of Flooring (sq. m.) Feeding (linear cm)

goats
Does/bucks/adult 0.75-1.50 15.24-25.40

Growing 0.50-0.75 10.16-15.24

Kids 0.20-0.50 7.62-12.70

 Housing mgt cont.

• Provide a loafing area (100 to 200 sq.m /50

heads),with feeding racks, drinking trough,
cemented flooring, cogon & nipa as roofing
materials
• Ventilation of utmost importance (28 to 30
degrees C), lighting in the barns
• Fencing:nine-eye hog wire ideal, distance bet.
Post-2 meters
 Pasturing

• Well developed improve pasture =15 heads/ha.,

combined grazing/confinement requires a 3 ha./50
head developed pasture. Separate pasture for dry
does, buck kids and growers.
• Dry and Pregnant does: if doe is milked, dry at 1-2
months before kidding, place all dry does in one pen,
one week before kidding separate the about to the
kid doe in a separate kidding pen.
Signs of kidding includes swelling and discharges from
the vulva, enlargement and waxing of teats

• Constant monitoring of the kidding doe should

be done in case dystocia occurs.
• Lactating doe and newborn kids: wipe the
kid’s mouth,nose and body with clean dry
cloth,allow kids to suckle colostrum 1 hr. after
its birth. If doe does not allow its kid to suckle,
restrain the its legs, stripping excess milk is
necessary to prevent mastitis
 Lactating doe and kid mgt. continued

• Placenta must come out 24 hrs after birth

• Tie umbilical cord with a sterile string and apply
disinfectant. Kids should suckle their dam during the
1st 4-8 days of their life. In milked does, fed kids using
milk bottles. Does weaned early (4-5 days) return to
heat 1-2 months after.
• Doe should be introduced to the buck at 2
services/day for 2 days. If does are settled, milk
production drops after a month, right side of
abdomen starts to fill up
 Milking

• Milking periods should be established and

strictly followed. Use same personnel because
milking does easily get stressed and withhold
their milk.
• Milk quickly and continuously after washing
udder with lukewarm water and wiping with
clean cloth. Milking utensils and milker’s hand
must be thoroughly cleaned.
 Feed concentrate during milking (an incentive). Buck
should not be near the milking parlor.

• Weaning and growing kids:Weaned kids in one

pen. Male kids for meat production should be
castrated (1 month old). Female kids for
milking, check for excess teats and remove
this. Dehorn when buds reach the size of
fingernail(1st to 3rd month, appearance of horn
buds). Separate males from females at 4
[Link] age. Start breeding females at 8-10
months old similarly with bucks.
 Care of Breeding Buck:

• Confined separately from the does but should

be readily seen by the does, provide loafing
area. One to 2 year old buck could have 25 to
30 doe services per year, older bucks could
have 75/year. Buck to doe ratio= 1:25
 Breeding Management

• Does puberty: 4-8 months, best breeding 10 to 12

months
• Estrus cycle = 18-21 days , heat duration= 2 to 3 days,
gestation period= 150 +/- 5 days, best breeding time:
daily during estrus (poly estrus)
• Practical breeding : breed native or upgrade does
with purebred bucks. Three way crosses performed
better with higher milk production and bigger body
size. 75% foreign bloodline should be the maximum
blood composition(25% native for natural
resistance).
 Breeding mgt. continued

• Dystocia commonly occurs in natives crossed with

purebred (4 kg in multiple birth,6 kg in singleton for
crossbred;Native:2 kg for multiple, 4 kg for single
• Anestrus (failure to come to heat) common in high
producing does caused by vitamin def., infections in
the genital tract. Use of hormones like prostaglandin
PMS were attempted. Routine Vitamin ADE injection
for breeding herd.
 Buck should also be subjected to routine check up on
sperm motility, STDs and other concerns.

• Natural mating or artificial insemination are

available.
Other Management Practices
• Hoof trimming: Intended for confined goats
• Dehorning:ideal for milking herd, done at 2-4
months of age, hot iron cautery
• Castration: male goats not for breeding are
castrated at the 1st month of age
 Other management practices (cont.)

• Tattoing, ear notching and other IDs: for an

efficient record keeping, identification of stock
should be instituted.
• Record Keeping: Essential data on individual
goat performance are needed to assess the
total herd performance in terms of
production, reproduction and economic
aspects.
 Feeding

• Grasses, Legumes, Tree leaves, straws: goats

prefer paragrass, star grass, napier,guinea
grass ,ipil-ipil and centrosema. Rensonii,
indigofera are also preferred fodder tree
legumes (FTL) by goats.
• Each stage in a goat’s life requires a different
set of nutrient volume although the six groups
of nutrients never changed.
 Practical feeding guide for goats

Age Feeds Amount per day

Birth-3 days Colostrum Adlib (3x feeding)
4 days-2 weeks Whole milk(goat’s 0.5-1 L/kid (3x feeding
milk)
Vitamin-minerals Adlib
water adlib
2 weeks-16 weeks Whole milk or 0.5-1L/kid divided into
replacers 2 feeding time
Grass-legume hay or Adlib
quality forage
Water Adlib
Starter ration Increasing amt.
(22%CP) without stomach upset
 Practical feeding guide continued

4 months-kidding Forage, vitamin Adlib

mineral mix
Water Adlib
Concentrate mix (18% 0.2-0.7 kg/head
CP)
Dry, pregnant, bucks Forage,vitamin Adlib
mineral mix
Water Adlib
Concentrate mix(18- 0.5 -0.7 kg/hd
16% CP)
Lactating Forage,vitamin Adlib
mineral mix
Water Adlib
Concentrate mix 0.3-0.5kg/L of milk
produced
 Health Management

• Sanitation: Daily cleaning of pens,wash 3x /wk,

disinfect once a month, provide isolation pens for
diseased animals, quarantine for a month newly
arrived stocks .
• Deworming: ranks 2nd to pneumonia as mortality
cause in goats. Tapeworm for all ages,coccidia and
amoeba in young kids; regular deworming with
appropriate anthelminthics
 Health Management cont.

• External parasites: lice and ticks are common

in goats; apply acaricides or chemicals against
lice and ticks
• Common infectious diseases: bacterial
pneumonia-fever,inability to suckle,nasal
discharges, cough; can be prevented thru
clean and dry environment, responds well to
antibiotic tx.
 Health Management continued

• Infectious arthritis:swollen knees,

lameness,pain;treat wounds, wide spectrum
AB and sulfa drugs
• Mastitis: hot, painful and swollen udder,milk
may be blood stained; intramammary infusion
of AB; proper treatment of injured teats
 Health management

• Sore mouth/contagious ecthyma/orf:

contaminated equipments; papules,pustules
on skin of face,genitalia, mucus of mouth;
vaccination
• Foot and mouth disease (FMD):direct or
indirect contact with infected animals, fever,
vesicles and erosion in between hooves, oral
mucosa, tongue;mass immunization
 Other diseases

• Brucellosis, hemorrhagic septicemia, blackleg,

tetanus, parasitic pneumonia, tapeworm
infection, liverfluke infestation or fasciolosis,
lice infestation,mange,bloat (green
legume,hay legume,free-gas,grain
concentrate); administr 0.5 to 1 L mineral or
vegetable oil
 THANK YOU…

Success is 98%
perspiration and 2 %
inspiration (Einstein)