Frequently Asked Questions

Care of kids

1. Immediately after birth the nose of the kids should be cleared to prevent suffocation.
2. The naval Cord should be painted with tincture iodine.
3. If the milk production is insufficient the triplets and quarterplets can be reared by hand feeding or nipple feeding using whole milk or milk substitute.
4. Some times aged Does may have poor mothering ability. In this condition the Does can be restrained by attendant to facilitate the feeding of colostrum to the kids.
5. First two to three weeks kid should be provided with 0.9 to 1 liter of milk/day.  Milk can be fed twice daily but should be discontinued when the kids are 3 to 4 month old.
6. Adequate space for exercise should be provided for the playful kids.

Kids can be weaned or sent for grazing along with mother by the age of 3rd month.

Breeding is carried out two to three times in a year. In India there are three main mating seasons viz.

March to April (or summer)
June to July (or autumn)
September to October (or post monsoon)

In general, fertility is high during autumn [June to July] in plain and higher fertility rate occur during summer in hilly area [March to April]

1. Breeding, too young ewe will results in more weakling resulting in higher lamb loss.
2. Ewes should not be prepared for mating when they are gaining weight.  She should be allowed to luxuriant pasture  or feeding 2 to 3 week prior to mating

                Normally goat comes to heat through out the year.  But the monsoon rainfall in correlation with availability of forage may have some significant effect of estrous.  There are two kidding peaks viz. January to April and September to November.

        Kids born during January to April survive and grow better.  Hence the mating can be manipulated accordingly  [August to November].    Bucks should be separated from the does and it should be allowed only at the time of mating.  Better to allow the buck to stay with female during the nighttime.

Feeding of concentrate to sheep and goats is necessary under the following   conditions.

1. Whenever adequate quantity of good quality fodder is not available, concentrate feed is to be supplemented.
2. During late pregnancy and early lactation to meet extra nutritional requirements, concentrate feed can be given.   

Feeds that can be fed supplemental to grazing are
a. Ground nut haulms.
b. Tree leaves.
c. Leguminous forages.
d.Concentrate mixture.

   

a)Green fodder:

1. Cereal fodder: Fodder –Co-27, C0-10, Fodder maize, Fodder Bajra (Co-8), Napier+Bajra-C01, Co2, Co3, Guinea, Hamil, Cenchrus  species, Setaria, Sudan grass, Green Panic, para grass, Karnal grass etc.,

2. Legume fodder: Cow pea(Co5), Desmanthus, Stylo species, Lucerne, sunhemp, Clitoria, Calapogonium etc.,

b) Tree fodder:

COMMON TREE FODDER FED TO SHEEP AND GOAT

Botanical Name	Tamil Name
Acacia leucophloea	Velvelam
Acacia nilotica	Karuvelam
Acacia planiferons	Kudaivelam
Ailanthus exelsa	Perumaram
Albizia lebbek	Vagai
Artocarpus heterophyllus	Pala
Azadirachta indica	Vembu
Bauhinia Variegata	Mantharai
Ceiba pentandra	Elavam
Dichrostanchys cineraria	Vedathan
Enterolobium saman – pods	Thoongumoonji
Erythrina indica	Mullumurungai
Ficus bengalensis	Alamaram
Ficus religiosa	Arasu
Gliricidia sepium	Gliria
Hardwickia binata	Aachan
Inga dulci	Kodukkapuli
Lannea coromandelica	Odiyan
Lecuena  leucocephala	Soundal
Mangifera indica	Mamaram
Millingtonia hortensis	Maramalli
Moringa olifera	Murungai
Prosopis julilora	Velikaruvel
Pongamia Pinnata	Pungam
Sesbania gradiflora	Agathi
Tamarindus indica	Puli
Thespesia populnea	Poovarasu
Zizypus jujuba	Elanthai

The root slips or stem cuttings can be obtained from:

Post Graduate Research Institute in Animal Sciences
Kattupakkam – 603 203
Kancheepuram District, Tamil Nadu.

The seeds can be obtained from:

State Seed Farm
Padappai, Kancheepuram District
Regional Fodder Research and Demonstration Centre,   
Alamadhi,
Tiruvallur District.

Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding,
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore – 641 003.

Agricultural Technology Information Centre, Kattupakkam,
Kancheepuram District

   

Although grazing is compulsory under range system, if they are reared under semi intensive system of rearing the performance  of goats are better if sufficient fodder is made available

a. Pre-weaned lambs (upto 12 weeks)

Provide 100-200 g creep mixture from 2nd week onwards (Broken maize 67%, GNC 20%, wheat bran 10%, mineral mixture 2%, salt 1%).  The quantity of creep feed consumed depends on the body weight of the lamb.

b. Growing and finishing lambs

Provide good quality fodder + concentrate mixture as indicated in the following table

Body wt (kg)	Concentrate (g)/per day
	With good quality green fodder	Grazing
10-15	50	300
16-25	100	400
26-35	150	600

* A typical concentrate mixture for growing and finishing lambs (15-35 kg)

Maize       – 25%    

Rice  bran – 25%

Jowar  - 22% 

GNC  - 25%

Mineral mixture  - 2% 

Salt    - 1 %

(Grower may require 200-500 g of concentrate depending upon grazing and body weight)

Cooler part of the day with sufficient sunlight is the best time for effective grazing. Best time is morning 6.30 am to 7.30 am and in the evening 3.00 pm to 7.00 pm

a) Intensive system

The goat consumes dry fodder upto 4% of the body weight.  Adult goat needs 1.20 – 1.30 kg dry fodder per day.  The goats be fed with concentrate mixture at the level of 250-300 g per day along with ad libitum green fodder.  The mixed green cereal fodder, mixed legumes and mixed tree fodder may be fed in the ratio of 60:30:10.  Alternatively, in complete feeding system, both concentrate and roughage in the ratio of 40:60 are given in the form of mash/pellets.  Since  goats like to browse it is always better to offer mixed tree fodder and mixed grass in chopped form in 1:1 ratio.  In this system though the feed efficiency is slightly lower than offering concentrate mixture and grasses, it would be economical

b) Semi-intensive system

After grazing, the animal may be given  complementary grazing in legume pastures or provide green fodder containing cereals, legumes, tree fodder at the rate of 1.0 – 1.5 kg per head or 100-200 g concentrate mixture per animal per day.

A possible way of reducing the feed  wastage is by providing the feed in the form of pellets or crumbles.  In case  of mash feeding, sprinkle little bit of water before feeding to reduce the wastage.  The  wastage of fodder could be reduced by judicial  provision of fodder by  providing it at a height (particularly for goats) so that the animal could grab it.  Chaffing the fodder will also reduce the  fodder wastage.

As per the regulations there is provision for meat inspection in municipality, corporation, Panchayat and town panchayat by the local Veterinarian attached to the Veterinary Hospital.

At present the system of meat production is based on the day-to-day requirements only.  Moreover the meat production system is in the form of trade handled by only a few handful of traders involved in this profession in every district. There is no surplus number of animals slaughtered more than the daily requirements.  Hence there is no need felt by the  producers for a regulated market for marketing of meat.  Moreover meat being highly perishable commodity it requires chilling and freezing facilities if it is not marketed within a few hours of slaughter. Consumers also do not have preference for frozen meat.

Hygienic meat production starts from the farm till it reaches the consumer.  Healthy animals should be reared under good hygienic environmental conditions and they should be transported in a hygienic way to slaughterhouses.  At the slaughterhouse, all strict hygienic precautions  should be taken  for  the production of wholesome meat by following strict antemortem and postmortem inspection and proper disposal of condemned carcasses and offals.  Transportation of the carcasses from the slaughterhouses to the retail outlets should be carried out in a hygienic way and strict sanitary practices should be followed at the retail outlet.  Meat should be properly packed and disposed to the consumer.

All food animals meant for slaughter should be slaughtered humanely using various stunning devices.  Sticking should be carried out immediately after stunning by cutting the major blood vessels in the neck.
Animals suffering from febrile conditions, poor and emaciated animals may not bleed perfectly.

All operations in the slaughter hall should be carried out while the animals are in hoisted position.  At  no stage the carcass should touch the ground.  Ample clean potable water supply should be made available in the slaughterhouse.  Butchers should follow hygienic measures to prevent contamination of carcasses by puncturing viscera while dressing of the carcasses.  After the slaughter operation,  slaughter hall  and all the equipment are scrubbed and cleaned with approved disinfectants preferably by hot water spray. Meat retail outlet should be fly proof and rodent proof.  After each days operation, all area and equipment should be cleaned and disinfected with approved disinfectants.

Goats can be reared in high altitude areas. The main problem is external and internal parasites.  The goats should be dewormed at regular intervals.  The kids should be given protection from chill weather at least upto one month of age.

