Dairy Goats Farming in Kenya

Dairy Goats

            These are the goats that are kept or their milk production.

Feeding

Often, feeding them is pretty much easier than feeding the other goats since they are fed on locally available fodder such as nappier grass, Calliandra, and desmondium. Also, one can feed them on maize stalks, and hay which are pretty much available. a good number of farmers have also opted to feed their goats on hydroponic fodder. However, just like any other animal, the nutritional value of the feeds provided to these goats should never be compromised. For this reason, it is necessary to provides food supplements that will ensure that the dairy goats get the necessary supplements. Some of the feeds that are very good nutritional value valuable for dairy goats are cotton seed cake, maize or rice jam, bran, and dairy meal. Also, farmers with enough land can plant sweet potatoes for their vines which provide high protein content.  

            Breeding

Breeding these goats is also not as cumbersome. There are two ways of breeding them, one being artificial insemination – which is less common in Kenya and using their males. Since goats generally have a very high libido, only a single male is enough to service up to 25 females. He-goats are introduced to the females two weeks after kidding, or 10 at the age of months. It is important that a farmer selects the best he-goat for his/her breeding purposes so as to ensure best quality. The he-goat should be left with the female goats for between 2-3 weeks to ensure that he mates with most of them. This is very good since most of the farmers goats will kid at almost same time, making it very easy for their management by the farmer. After kidding, the kids are allowed at least 1 liter of milk a day for at least 3 months, although the amount of milk can be reduced depending on the weight, with feed and supplements introduced in the second week after birth.  

Breeds

High altitude areas you need: Saanen, Toggenburg, East African Goat.

Medium altitude: German Alpine, E.A Goat, Angora Galla and Boer goat.

Low altitude: Galla, Boer and E.A.Goat

High yield Milk producers are; Alpine, Toggenburg and Saanen.

Meat producers are E.A Goat, Galla and Boer

Production

 The Alpine 2.4-4.6 litres a day (3.6%butterfat),

Toggenburg 3-5 litres a day (3.8%butterfat)

Saanen, can produce even 7 liters a day under good management

Doing an average of 5 liters a day, less the one liter for the kid one is left with 4 liters. Goat milk fetches between Ksh. 30 and Ksh. 120 depending on the place. So, if a farmer can fetch Ksh.60 for his product, he/she will get Ksh. 240 for one goat in a day. If a farmer has 10 goats, he/she can get up to Ksh. 2400 daily, and Ksh. 72,000 in a month of course, the costs of production are not factored here since these will change depending on what the farmer has.

Challenges

            Just like any other animal production venture, availability of quality feeds has been a major challenge to most farmers. Most farmers do not have a reliable supply for fodder and supplements while those who have are forced to spend huge sums of money on the same. Other challenges are diseases and pests, lack of reliable human resources, and lack of quality breeds.

            However, the biggest challenge that faces most dairy goats is the market for their milk. Although it is no longer a secrete that goat milk fetches very high prices in the market, and that it is very valuable for hospitals and HIV patients, most farmers are faced with a burden of fetching reliable market for their milk. This could be due to their low quantities of production that means that the logistics of collecting their products from their localities do not make economical sense. Also, the high price of the products makes it out of reach to the low income earners as compared with the prices of milk from cows.