Goat breeding includes several activities at once. One entails the other, so for a successful business you need to have a good understanding of at least animal husbandry, dairy processing and sales of goods.

Is it profitable to breed goats

In any business, it is important to clearly understand who your potential consumer is. The cost of goat’s milk is more expensive than cow’s milk, because it is healthier, more nutritious and allergic to it, so people with an average income and better off buy this product.

Project Benefits

• The benefits of goat business:
• high demand;
• no need for a large territory;
• animals are unpretentious;
• benefits in the purchase of feed;
• low competition;
• the ability to earn in several directions at once;
• a chance to get help from the government on a farm support program.

Project disadvantages

• Cons of goat business:
• some breeds of goats are difficult to find and buy;
• not everyone succeeds in reaching the maximum load of the farm, as many retail chains do not cooperate with private owners;
• you need a plot to which you can really bring communications (water, electricity, etc.);
• a large herd must be kept immediately so that it is cost-effective;
• low profitability.

The basic rules for successful goat breeding

There are several rules to succeed in this business:

• competent approach to the choice of breed taking into account goals;
• selection of a healthy, high-quality livestock for the herd - these should be dairy goats, and not the native stock bought from grandmothers;
• the presence of a sufficient area of ​​equipped territory for the placement of goat-houses, pastures;
• regular care and good nutrition;
• routine vaccination of animals.

The main directions in goat breeding 4. You can engage in breeding livestock for meat, to get milk and make dairy products, or focus only on breeding activities with the aim of selling young animals. A less common activity today is the collection and sale of wool.

Did you know? AT Every year, Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Saudi Arabia hold a beauty contest among goats and goats.

Growing organization

If you intend to keep not 2-3 goats, but a full-fledged private farm, albeit a small one, it is advisable to register your business. Where to start and the further sequence of actions:

1. Get the status of an individual entrepreneur and get a certificate with a registration number from the Federal Tax Service.
2. Contact your local administration with a request to rent or purchase a land plot if you do not have a suitable property.
3. Get permission from Rospotrebnadzor and SES.
4. Get permission from the environmental and fire inspection.

After paperwork, you can begin to organize a business.

Farm arrangement

Initially need a place. It should be a spacious area with fertile land. On the farm there should be goat breeders, sheds for feed and equipment, pens and a place reserved for pasture. To keep the rooms dry and warm even in winter, you can consider the construction of a small autonomous boiler room.

Do not forget to think over the premises, which will separately contain pregnant and lactating goats, young animals. If you intend to process milk yourself, you will need to purchase separators and choose a place where the processing will take place.

Important! Sheds with livestock are built away from apartment buildings so that neighbors do not complain about the smell. If this requirement is not met, any verification will require the liquidation of the farm.

Goat-house

In regions with harsh winters, goatlings should be insulated. Animals are unpretentious, but do not tolerate severe frosts and dampness. The size of the premises should be designed so that adults can move freely, and young animals can jump. Goats are active, they cannot be kept in a cramped space, this will affect their productivity. For 15 individuals, it is optimal to have 40 sq. M.

Goat house is built on the foundation to prevent the penetration of dampness inside. The floor can be plank, clay or earthen, but in no case with concrete pouring. Be sure to make a slope with a tap into the cesspool, where sewage will drain.The walls should be strong, without cracks (there can be no draft in the goat houses), a height of 2 m. Window openings are made under the roof, which must open to ventilate the room. Feeding troughs and drinking bowls should not stand on the floor, so that animals do not overturn them and do not stamp on them.

Pastures

The average duration of the pasture season is about 180 days a year. Goats need daily free range during this period. On the territory there should always be high-quality plant food and watering. It is best if a spring or a pond with running water acts as a watering hole. Contaminated sources and stagnant water are strictly prohibited - because of them, goats get sick and become infected with worms. The pasture is fenced around the perimeter by a fence that animals cannot jump over.

Did you know? An unconscious breed of goats has a specially fixed genetic deviation. One such individual was previously added to the herd so that the wolves did not touch the healthy ones: when a predator appeared, they all ran away, and a swooning animal fell into a stupor and became a prey.

