Production Traits For Meat Goat Enterprise

[mikey]

1-adaptability
2-reproduction
3-growth rate
4-carcass characteristics

Adaptability-the most important trait of all the production traits,the ability to survive and reproduce in a given enviroment.
Reproduction-conception rate,kidding rate and the ability to breed out of season.
Growth Rate-growth rates can be effectively divided into 2 peroids,growth before weaning or pre weaning average daily gain and growth after weaning or post weaning average daily gain.
Carcass Characteristics-dressing percentage,ratios of lean fat,bone and anatomical distribution of muscle,the dressing percentage of goats is approx. 50%,as the animal grows,they tend to increase the percentage of fat,decrease the percentage of bone while the percentage of lean stays about the same,leg and shoulder have the largest muscle mass,these tend to decrease.percentage wise as the goat grows.In general a larger doe has larger kid(s),but requires more food than smaller does.

SUPPORT THE GOAT
mikey

[mr hog]

Wow mikey you are like some kind of goat doctor .I think I will call you Doc mikey

[mikey]

Mr Hog,no I just did alot of research and have played around with the goats gene pool,have found crossbreeds seem to be a healthier goat over the fullbloods,my personal opinion.
mikey

[nemo]

Mikey ,

Thank you for keeping the ruminant board alive.

i'm a bit busy now a days. I'm building another website. After that i would try to create ways to increase info's in this area.

Thank you.

[mikey]

Doc,you are welcome,if this information is helpful to other independant producers great,willing to share all information I have collected over the last 3 years.The thing that strikes me the most is,have met other people on the net who also married a lady from the Philippines,their farms are either poultry or goats or both.Mr Hog is the only other person I have met so far that has a hog operation,not sure why??I feel there is a real future in this business but as a independant producer long time goal would be the exporting of live or frozen carcasses or both.At present,Philippines is a goat producing nation,China is coming up behind us,and can overtake our position if we are not careful,Exporting would really help the country as a whole.The large volume of imported dairy products needs to be more home grown,more people are drinking coffee world wide,am sure Starbucks or one of those coffee shops are in the major cities in the Philippines,milk is required.The future looks bright for those willing to invest.World wide more people eat goat,the demand is high but the supply is low.

SUPPORT THE GOAT:Independant Goat Producer of the Philippines
mikey

[nemo]

A cooperative farm in Batangas BADACO FARM do supply fresh milk to local coffe shop.
Los Banos also have a dairy facility.

I would ask my brother if so could get some info in Los Banos.

[mikey]

Doc, the more information the better.
mikey

[mr hog]

sir Doc and mikey I am curios to how much an operation would cost to set up?It would have to be large enough to make money.This milk thing is very interesting.When I was there in jully aug never seen much milk for sale.I always said to give milk to the kids its good for them .But then they get this powdered stuff?as much info would be great.

[mikey]

Mr Hog,well,a goat is like a cow,you milk her after she (freshens),has a kid(s),like a cow the baby is removed so the farmer can keep milking the doe,because we have no market for our milk,let the kid(s) wean until 3 1/2--4 months,one is still able to milk the doe even with a baby(s) not as much volume but still she can be milked.Most dairy doe can be milked for approx. 300 days,60 day rest before kidding,all starts again.If one was close to a dairy or had a ready made market,the more does the better,more milk,we taught our relatives how to pasturized the milk first,Mr Hog you are right,the kids would really benefit from milk in their diets.Dairy goats need special feeds high energy when in the milking mode.Shelter,well metal roofs are better,our pens are 5x5 for each doe and buck,going to Cebu soon to buy the plastic flooring,saves on time cleaning,dries faster,less maintance,expensive a imported product.The bus. of the dairy market is also the meat side,one can always sell surplus dairy goats for meat,one can play both ends here.The best to my knowledge the meat market seems to be larger than the dairy end in the Philippines,breeds like the boer and crosses non milkers.This is a different market,but expanding all the time.Someone is going to put us in touch with connections in Cebu for the goat meat market,we will have to get the goats there ourselves.The wife and I will run 25 does in 2008,15 fullblood anglo does,10 upgrades f1 and 3 way mixes,we have 2 fullblood sires anglos and a boer terminal sire,will take 3 workers to operate,the barn is under major renos now,just doubled the work force,want it finished asap,when completed will be 16x75 have to build a house for the cartakers and we pay the elect. and all their food plus the wife sends them shoes and clothing,candies etc,the wages is 3t pesos,a husband/wife and our main caretaker is a young man,been with us for approx. a year now,have invested approx.1/2 million pesos so far,one can make money after the 2nd/3rd year,depends on how many heads one has starting out with.Selling of breeding stock is another market.Going full speed ahead now with the goats,next year may expand again,we have the meat market as a backup for unloading our surplus goats.
Did read some time back that the price of milk per litre was 10/12 pesos,may be farm gate prices,just trying to remember now.Doc Nemo can help me out here,he may know of the current prices of milk/meat for goats.
Hope this may have been of some help to you Mr Hog,the supply end of the goat meat market is low compared to demand, (high demand but low supplies) right now worldwide.

Good Farming Boys/Girls           

Support the goat:brought to you from the independant goat produce(s) of the Philippines.
mikey

[mr hog]

That is some great info mikey.I have approx 4000 squar meters left on my farm after we finish with the rest of the fatters cages for the pigs..I would like to maybe build some barns for confinmant for goats.I may send my wife over to the phills to manage the operations for a while maybe 3 months,we still have to get the stalls in the market place  too..Oh yes 3 months of steelhead fishing ;Dyou in mikey?

[mikey]

Mr Hog,if you had a stall in the market to sell pork,you could also sell goat meat,and may be goat milk??
Region 7 independant goat producer Philippines
mikey

Steelhead fishing,ya thinking about it alot.

[SARA]

Mikey, good for you, keep up the good work. Hopefully I could buy some breeding stocks (goat) from you in the near future.

[nemo]

Mikey, if you started selling breeders just tell me and i will make you a website as an advertisement of your product for free.

[mikey]

Doc & Sara,your on,will be ready in 2008.
Independant producer region 7 Philippines
mikey