Financial assistance available from banks/NABARD for Goat rearing

NABARD is an apex institution for all matters relating to policy, planning and operation in the field of agricultural credit. It serves as refinancing agency for the institutions providing investment and production credit for agriculture and rural development. It promotes development through a well organized Technical Services Department at the head office and Technical Cells at each of the Regional Offices.

Loan from banks with refinance facility from NABARD is available for starting Goat farming. For obtaining bank loan, the farmers should apply to the nearest branch of a Commercial or Co-operative or Regional Rural Bank in their area in the prescribed application form which is available in the branches of financing bank. The Technical Officer attached to or the Manager of the bank can also help/give guidance to the farmers in preparing the project report to obtain bank loan.

For goat rearing schemes with very large outlays, detailed reports will have to be prepared. The items of finance would include costs of assets like Development of land, construction of goats sheds, purchase of goat caring equipments, purchase of breeding stock, rearing cost of animals till it generates income etc. The cost of land is not considered for loan. However, if land is purchased for setting up a goat farm its cost can be treated as party's margin as per the norms.

Scheme Formulation

A scheme can be prepared by a beneficiary after consulting local technical persons of State animal husbandry department, Commercial farmers etc. If possible the beneficiaries should also visit progressive goat rearers and government/ military/ agricultural university farms in the vicinity and discuss the profitability of goat rearing. A good practical training and experience in goat rearing will be highly desirable. Nearness of the Goat farm to a veterinary aid centre and breeding centre should be ensured

he scheme should include information about land, livestock markets, availability of water, feed, fodders, veterinary aid, breeding facilities, marketing aspects, training facilities, experience of the farmer and the type of assistance available from State Government.

The scheme should also include information on number and types of animals to be purchased, their breeds, production performance, cost and other relevant input and output costs with their description. Based on this, the total cost of the project, margin money to be provided by the beneficiary, requirement of the bank loan, estimated annual expenditure, income, profit and loss statement, repayment period etc, can be worked out and included in the scheme.

Requirements of a Goat Projects

A format developed for formulation of Goat rearing schemes is appended as Annexure-III. The scheme so formulated should be submitted to the nearest branch of bank. The bank's officers can assist in preparation of the scheme or filling in the prescribed application form. The bank will then examine the scheme for its technical feasibility and economic viability.

Technical Feasibility - This would briefly include

1. Nearness of the selected area to veterinary dispensary, goat breeding centre, marketing outlets for fattened kids/meat and the financing bank's branch.
2. Availability of good quality animals in nearby livestock markets. The distributions of goat breeds in India are given in Annexure-IV and Production parameters of breeds are given in Annexure V and VI.
3. Availability of training facilities.
4. Availability of good grazing ground/lands.
5. Availability of Green/dry fodder, concentrate feed, medicines etc.
6. Availability of veterinary aid/breeding centers and marketing facilities near the same area.

Economic Viability - This would briefly include:

1. Unit cost of animals.
2. Input cost for feeds and fodders, veterinary aid, insurance charges, etc.
3. Output costs i.e. sale price of live animals, manure/penning charges, etc.
4. The average unit cost (indicative only) of goat rearing units is assumed for calculating project cost.
5. Income-expenditure statement and annual gross surplus.
6. Cash flow analysis.
7. Repayment schedule (i.e. repayment of principal loan amount and interest).

Other documents such as loan application forms, security aspects, margin money requirements etc. are also examined. A field visit to the scheme area is undertaken for conducting a techno-economic feasibility study for appraisal of the same. The model economics of goat rearing unit of 50+2 under semi intensive system is given in Annexure VII a to VII f.

Sanction of Bank Loan and its Disbursement

After ensuring technical feasibility and financial viability, the scheme is sanctioned by the Bank. The loan is disbursed in stages against creation of specific assets, purchase of equipments and animals. The end use of the loan is verified and constant follow-up is done by the bank.

Lending Terms - General
Unit cost: Each Regional Office of NABARD has constituted a State Level Unit Cost Committee under the chairmanship of RO-in-charge and with the members from developmental agencies, commercial banks and co-operative banks to review the unit cost of various investments once in six months. The same is circulated among the banks for their guidance.

Margin Money: NABARD has defined farmers into three different categories and where subsidy is not available the minimum down payment as shown below is collected from the beneficiaries.

a) Small farmer 05%
b) Medium farmers 10%
c) Large farmers 15%

Interest Rate for ultimate borrowers : Banks are free to decide the rate of interest within the overall RBI guidelines. However, for working out the financing viability and bank ability of the model project we have assumed the rate of interest as 12% p.a.