Corrals

A special walking yard, often with a canopy from rain and sun, is built next to the goatskin. The larger the herd, the wider the corral area. They make it more often rectangular in the ratio of 1: 3 or 1: 2. Large corrals can be square. To protect the pen use wooden materials or mesh.

Milking machines

A large herd of goats is manually long and hard to milk. You will save time, health and money for hiring employees by purchasing milking machines. Their design is the same as that of a cow, only the dimensions are smaller and there are two glasses.

The best choice is industrial. Lightweight portable ones are also good, but it will take more time.

Pay special attention to the vacuum pump - the purity of the product depends on it. For these reasons, it is better to abandon devices with an oil motor.

If you have not used such a device before, invite a specialist for the first time - inept setup and careless work injure the goats, tearing the nipples.

Breed selection

Thoroughbred goats bring good income, but your choice is not influenced by personal preferences, but by your goal. The most popular types:

• Zaanenskaya - meat and milk, the weight of an adult is about 90 kg, prolific, 800 l of milk per year;
• Russian - meat and milk, weight - 50 kg, easy to clean, annual milk yield - 500 l;
• Angora - wool, weight - 30-50 kg of the female and up to 85 kg of the males, almost all the milk goes to feed the young, slaughtered for meat by the age of 7 years;
• Nubian - meat and milk, weight - 50–70 kg, 814 liters of milk per year;
• Alpine - meat and milk, weight - 60–75 kg, milk yield per year - 1000 l;
• Boerskaya - meat, weight - 80–110 kg, prolific, milk goes to feed the kids;
• Gorno-Altai - downy, meat, weight - 45–65 kg, meat yield - 75%, milk yield - 0.5 l per day.

Today, there are more than 60 breeds of goats, so take your time with the choice. Decide what exactly you want to do and what budget you are ready to allocate for the purchase of the herd. When buying animals, check for vaccinations and breed certificates.

Feeding

The better and more nutritious the feed, the healthier and more productive the livestock. On average, one goat needs 2-3 rolls of hay and 0.7 bags of crushed grain per month. Standard daily ration of one individual:

• compound feed - 0.5 kg;
• hay - 2.8 kg;
• root crops - 2 kg;
• bran - 0.5 kg;
• mineral and vitamin supplements - 0.004 g.

It is not recommended to give a silo - from it there is a sour smell in milk. To increase milk yield in the diet of goats, there should be chamomile and turnip, but overfeeding gives the opposite result. Access to water should be around the clock. If you want to feed with compound feed - observe the dosage on the package, obesity negatively affects milk yield.

In summer time

In summer, the goats main menu is fresh grass and hay. This is a good time for the owners - most of the diet grows in the pasture and is independently eaten by the herd. Each individual should receive a minimum of 3-4 kg of green grass per day. But still give a little oats or compound feed, up to 1 kg per day, preferably. In the morning, you can give soaked bran, and at night - up to 1.5 kg of hay from legumes as a protein. Vitamins and fiber in the form of raw root crops and vegetables are given as top dressing.

In winter

For the winter, harvesting of hay and tree branches (alder, poplar, willow, aspen, spruce shoots) is needed. Vitamins are obtained from animals from corn and beets, minerals from grated chalk and salt added to the feed. One goat in winter takes about 1 kg of hay. Additionally, Jerusalem artichoke and other vegetables are given. In winter, they feed about 1 kg of grain. In general, the daily diet should include 2 kg of succulent and 3 kg of roughage. It is important to follow the feeding schedule so that the milk yield is stable.

Important! Goats do not eat grain in its pure form, only chopped.

Animal care

It’s easy to care for the goats, the main thing is to provide them with a warm, spacious, dry room in which to keep clean. Periodically, the goatlings are aired, disinfected and whitened, washed feeders and drinkers with water and soda. The livestock is regularly inspected in order to notice the symptoms of possible diseases in time, and a veterinarian is invited to be examined before mating and lambing. On the floor always lay a clean, dry bed of hay, peat or sand.