Deep litter system of goat rearing has not become popular as it requires feeding of goats with variety and quality green fodders which is not bring thought of by many farmers. 

Goats can be reared profitably under semi-intensive system.  They should be provided with a night shelter.  The floor space required in 10 sq.ft./animal.  The floor level should be raised one feet above the ground level.  Ordinary mud flooring is sufficient  the height of the shed should be 7 to 8 ft. at the eave’s and the maximum height should 10 – 11 ft.  There is no need for side walls and wire mesh up to 4 ft. will be sufficient.  The goat should be supplemented with green fodder and least cost agricultural by-products after grazing for better weight gain.  The goat should be allowed for grazing at least 8 hrs. per day.  The goats should be dewormed at the interval of every 4 months and dipped for the control of ectoparasities every 6 months.

The sheep & Goat can be maintained under stall fed conditions provided the farmer has the required resources in the form of fertile land for fodder production, availability of low cost agricultural by-products and better marketing potential. 

If the ewe has twins or triplets they may not have enough milk which results into disowning of lambs. The identification of orphan lambs or deserted lamb is very important.  Since more number of lambs born at a time, it is very difficult to identify the disowned lambs. The orphaned lambs will isolate from the flock, weak and dull.  Orphaned lambs can be reared by hand feeding with goat milk or cows milk.
If colostrum is not available then the lamb is to be fed with warm milk containing castor oil or paraffin.   In case of poor milk yield or poor mothering ability the lamb should be given supplementary milk feeding as per the following schedule. 
Warm milk mixed with cod-liver oil at the rate of 1/10th of the body weight

First fortnight           : 6 times a day
Second fortnight      : 4 times a day
Up to 3 months    : twice a day

Dental formula
Temporary dentition:       0/4  0/0  3/3  0/0
Permanent dentition:        0/4  0/0  3/3  3/3
From birth to 1 year: the temporary incisors are in use and the mouth of sheep at 1 year shows lamb teeth well worn, while in many case the first pair of permanent central incisor will be cutting.
14-18 months (two teeth): the first pair of permanent central incisors replaces the corresponding temporaries.

20-24 months (four tooth): the second pair of permanent medial incisors replace the corresponding temporaries.
26-30 months (six tooth): the third pair of permanent lateral incisors replaces the corresponding temporaries.
32-36 month (full mouth): the fourth pair of permanent corner incisors replace the corresponding temporaries.

Tellicherry, Jamunapari, Kanni, Kodi, Boer Cross breed of goat are highly suitable.

• Poor feeding status of mother at the time of pregnancy.
• Over crowding .
• Poor mothering ability.
• Heavy parasitic load.
• Disease like pneumonia, enteritis.
• Improper grazing of weaners.

Loss of wool may be due to

1. Dermatomycosis (Ring worm) and other skin disorders.
2. Excess feeding leaves of tree Leucaena Leucocephala, above for a longer period.
3. Mineral deficiency (Zinc deficiency).
4. Mechanical injury like improper handling and restraining of animals.

         The wool loss occurs because of a premature shedding of wool fibers. Since zinc deficiency (low blood zinc concentration) causes wool loses.  Supplementation of zinc and vitamin E in the feed may be helpful.

This condition seems to be rare in small ruminants.  However Rafoxanide (10-15 mg/kg) and Triclabendazone (10mg/kg) may be tried if it is due to liver fluke infestation.  Feeding of animals with balanced ration is also essential.

Coccidiosis is the common cause for the enteritis in a goat.  Apart from usual drug therapy, anticoccidial drugs should be given for 3-5 days.

Estrus ovis larvae infestation

Improper shelter, exposing to cold weather

Oral rehydration solution is a better alternative.

Teat sphincters are open for approximately 30 minutes after milking, hence animal should not be allowed to lie down to avoid contamination.  They could be given feed after milking so that they would stand during this period.

This is due to Helminthic infestation and can be  controlled by deworming.

Blue Tongue can be identified by means of clinical signs. Vector culicoides transmits blue tongue virus. Wherever/whenever the vector culicoides population is more, there is a chance of getting outbreak of blue tongue. Blue tongue can be controlled by effective control of vector population (culicoides).

Nationalised banks may be approached with proper project proposals for obtaining loan.

In any marketing system, it is possible to get more profit in both side (Producer and consumer) by shortening the length of marketing channel, the large number of middlemen in the channel leads to reduction in profit. Further, the farmers may go for diversification of business by producing, meat products and selling them. Local farmers may organize themselves which will increase their bargaining power(in terms of buying and selling).