Growth Stage         Males average                     Female average
                           daily gain                           daily gain
first 8 months         0.24-0.31 lbs.                     0.20-0.24 lbs.
fattening                0.40-0.51 lbs.                     0.40-0.44 lbs.
vealing at
20-40 days             0.44 lbs.                            0.40 lbs.

2.2.lbs.= 1kg.

SUPPORT THE GOAT
mikey

Goats are impressive animals that have been part of human life since Paleolithic times.Even my cup of coffee can be accredited to the inquisitive nature of this intelligent animal,thats right goats discovered coffee beans.Throughout the world,goats are used for meat,milk,clothing,paper type products,pack animals,the goat is a versatile beast.
SUPPORT THE GOAT
mikey

Warning,bottle babies grow up to be adults that socialize poorly within the herd,become overly dependent with people,are at the bottom of the herds pecking order,some farmers do everything they can,short of killing a kid(s) to avoid bottle babies.
Suzanne Gasparatto of Onion Creek Ranch
breeder of the Tenn. meat goat,published in Goat Rancher Magazine

SUPPORT THE GOAT
mikey

As the breeding season approaches,farmers should be concerned with the body condition of their breeding does.Goats should never become too thin or too fat.Problems in reproduction,low twinning rates and low weaning rates happen when does are too thin,fat does can suffer pregnancy toxemia.fat does are rarely a problem.
BCS-1,extremely thin,weak,near death
BCS-2,extremely thin,thin,but not weak
BCS-3,very thin,ribs visible,spinous processes (back bone) very sharp,no fat cover with muscle wasting.
BCS-4,slightly thin,most ribs visible,spinous processes sharp,individual processes can be felt easily,slight fat cover over eye muscle.
BCS-5.moderate,spinous processes felt but smooth,some fat cover over eye muscle.
BCS-6,good,smooth looks,ribs not very visible.spinous processes smooth and round,individual processes very smooth,felt with considerable pressure.
BCS-7,fat,ribs not visible,spinous processes felt under firm pressure,considerable fat felt over eye muscle.
BCS-8,obese,very fat with spinous processes difficult to feel,ribs cannot be felt,goat has blocky fat appearance.
BCS-9,extremely obese,same as 8 but more exaggerated,the goat has deep patchy fat over entire body.

THIN          1-3
MODERATE  4-6
FAT           7-9
try to maintain a BCS of 4-7 if possible.Your goat(s) should have a BCS of 5-6 at the start of your breeding season.

SUPPORT YOU NATIONAL/LOCAL GOAT PRODUCERS
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

Mr Hog,good to hear from you,goats are more work than hogs,housing can be copra and bamboo wood,good breeding stock is not cheap,a good anglo doe will cost you between 10 & 20 thousand pesos each,crossbreeds are cheaper but you need a good fullblood buck(s).A knowledgeable goat caretaker is the key to a good operation,feed for dairy goats is commercial concentrates with greens,one needs some land to plant the greens.We tried many homemade local and national concentrates with no luck,buy commercial concentrates,more money.Dairy goats require energy to produce milk,lets see what the future holds for all of us dairy/meat goat producers in the Philippines,5 goats eat approx. the same as 1 cow,but give more milk than 1 cow.In the process now of bringing the goats BCS (body condition score) up for breeding through the rainy season,a chance we are gambling on.

SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOAT PRODUCER(s)
mikey

Doc, this is welcome news for us dairy goat farmers,not good news for the consumer,this may be the best news for the farmers in a long time coming,news like this helps to promote the industry and interest more people to start a dairy milk venture.Time to gear up our anglos and crosses,will be a busy 2008 season,will breed through the rainy season now.              SUPPORT YOUR NATIONAL AND LOCAL DAIRY GOAT FARMER(s)                                              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                                     

In males hybrid vigor influences libido,hardiness and longevity.Breed complimentarity is defined as the improvement in production efficiency that results from crossbreeding systems that let strengths of the sires breed offset the weakness of the dams breed and visa versa.There are several ways you can do this.
Terminal Crossbreeding:
all offspring are slaughtered.new breeding stock is bought.

Rotational Crossing:
moving between 2 sire breeds,this can produce a 3rd breed.

Roto-Terminal:
doe breeds are rotated,some doe kids kept for breeding,the rest slaughtered.
A well designed crossbreeding program should have a fixed goal in mind with all breeding focused to maximize the desired traits.

Hope this may be of some help to others,Sure is lonely here by myself,would be nice if other goat farmers would take part in this forum,come on now, do not be shy.
SUPPORT THE GOAT                              mikey

Like any other animal production enterprise,requires that good husbandry pratices be followed in the areas of sanitation,health,feed,water and shelter.These are all important parts of managing a successful goat enterprise.In many small herd dairy goat enterprises,not all does must be milked,so meat is often the main product.Along with meat.the sale of breeding stock from small flocks of dairy goats may be an important income source.This versatility allows the farmer to plan and operate a more stable economic production unit.Meat goat carcasses are generally leaner and more muscular than dairy goat carcasses,and have different proportions.

SUPPORT THE GOAT                                           mikey

I have red that in some parts of the USA,milk is worth more than gasoline.Some claim there is a world shortage of milk and prices will climb.The Philippines is a major importer of milk and milk products,this maybe the thing us dairy goat farmers have been waiting for.
SUPPORT THE GOAT                                   mikey

Sara,sorry do not know who makes this flooring,only know you buy it in Cebu or around the Cebu area,will try to find out more info for you and myself as we will buy it for our new goat barn,its fairly common as I understand it.                                    mikey
SUPPORT THE GOAT

Doc,was reading a story about goat pee,they say if your goats graze on your land.their pee helps to get rid of termites and the red mite which affects poultry,interesting.
Support The Goat                                mikey

Good flooring for your goats is important,most will use bamboo for flooring and it does work,some drawbacks,will always smell no matter how times you wash it,takes longer to dry.There is a product made for goat flooring,plastic,expensive but easier to clean,less odors,dries fast.Will try this flooring in our new goat barn now under construction,the rough estimate we have now,will work out to cost about 1200.00 P per goat.not cheap,one may save in the long run with lower maintance and labour cost,and healthier stock.
Support our goat industry                                 mikey

Thanks Doc,speaking for myself,5 times a day sounds good,think we will try and accomadate this in the near furure.
Good Day                           mikey