Livestock

7 Tips For Raising Goats

Goats don’t require high initial investment in comparison to other livestock in Zambia. Furthermore, Zambia exports most of it’s goat products. So, if you have a herd of goats or are planning to start raising them, there a few things you need to keep in mind.

Breeding goats is certainly not rocket science. This is because animal instincts are pretty foolproof. But just like in every other aspect of their life, a little bit of management and TLC can go a long way. This will help prevent chaos, and meet your needs as a farmer.

Here’s a few tips to get you up to speed

Always remember that goats are social animals. Thus, keep them in a herd. Goats depend on the herd for their own safety. So, never keep just one goat. Goats are farm animals, not pets. They are not supposed to be fully domesticated like a dog or cat, so don’t treat them like pets.

Start small. Just like with any new animals you add to your farm. It’s best to start slowly and expand as you go. But don’t forget to  begin with several goats to satisfy their herding nature.

You might also like: Get your goats to mate with these six tips

Goats have always thought like goats. So, learn how to think like a goat. This will help you know how to keep them happy. Most importantly, give them easy access to water and food. If they seem to be “stubborn,” look at things from a goat’s perspective. They don’t know how to figure things out. For example. They will just stand there looking at water on the other side. They don’t know they have to around a fence.

f953c9_f4e76cab8bb54f0e81df1cb6c3cda4ac-mv2
Bucks are males goats ready to reproduce. Please respect them. This is because when bucks are in rut(ready to mate), they have one thing on their minds. They can be dangerous when in rut so handle them with care and respect that potential.

The grass is always greener on the other side. That’s where your goats want to be. Make your fences strong and secure to combat this natural goat tendency. Goats can get out of weak fences.

Goats don’t eat everything. They’re not like their cartoon version. Always ensure you have a goat nutritionist to review your herd’s needs and formulate a feeding program just for you. Also, make time to learn about how to feed goats properly.

f953c9_74d3a90e2b904d46a83a0b84a5def933-mv2

28 thoughts on “7 Tips For Raising Goats

  1. Good evening have ready you’re services very beautiful indeed.

    we are interested in livestock… cattle for dairy now have a problem of a finances.
    however we formed a cooperative and we are ten in total with the business of agricultural.

    kindly asking for help.
    Collins Mweemba
    0977474980

    1. Please explain what you mean by stunt.
      Boer goats size up better than any other breed of goats. Otherwise, there’s no shortcut to quickly multiplying your herd.

  2. We really appreciate for your information. You will motivate a lot of young population like myself to venture into different types of business than squandering money on non productive programs. I started this business (goat rearing) in January 2019. I hv 50 herds at the moment & I would encourage others to do the same or even more to better our livelyhood than looking at individuals to provide us with all our needs.

  3. I would like to study agriculture and ofcourse goat rearing is one of my interest at my farm. the problem I have is that among the the qualifications I have Biology as a science subject and Home management as other science. Can I be accepted at with this subject as any science?

  4. I would like to buy 10 goats to breed. Where can i buy both such
    male angst female goats. Preferably around or naar to Lusaka.

  5. Hello

    Could you please tell me the current selling price in US dollars for the following:

    Fully grown Goat- (and what is the going price generally across zambia for selling goats please)

    Sheep

    Lamb

    Cow

    Thank you

    Bwana

  6. I enjoyed reading all the 7tips ,they really helpful to me and my3 boys because I want to Learn more important things in return. I am also keeping goats I started this year in January 2020 with this one ,at their 6.I ve been learning more from Zimbabwe &Kenya please help us ,Mr Collins,thank a lot .

  7. Thank you so much for sharing this informative article. I really learnt a lot from this article. These tips will go a long way in improving my goat business.

    Thank you once again!

  8. this is so insightful and beneficial am so greatful to have come across this information. looking to forward to implement

  9. Thanks a lot for the information,Where can i get the needed trainings regarding Goat and Pig Rearing.Am Ndola based.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *