Ansci lec finals

• 2022 Goat inventory in the Philippines = 3.15 M head (PSA, 2022)
• About 99% are in smallholders intended to supplement household income
• Goats are primarily raised for their meat and milk
• Goats are commonly known as the "poor man's cow"
• Per capita consumption of chevon was 0.60 kg (PSA, 2020)
• Taxonomical classification of goat

  • Phylum: Chordata (animals having a backbone)
  • Class: Mammalia (milk giving)
  • Order: Artiodactyla (even-toed, hooved)
  • Suborder: Ruminatia (cud chewing)
  • Family: Bovidae (hollow horn, ruminants)
  • Genus: Capra
• Capra hircus aegagrus


  Wild goat
• Capra hircus


  Domestic goat
• Anglo-Nubian


  • It originated from Africa
  • Proud and has graceful appearance with long wide and pendulous ears and Roman convex nose
  • Color varies from black, gray, cream, white, shades of tan, reddish brown and facial stripes
  • Dual purpose (meat/milk)
• Toggenberg


  • It originated from Swiss Alps
  • It has a shade of brown to the body with white on the lower legs, base of the tail and down each side of the face
  • Dual purpose (meat/milk)
• Boer


  • It has white body with brown or black head
  • Meat type
• Alpine


  • It originated form French Alps
  • It has a wide variation in color from white, gray, brown and black with erect ears
  • Dairy type
• Saanen


  • It originated from Saanen Valley in Switzerland
  • It has well-built head and neck, straight nose and erect ears
  • It is cream to white in color
  • Dairy type
• Native goat


  • Popular and well-known in the Philippines
  • Small in size, stocky and low set
  • It has a wide variation of colors with erect ears
• Hybrid vigor


  When the performance of the crossbred progeny is better than the average of the purebred parents (highest at F1)
• Reproductive phenomena in goats

  • Puberty age: 5-6 months
  • Breeding age: 8-10 months
  • Estrous cycle: 18-24 days (21 days)
  • Estrus period: 1-3 days
  • Ovulation: 33 hours
  • Gestation period: 147-155 days (5 months)
• Goat house or shed

  • Should be provided to protect them from strong winds, heavy rains, wet ground and attacks of predatory animals
  • Should be well ventilated, well-drained and easy to clean
  • Goats prefer to stay on elevated places like benches, steps of houses and piled lumber
• Backyard goat house


  • Can be constructed made up of bamboo, cogon or nipa
  • A shed 2 meters wide and 3 meters long is sufficient to accommodate 2 goats but extra space is needed for the kids
  • The floor should be elevated from the ground using bamboo slats evenly spaced to allow the manure to pass down
  • A feed box for the salt, hay, straw, concentrates or forage and watering trough should be provided
• Fencing


  • The height of the fence should be 1.5 meters tall to confine the goat successfully
  • Hog wire nailed to wooden posts at 3 to 4 equally distanced points is good fencing material
  • Concrete, hard wood or metal can be used as corner posts to stand the pressure of stretched wire
  • Post base should be buried deep enough to prevent it from falling
  • It should be staked every 3 to 4 meters
• Feeding habits of goat

  • Goats will accept a wide variety of feeds, but what is acceptable to one goat is not always acceptable to others
  • Goats do not thrive well if kept on one feed for any length of time but prefer to select from many varieties of feeds and vegetation
  • Goats generally refuse anything which has been soiled by other animals
• Feeding guides for goats

  • Roughage (hay, silage, green fodder) - 2-3% of body weight
  • Concentrates (grains, oil cakes, brans) - 1-2% of body weight
  • Water - 3-4 litres per day
• Tethering


  • Goats are tied to a rope about 6 to 10-m long to gain access to enough forage
  • They are transferred once or twice daily to areas where it will have free access to fresh browsing
  • Water is provided when transferred to the shelter at night
• Extensive system


  • Small herds of about 5 to 10 animals and let loose to browse on waste vegetation and hedges
  • Grazing of animals along paddy dikes without feeding on the rice plants, along dikes of fishponds and under tree crops to control weeds
• Intensive system


  • Goats are confined and stall feeding is being practiced
  • They are supplied with soilage like napier grass or guinea grass, rice straw with molasses and concentrate
• Integration into plantation agriculture

  • It involves the integration of goat raising into established plantations of rubber, oil palm or coconut
  • Plantation undergrowth mainly grasses, weeds and legumes are used as feeds
• Breeding buck


  • Bucks need plenty of exercise to make them active
  • Provide them sizeable space for exercise
  • Hooves are carefully trimmed to prevent wear out and hairs are clipped
• Pregnant doe


  • Observe the doe after breeding to determine whether they are pregnant or not
  • Absence of heat cycle after breeding, it is assumed they are pregnant
  • Some signs of pregnancy need to be considered such as enlargement of abdomen and development of the mammary system
• Newly born kid


  • Remove mucous membrane from the nostril to enable it to breathe freely and wipe the body with clean cloth to dry the kid immediately
  • Tie the umbilical cord about 2-3 cm from the base, cut the cord and dip the navel in tincture of iodine
  • Assist the kid to suck colostrums immediate after birth
  • Place the kid in kidding box and keep it out of draft
• Lactating doe


  • Enough housing, nutrition and quiet environment is necessary to sustain their milk production and body condition
• Disbudding or dehorning


  • To keep enough space for the goats
  • To prevent injuries from each other during fighting
  • Disbudding is best performed in kid at about 3 to 5 weeks old
  • Dehorning is done much older animals
  • Both procedures can be performed such as hot- iron cautery, dehorner or chemical methods
• Improper disbudding procedure can lead to complications
• Castration


  • All buck kids not intended for breeding should be castrated
  • Castration is best done when the kids are about 2 to 4 weeks old
• Hoof trimming


  • This practice aims to prevent malformation of toes and to prevent foot rot that results form manure getting inside the untrimmed hoof
  • A sharp knife, pruning shears or a broad sharp chisel can be used to trim the hoof
• As of September 2022: Cattle Inventory: 2.58 million hd; 97.9% in backyard
• Top populated regions for cattle: Central Visayas, CALABARZON, Ilocos Region, Western Visayas, Northern Mindanao
• Beef per capita consumption: 0.87 kg (PSA, 2018)
• Increasing purchasing ability may lead to increase demand for beef
• Cattle are excellent converter of low quality farm residues into high value protein
• Ranching


  • Common in rolling or hilly areas
  • Seasonal availability of grass/forage
• Integrated with Dominant Crops


  • Grazing cattle under coconut or plantation trees
  • Cattle serves to control growth of weeds
  • Main source of income is the crop component
  • Cattle provides supplemental income