Representative Production Data (dairy goats)

[mikey]

This may be of some interest for other goat farmers.

BREED                 BODY WEIGHT       MILK PRODUCTION          MILK FAT
                                                    LBS./LACTATION

Saanen                      135 lbs.               2,154                          3.6%

Alpine                        135 lbs.               2,134                          3.5%

Toggenburg                120 lbs.               2,026                          3.3%

La Mancha                 130 lbs.               1,837                          3.9%



My favorite Dairy Goat Breed the Anglo Nubian is approx. 135 lbs.production 1,797 with 4.5% milk fat.

SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOAT  FARMER(s)                              Mikey                                     

[mr hog]

Hey milky you seem to know alot about goats.This goat milk seems to be interesting.Can you house them in full confinment?like hogs?or do they need graising time?Plus how many goats do you need to make a good profite?

[mikey]

Mr hog,my personal opinion on confined goats is,the Philippines unlike North America has limited land,confined goats makes more sense from a management point of view,cut and carry system,have found the native goat does poorly during the rainy season in confinement,upgrades/crossbreeds do better and in general are healthy than fullbloods,yes one has to take great care with the stocks health,this is where a good goat caretaker is worth every peso,a caretaker must know how to treat many of your stocks health problems ,breeding,cleaning etc.There are those who will tell you confined goats are sick goats and die sooner,they will argue goats need land on which to graze,true if one has the land,goats on pasture need worming more often,security to watch the flock graze,goats are always in trouble.Our anglo herd of does require special high energy feeds in order to breed well and produce milk and the crossbreeds also.Most of the Philippines goat industry is still the backyard operation or in english a Mom & Pop operation,from 1 to 20 goats,small commercial 20 to 50 and a medium 50 to 200. large operation over 200 does.Myself a small commercial,dairy/meat,we picked the anglo over a saanen because a anglo is a tropical goat dairy/meat,the meat from a anglo is the best of all the dairy breeds,the saanen is a heavy milker more suitable for a large dairy operation,but not a goat suited for the tropics,the saanen to me is like the holstein cow (production),the anglo is like a jersey cow richer milk (higher milk fat %) but not a heavy milker,one makes his/her breed choice from a management point of view.Ours is the anglo and crossbreeds with native and percentage boer and fullblood anglo sires.WE realize that we are unable to sell our milk due to our location,but for those near larger urban centres the Philippine Govt. has invested in building dairy processing plants.Lets hope they build more and the country starts to buy nation/local milk.Our only chance may be making cheese in the future,the average Philippine person may not like cheese but those Spanish people know cheese and also the tourist,anglo milk is better for cheese making.The future for the Philippine Goat Producers is getting brighter all the time.I would be careful Mr Hog not to over extend myself like I did.Goats  require a good deal of attention.Once your hog operation is up and running maybe goats is your next venture,goats like cattle are slow producers.The future is looking better all the time,some venture only into the meat side of goat farming.

SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL/LOCAL GOAT PRODUCERS
mikey