Security: Security will be as per NABARD/RBI guidelines issued from time to time.

Repayment Period of Loan: Repayment period depends upon the gross surplus in the scheme. The loans will be repaid in suitable half yearly/annual installments usually within a period of about 5-6 years with a grace period of one year.

Insurance: The animals may be insured annually or on long term master policy, where ever it is applicable. The present rate of insurance premium for non IRDP schemes is 4% per annum.

Management

• Goat Housing Management
• Selection of Goat
• Goat Feeding
• Protection of Goats
• Goat Breeding
• Carying Pregnancy
• Care of Kids
• Marketing

Package of Common Management Practices Recommended for Goat rearing Modern and well established scientific principles, practices and skills should be used to obtain maximum economic benefits from goat rearing. Some of the recommended practices are given here under :

Goats Housing management:

1. Construct shed on dry and properly raised ground.
2. Avoid water-logging, marshy areas.
3. In low lying and heavy rainfall areas the floors should be preferably elevated.
4. In temperate Himalayan region the floor may be made of wood.
5. The shed should be 10 ft. high and should have good ventilation.
6. Bucks should be housed in individual pens.
7. Does can be housed in groups up to 60 per pen.
8. Provide proper shade and cool drinking water in summer.
9. Dispose of dung and urine properly.
10. Give adequate space for the animals. The housing space required for
11. goats of various age groups is given in Annexure VIII.
12. Avoid over stocking or crowding.

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Selection of Goat breeding stock and it's management:

1. Immediately after release of the loan purchase the stock from a reliable breeders or from nearest livestock market.
2. Animals in good health and having good physical features must be purchased in consultation with Veterinarian/ Bank's technical officer.
3. Purchase animals which are ready to breed and in prime stage of production.
4. Identify the newly purchased animals by suitable identification mark.
5. Vaccinate the newly purchased animals against the diseases.
6. Keep the newly purchased animals under observation for about 15 days and then mix with the general flock.
7. Unproductive animals should be culled promptly and should be replaced by the newly purchased animals or farm born one.
8. Animals are to be bred at the interval of 8-9 months for maximum productivity.
9. Cull the old animals at the age of 6 years and above.
10. Avoid the kidding during peak periods of summer and winter.

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Goat feeding management:

1. Ensure Bushes/shrubs for browsing of animals.
2. As an alternative to above, supply of cultivated fodder from own farm or from surrounding farms may be ensured.
3. Offer roughages adlib.
4. As a thumb rule 2/3rds of the energy requirements should be met through roughages. Half of the roughages should be leguminous green fodders and rest half should be grasses/tender tree leaves.
5. In the absence of good quality green fodders, concentrates must be considered to replace them.
6. Kids should be fed colostrums up to 5 days of age. Later on they can be put on Kid starter rations.
7. Green leguminous fodders should be offered adlib. to kids from 15 days onwards.
8. Provide salt and water to kids at all times.
9. Additional concentrates should be given to bucks and does during breeding season.
10. Care should be taken to meet the nutrient requirements as recommended.

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Protection Goats against diseases:

1. Be on the alert for signs of illness such as reduced feed intake, fever, abnormal discharge or unusual behavior.
2. Consult the nearest veterinary aid centre for help if illness is suspected.
3. Protect the animals against common diseases.
4. In case of outbreak of contagious diseases, immediately segregate the sick animals from healthy one and take necessary disease control measures.
5. Deworm the animals regularly.
6. Examine the faces of adult animals to detect eggs of internal parasites and treat the animals with suitable drugs.
7. Provide clean and uncontaminated feed and water for minimizing the health disorders.
8. Strictly follow the recommended vaccine schedule as given in Vaccination Program Section.

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Goat Breeding Care:

1. It should be planned to obtain 3 kidding in 2 years period by adopting optimal management conditions.
2. For every 25 does one buck should be provided in one breeding season.
3. Breed the animals 12 hours after the onset of the first symptoms of heat for maximum conception.
4. Unreadable animals must be examined thoroughly as directed by veterinary doctor for prompt elimination of causes for anoestrus or cull them if necessary.

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Care of Goats during pregnancy:

In advanced stage of pregnancy the does must be transferred to either kidding pens or separately earmarked space for kidding with in the main shed after thoroughly disinfecting it. After kidding, the does should be provided with warm bran mash for two days.

