Goat Owners Research Articles

A framework for the transfer of animal health knowledge to rural goat owners

A series of studies were conducted, over a 10-year period (1998–2008), in KwaZulu-Natal, one of the poorest provinces in South Africa, involving on-farm research and extension and small-scale goat farmers. Initially, two farmers in the Impendle region participated, followed by nine farmers in Bulwer and latterly, 15 farmers in Bergville. The general aim was to develop an appropriate approach to improve goat health and productivity in the areas. A flexible framework for the acquisition of skills and knowledge was developed, which incorporated the use of the on-farm research project as a training vehicle. The farmers were trained in basic health care techniques such as drenching, injections and the use of the FAMACHA© system, a simple method for determining anaemia, a symptom of gastrointestinal nematode infection. Community-based workshops were used to strengthen the farmers’ knowledge of animal diseases and their treatment. Extension materials were developed, including a “Goatkeepers’ Animal Health Care Manual”. The degree to which these participatory approaches helped increase community awareness of, and ability to deal with, goat health and management problems was assessed through questionnaire surveys conducted with participating and non-participating farmers and the general community. This new framework could equally well be applied more widely and to other agro-ecological zones.

Variation in the functions of village goats in Zimbabwe and South Africa

The objective of the study was to compare the functions and management systems of goats in Chirumanzu district in Zimbabwe and, Alfred Nzo and Amatole districts in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Data were collected using participatory rural appraisal techniques and direct observations. In addition, structured questionnaires from 344 households as follows; 69 from Alfred Nzo district, 144 from Amatole district and 132 from Chirumanzu district were also used to retrieve information from farmers. There were more female goat owners in male-headed households in Chirumanzu (75%) than in Amatole (27%) and Alfred Nzo (30%). Mean goat flock sizes per household were markedly high in Amatole (14.0 +/- 0.31) and Alfred Nzo (14.1 +/- 1.42) as compared to Chirumanzu (4.7 +/- 0.30). There were positive correlations (r = 0.30 for Amatole, r = 0.34 for Alfred Nzo and r = 0.25 for Chirumanzu; P < 0.05) between goat flock sizes and cattle herd sizes kept per household. Seventy-nine and 78% of households in Amatole and Alfred Nzo kept goats mainly for initiation ceremonies, respectively. Nearly all (95%) of the households in Chirumanzu reared goats for household consumption. Goat houses in all the districts were poorly constructed. Farmers' perceptions showed that most goat mortalities were mainly caused by gastrointestinal parasites and tick-borne diseases, especially heartwater. About 29, 15 and 27% of households in Alfred Nzo, Amatole and Chirumanzu, respectively, owned bucks. There were no formal markets for goats in the three districts. Chirumanzu had more females owning goats than the other two districts. No adolescents owned goats in all the three districts. Adolescent boys participated in the management of goats more than adolescent girls across the three districts. Differences in the importance of goats among countries and regions should be borne in mind when designing goat improvement and rural development programmes.

Constraints to ruminant production in East Mamprusi District of Ghana

A study was designed to identify species-specific constraints to ruminant production as perceived by animal owners in East Mamprusi District. The hypothesis was that the constraints to production as perceived by sheep, goat and cattle farmers were sufficiently different to warrant species-specific strategies being recommended. A total of 516 ruminant owners were chosen from the 10 agricultural zones of the district using a multistage sampling technique. They were interviewed using a questionnaire with open-ended and closed questions. A total of 496 completed questionnaires were acceptable, comprising 32.9 per cent sheep owners, 36.7 per cent goat owners, and 30.4 per cent cattle owners. The response rate was 96 per cent. The study showed that the background or perceptions of sheep, goat and cattle owners differed significantly (P

Milk production of West African Dwarf goats in The Gambia

Goats are important in the low-input systems of West Africa and their main importance lies in their role for income and saving. In addition, it is known that milk offtake for home consumption is also important. In order to obtain information about the real importance of milk offtake, a recording scheme was operated in 27 villages in the Central River Division of The Gambia from July 1998 until January 2000. Detailed information was obtained from about 1500 kiddings. In the recording scheme, any sheep being milked as well as the goats of the International Trypanotolerance Centre nucleus flock were also recorded. In the villages, 36% of all lactations were used for milk offtake, but the fraction milked was lower for the first two lactations. The average length of lactation was 127 days and the average daily milk offtake was 0.18 L. Goats are milked once a day and the residual milk is left for the kids. Milking starts about one week after parturition and stops when the goat becomes pregnant or the kid(s) die or the goat is drying off. The repeatability of the 90-day milk offtake was 0.24 +/- 0.09. Sixty-five percent of goat owner were women and a large fraction of goat owners also owned cattle. Goat milk was used exclusively for home consumption. It is concluded that in breeding and extension work more attention should be given to aspects of milk production.

Factors affecting goat production in a communal farming system in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa

The aim of this survey was to characterize the economic, social and nutritional importance of goat farming in the Mgwalana district of the Eastern Cape region of South Africa, and to identify critical constraints and opportunities for use in future development initiatives. The majority (68%) of de facto heads of households were males, of which 66% were older than 50 years of age. The majority (60%) had received schooling for five years or less. Most respondents (86%) kept goats. The mean flock size was 16 head, of which 76.7% consisted of does, 15.8% castrates and 7.5% bucks. The mean kidding percentage was 76% for maiden does and 64% for older does.The annual mortality rate was 7%; adult does accounted for 47% of deaths, and abortions for 29%. The main reasons given for keeping goats were for slaughter during traditional ceremonies (35%) and for cash sales (23%), and only 15% kept goats for home meat consumption. The motivation for the sale of goats was mainly to pay debts or save money (45%) and to buy other foodstuffs (27%). The majority of sales (91%) took place during the summer months, and buyers (possibly migrant workers returning home during the Christmas vacation) used the goats mainly for traditional ceremonies, funerals and weddings. Only 10% of farmers indicated that they would invest in goat farming if granted a loan that had to be paid back. This would appear to be related to labour constraints, as 44% of goat owners herded their flocks themselves and 37% relied on school-going children for this purpose. Only 19% of respondents indicated that they hired labour to herd their flocks . It would appear that future expansion of goat farming in this area is severely constrained by labour constraints and the fact that goat meat ranked lowest on the scale of eating preferences. It was concluded that initiatives aimed at improving the economic, nutritional and health status of this community through increased goat production are unlikely to be successful and that the problem of bush encroachment is likely to increase to the detriment of other ruminant species in the future.

Q fever in Bulgaria and Slovakia.

As a result of dramatic political and economic changes in the beginning of the 1990s, Q-fever epidemiology in Bulgaria has changed. The number of goats almost tripled; contact between goat owners (and their families) and goats, as well as goats and other animals, increased; consumption of raw goat milk and its products increased; and goats replaced cattle and sheep as the main source of human Coxiella burnetii infections. Hundreds of overt, serologically confirmed human cases of acute Q fever have occurred. Chronic forms of Q fever manifesting as endocarditis were also observed. In contrast, in Slovakia, Q fever does not pose a serious public health problem, and the chronic form of infection has not been found either in follow-ups of a Q-fever epidemic connected with goats imported from Bulgaria and other previous Q-fever outbreaks or in a serologic survey. Serologic diagnosis as well as control and prevention of Q fever are discussed.

Ventral oedema in exotic Angora goats

Abstract Angora goats of both Texan and South African origin have recently been released from quarantine and are now present on many properties throughout New Zealand. Based on observations during the quarantine period, the health problems of these goats are similar to those experienced by Australasian Angoras, but some differences are likely to emerge. A notable example is a syndrome characterised by ventral oedema and referred to by many goat farmers as “water belly”. The oedema is often severe with massive subcutaneous swelling along the ventral abdomen and brisket, sometimes extending up the neck to the sub- mandibular region and down into the legs (Figure 1). Goat owners encountering this problem for the first time will no doubt be concerned and, because of the high value of these animals at present, are likely to seek veterinary advice. The purpose of this letter is to bring the ventral oedema syndrome to the attention of veterinary practitioners, share what little knowledge I have on its clinical c...

Biochemistry and processing of goat milk and milk products

A review of physico-chemical properties of goat milk and variation in gross chemical composition and milk constituents due to various factors is presented. Goat milk either singly or admixed with cow or buffalo milk, can be utilized for conversion into value-added products such as Ghee (clarified butter fat), Khoa (heat-desiccated milk product), Chhana (acid and heat coagulated milk product), Dahi (curd), yogurt, cheese (Paneer, cheddar, mozzarella and gouda) and dried milk products. An immense scope exists to evolve economically viable, easily feasible and socially acceptable technologies for goat milk and milk products to provide high profitability to the goat owners. Scientific literature in the field of biological, nutritional and metabolic uniqueness of goat milk and milk products needs to be greatly enriched.

Goat husbandry in West Timor, Indonesia

A survey was conducted to study goat production in West Timor, Eastern Indonesia. Sixty goat farmers were questioned and their goats weighed. The median herd size was only six animals; extensively-managed herds were on average larger than intensive herds. The most important foods were tree legumes, particularly leucaena and sesbania. Only 3 farmers fed concentrates. The mean age at first kidding was 14 months. Most does kidded in the dry season, with the peak in June. Mean litter size was about 1.5. The average rate of kid mortality was 26%, with the most common stated causes of death being infected navel, diarrhoe and predator attacks. Kid mortality was lowest in shepherded herds and highest in free grazing herds. The mean rate of live-weight gain of kids from birth to one year of age was 38 g/day. For does, the mean adult live weight of 30 kg was reached at an age of about 3 years. The majority of goat owners were crop farmers, mostly also owning cattle. The labour input was low (up to 3 h per day) for all systems excepts shepherding (7 h/day). Offtake for sale or home consumption was about 71% for the shepherded herds and about 47% for other herds. The average age of goats at sale was 1.6 years. Goats represented a store of capital to be realized when cash was needed.

Q Fever

• The prevalence of Q fever infection is probably underestimated. In Michigan, the first two reported human cases of Q fever occurred in 1984. The case-patients lived in adjacent, rural counties and had multiple exposures to goats. We conducted a serosurvey of goat owners and a reference population to compare the prevalence of Q fever antibodies in the two-county area. Goat owners were almost three times more likely to be seropositive with Q fever antibodies than the reference population (43% vs 15%). Among goat owners, individual and household seropositivity prevalences were positively correlated with the number of goats, the number of positive goats, and the number of goat births on the farm. Q fever should be considered more often in the differential diagnosis of patients with compatible illness, especially those with frequent animal contact. (<i>Arch Intern Med</i>1988;148:609-612)