Drawing up a goat breeding business plan

Before you begin to obtain permits and register an IP, you must have a business plan drawn up. Thanks to him, you will better understand your goal, really appreciating the opportunities and prospects.

The main sections of the business plan:

• starting capital - how much money is needed to open a business;
• equipment selection;
• staff recruitment and remuneration;
• marketing (advertising);
• profitability calculation;
• production and technology;
• possible risks and ways out of the situation;
• market analysis.

The more information you take into account at the planning stage, the easier it will be to resolve organizational issues in the future.

Important! On average, only for a small farm for 5 individuals, about 100,000 rubles are needed.

Approximate economic calculation of profitability

An average farm with a livestock of 50 goats has a profitability of about 25%. Depending on the invested funds, the owner’s real profit will appear in 3 years, where 25% of the profit is the sale of young animals and 75% is the sale of dairy products. Thoroughbred kids are expensive, about 8-10 thousand rubles, the amount of about three times more will be spent on the arrangement of goats and sheds.The main disadvantage is that the milk yield is unstable, in winter they are reduced by 3-4 times. How effective the work depends on the automation of production and the hiring of employees. You can save on hay by harvesting it yourself.

Sales and distribution channels

The most important stage of a business is marketing. You will have to deal with it, regardless of the type of product sold. To find a buyer, you need to create a win-win offer.

Milk products

Regular customers for goat milk are fast. These products are desired in markets and stores, for feeding infants, in beauty salons that manufacture whey, natural creams and other natural cosmetics. Cheese, butter, cream are more expensively estimated. They are especially valuable from a medical point of view for those suffering from asthma, bronchitis, tuberculosis. Goat milk collection points have been created in the regions, but this type of activity will not bring large incomes - the purchase price is low.

Meat

For a meat farm, milking machines are not needed, meat breeds still give milk exactly as much as the goats have. But the meat sector is less profitable in comparison with the dairy industry - meat processing plants do not use goat meat, it is in demand only for specific food products. In addition, feed conversion per kilogram of animal weight is low. It is rational to engage in meat production in large cities and regions where there is stable demand for it.

Sale of individuals

With successful breeding, large farms willingly buy pedigree young animals. Kids are bought for slaughter for the sake of young meat. If you only want to sell livestock, choose breeds that do not produce a lot of milk. So you reduce your work, and will not need milking equipment. But you can combine two areas, earning and dairy products.Fertile goats bring two kids at a time, giving birth once a year. If at the same time the animal is not used for milking, it can live quietly for 17 years, but they are productive for the birth of young animals only up to 12 years, after which they go for meat.

Sale of wool

The business of selling goat hair, down and skins is specific, it is worth doing it only if you already have real guidance on the sales channel. The same direction can be chosen in addition to any other. Eco-friendly, warm blankets, down jackets, scarves, yarn are made from materials, and hides are needed for the production of decorative products and shoes. To have an income, it is advisable to conclude an agreement with the factory, but you can sell the goods on the market or via the Internet.

Useful tips for beginners

Some valuable tips for those who have no experience in keeping and raising goats:

• among dairy breeds it is better to choose Zaanenskaya - they eat and drink more than others, but they have no equal in productivity;
• in no case do not steal animals under the age of 1.5 years, this is a huge blow to health;
• Do not milk goats to the first lamb - this stops their physiological development;
• mating between relatives is prohibited;
• in winter, if the frost is not strong, goats also need walking, not idle in the paddock, but in movement;
• the kids with the mother should live in a separate room for up to 4 months, after which the young animals are gradually taken away from the mother;
• after giving birth, the goat is fed only with light feeds (200-400 g of root crops per day, gradually increasing to 2-3 kg, fresh grass is not allowed);
• animals need to regularly file hooves, the first time - in 3 months. and after - every 2.5 months.

Goat farming is not very popular, which explains the low competition and lack of market. But the demand for environmentally friendly products always takes place, as does the interest of the government in agriculture.