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Care of Kids:

Almost immediately after birth, the kids, if healthy and strong, are on their legs and make attempts for their mother’s teats. Failure to reach the teats, however, is of no consequence, because the kids do not require nourishment for several hours after birth. If more than one kids is born, it may be necessary especially when they are very young, to ensure that the smallest of them gets its due share of milk, because it may be prevented from doing so by the stronger kids. In case the udder is too full, a proportion of the milk should be drawn from as otherwise the weight of the udder will cause discomfort to the animals. As soon as there is teats should be held by the hand and pressed into their mouths. Once they have drawn a little of the milk, it will not be long before they take to the normal methods of suckling.

Generally, male kids are heavier than the female kids. At birth, a male kid of the Beetal breed will weight about 3 kg. and a female kid about 2-3 kg. For the first three or four days after kidding, goat’s milk like cows milk is considered unsuitable for human consumption. This milk, the so-called colostrums, is yellowish in appearance and is viscous’ it coagulates on boiling. It is nature’s first provision of food for the new born and it must be given to the kids whether they are to be reared on the goat or artificially. Colostrums acts as a laxative and, because of its large contents of vitamin A and serum globulin, it confers immunity against certain diseases.

When about two weeks old, kids begin to nibble green food or dry fodder, and it would be well to see that small quantities of these are within their easy reach at this time. It is also important that kids are allowed plenty of open air and sunlight. In the hot weather, this can best be done by keeping them in an enclosure build round a tree so that they may also be provided with shade. The enclosure should be large enough to allow them plenty of exercise.

At the age of 2 to 3 months, the suckling may be practically discontinued and at four months the kids should be completely weaned because by this time they will become fit like the older goats to eat solid food, although they may as well be allowed to suckle a little longer.

Male kids, unless they are required for breeding purposes, should be castrated at the age of 2 to 3 months for it has been proved that castration improved the quality of meat. Otherwise, they should be kept separated from the female kids.

The rearing of kids may be either natural or by hand rearing and each has its advantages and disadvantages. In India, it is the natural method that is usually practiced and this consists of in leaving the kid to take what amount of milk it can obtain from its mother. Hand rearing is resorted to when weaning is practiced or when the goat dies. There are two methods of hand rearing’ one consists of feeding the kid with a bottle and the other is feeding it off the pail. Both methods are learned by them easily, but bottle feeding is to be preferred because the saliva that is produced during the process of suckling the milk aids digestion. Kids will also readily take to feeding on a foster mother when they are put on her teats.

Male kids for breeding should be fed and handled in much the same way as doe kids, except for the fact that they require a little more milk as well as gram ration than the female kids on account of the larger size they have to attain. Kids with body size below normal should be discarded, as they seldom prove good breeders when mature. They should be fed well at all ages to keep them in good condition, but excessive feeding should be avoided, particularly when they are old because, if fat, they become sluggish and are slow breeders. Where the animal is unduly fat, its grain ration should be cut. At one year, a buck should receive 1.8 kg of grain mixture the allowance being increased by 50 per cent during the breeding season. A liberal amount of fodder should be given. An average of 7 to 8 kg. of green fodder per day should be adequate for a full grown Jamunapari buck when entirely stall fed.

1. Take care of new born kids by providing guard rails.
2. Treat / disinfect the naval cord with tincture of iodine as soon as it is cut with a sharp knife.
3. Protect the kids from extreme weather conditions, particularly during the first two months.
4. Dehorn the kids during first two weeks of age.
5. Male kids should be castrated for better quality meat production.
6. Vaccinate the kids as per the recommended schedule.
7. Wean the kids at the age of 8 weeks.
8. Proper selection of kids on the basis of initial body weight and weaning weight should be initiated by maintaining appropriate records for replacing the culled adult stock as breeders.
9. Additional feed requirements of lactating does must be ensured for proper nursing of all the piglets born.

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Marketing:

The marketable product of goat farming includes the fattened kids, manure, culled animals. Marketing avenues for the above products are slaughter houses and individual meat consuming customers and agriculture farms. Therefore availability of either slaughtering facilities or traders who will purchase live animals should be ensured to convert the fatteners into wholesome meat and meat products. Further, demand for manure from nearby agriculture farms must also be ensured.

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Useful Tips

Facts about Goat Farming

Demand for products related to goats and goat keeping itself is an indication about good prospects in goat farming. There are some important facts that you have to keep in mind, while you start goat farming.

You can opt either diary goat farming, which solely focuses on milk production, or meat goat farming that deals with production of meat. Decide the number of goats you want to have in the farm, relative to the overall space in the farm.

