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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.
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