Goat housing is an important aspect in goat farming. Location with low as well as hilly areas that are away from highway and boasts of good irrigation, quality air, tree shades etc is suitable for goat housing. Goat housing must have good height so that goats can stand tall.

There should be good ventilation, sufficient space for feeding, proper drainage system. Housing should give protection against wild animals, weather conditions. Floor space of at least four meter square is required for an individual goat.

Fresh water supply, milking space, dry space for keeping feeds etc are also required. Good dry flooring with proper bedding is required.

Then select the best goat breed by checking lineage as well as breed, conformation or body shape. Look out for the growth pattern, milk production capabilities, and fertility before selecting the goats for farms.

South African Boer, Sirohi, Sojat, Barbari, Nubians, Tennessee meat goat, Kiko etc are some of the good meat goat varieties. Alpine, Nubian, Toggenburg, LaMancha, Saanen etc are some of the goat breeds for dairy farming.

There is need for live stock management to the taking care of goats in various conditions. In the case of does’, special care is required during pregnancy until kidding. Breeder bucks, kids need different care. Management of goats fattening is vital, in the case of meat production.

There should be a proper management schedule for all activities in the farm. There should be enough staff to carryout the activities like feeding, cleaning, hair trimming, dehorning, hoof trimming, hair trimming, separation etc. As chances of infection are greater, effective cleaning mechanism is necessary.

Free grazing system is suitable for farms, which are larger, but management of wandering goats is a big task. Letting goats’ to graze during days at controllable space will be good, as it will help them to graze good herbs as well as grass.

Kids will get chance to run around and feel the sun’s heat. The goats feed must contain proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, etc. Forages, goats’ feeds made from grains along with energy supplements will be useful for keeping goats in a healthy manner. Special feed is required for goats meant for meat as fatty goats fetches more money.

For breeding farms may use breeder bucks or artificial insemination depending upon the facilities available. In the case of dairy farms, milking machines are necessary for milking the goats.

Good storage facilities for milk are necessary. Presence of fulltime veterinarians and regular health checkups is necessary. Relocation of ill will help in prevention of spreading of illness to other goats. Keeping goats is a business with pleasure, as they are lovely animals.

Goat Care and Goat breeding

Goat care is a serious responsibility. Goats need companionship. Hence, it is better to keep two goats or have a sociable animal to give a single goat company. Goats need spacious shelters, which is free from dampness and drafts. There should be good ventilation so that the freshness of the air maintained inside the shelter.

Barns with three sides and pitched roof are ideal for all weather condition. Fences for the shelter or the shelter compound should be taller as goats tend to climb. For bedding place, dry straw or dry shavings of wood. Make sure that wild animals or dogs could not get inside the shelter, as those animals can harm goats.

There requires special care regarding the diet of the goats. Goats do not prefer soiled food. Its better to feed goats with forages like browse and hay, grain based feeds as well as nutritional supplements. They are quite sensitive to sudden changes to the diet. Bring changes to the feed program regarding timing of feeding, feeding type as well as feeding amount, in a gradual manner.

Water offered for the goats must be clean and give it in clean containers. On average goats might consume two to five gallon of water everyday and this depends on the breed as well as size of goats. During warm weather, its good to offer water at shorter intervals and during cold weather hot water is advisable.

Access to veterinarian at regular basis will help in detecting any illness or infections. If goats show any changes in their food habits or some other routine, it is better to have checked up. Trim the hoofs of the goats regularly, and medicate it if any infection is there. Put flycatchers inside the shelter, as during warm weather flies tend to disturb goats. Shave the goat during summer if the locality is hotter. Worm the goats using paste wormer at least once a year.

The season stretching from latter part of summer to earlier part of winter is good for goat breeding. There are eighteen to twenty-one estrus cycle for the does’. Goat breeders make use of Natural breeding or artificial insemination.

Does’ become fertile at a very young age of two months. Healthy does and goats of seven months or older can breed and give healthy kids, most of the time twins. It takes five months for a doe to give birth.

Goat cheese making is becoming popular these days as goat cheese has good nutritional value. For Goat cheese making, goat milk, buttermilk, ladle, fresh lemon juice, colander, cheesecloth etc are required.

For making goat cheese, mix all required ingredients well together in the bowl. After pouring it to pan, heat it up to 170 degrees, and then cool it for twelve hours naturally after covering it with plastic wrap.

Drain the cheese mixture-using strainer after placing cheesecloth. Once drained remove the cheesecloth and then store it in container that is airtight. Making goat cheese is possible at homes. Overall Goats are valuable animals. Be its milk or skin or fat or meat or excreta, everything has value.