🌿 Introduction
Goat farming is one of the most profitable and sustainable livestock ventures in Nigeria. Goats are adaptable, hardy, and provide multiple income sources through meat, milk, manure, and even skin. But success in goat farming depends heavily on how well you care for your animals.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to care for goats using scholarly research, proven best practices, and practical Nigerian context, so your herd stays healthy, productive, and profitable.
✅ Why Goat Farming?
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), goats require less feed, adapt well to harsh environments, and can reproduce quickly — making them ideal for smallholder and rural farmers.
Benefits of goat farming:
- Low startup costs
- Short gestation (5 months) and fast growth
- Strong demand for meat and milk
- Useful for integrated farming (manure and brush control)
📚 Goat meat is leaner and higher in protein compared to beef and poultry (FAO, 2019).
🏠 Step 1: Housing and Shelter
Proper housing protects goats from:
- Rain, cold, and heat
- Predators like snakes and dogs
- Disease caused by damp or unclean environments
Housing Guidelines:
- Use well-ventilated shelters with sloped floors for drainage
- Keep the floor elevated or concrete to avoid wetness and parasites
- Provide 1.5–2 square meters per adult goat (ILRI, 2020)
- Use local materials like bamboo, wood, or iron roofing
🧼 Always clean pens weekly and disinfect monthly.
🌾 Step 2: Feeding and Nutrition
Feeding is the most important aspect of goat care. Goats are browsers, not grazers — they prefer leaves, shrubs, and tree bark over plain grass.
What to Feed:
- Roughage: Hay, cassava peels, maize husk, dry legumes
- Browse plants: Gliricidia, Leucaena, Moringa
- Concentrates: Maize bran, wheat offal, soybean meal (especially for lactating does)
- Mineral blocks or salt licks for calcium and trace elements
- Fresh water: 3–5 liters per adult goat daily
📖 NAPRI recommends 12–14% crude protein for growing goats and lactating does.
💉 Step 3: Health Care and Disease Prevention
Common Goat Diseases:
- PPR (Peste des Petits Ruminants)
- Foot rot
- Worm infestation
- Coccidiosis
- Mastitis (in milking does)
Health Tips:
- Vaccinate against PPR, CCPP, and enterotoxemia
- Deworm every 2–3 months
- Monitor for signs like diarrhea, coughing, nasal discharge, or lameness
- Trim hooves every 4–6 weeks
- Maintain clean bedding and keep feed/water containers elevated
🩺 Always consult a licensed vet for a vaccination schedule and health plan.
🐐 Step 4: Breeding Management
Goats can breed all year round, but it’s best to plan for the dry season or early rains.
Reproductive Facts:
- Gestation period: 150 days (~5 months)
- Breeding age: 8–10 months
- Common birth rate: Twins or triplets
Breeding Tips:
- Avoid inbreeding by rotating bucks every 2 years
- Provide extra feed (flushing) for does before mating
- Separate pregnant goats during final month of gestation
📚 Healthy does can produce 3–5 kids every 2 years with proper management (ILRI, 2020).
👶 Step 5: Kid (Baby Goat) Care
Newborn goats (kids) are most vulnerable during the first few weeks.
Kid Care Checklist:
- Let kids suckle colostrum within 1–2 hours after birth
- Keep kids in a dry, draft-free pen
- Deworm and vaccinate according to vet advice
- Wean between 8–12 weeks depending on weight and feed availability
📊 Step 6: Record Keeping and Management
Keeping good records helps you manage your herd more effectively and make profitable decisions.
What to Track:
- Birth and weaning dates
- Weight gain
- Vaccination and deworming schedule
- Mating history
- Feed consumption and costs
📘 Use a farm diary or mobile app to record each goat’s history.
🧽 Bonus: Cleanliness Is Key
Dirty pens = sick goats. Always:
- Remove dung and wet bedding
- Clean feed and water containers daily
- Use lime or disinfectant on floors monthly
- Control flies, ticks, and mosquitoes
🧼 Hygiene = fewer illnesses and better profits.
🐐 Grazers Haven Goat Care Support
At Grazers Haven Ltd, we help farmers start and grow successful goat farms by providing:
- Healthy goats (meat, dairy, breeding stock)
- Organic goat feed and mineral blocks
- Veterinary products and vaccination kits
- Farmer training and on-site consultation
- Farm tools and housing advice
📞 Need Help Caring for Your Goats?
📧 Email: [email protected]
📱 WhatsApp: +234 905 088 8482
🌐 Website: www.grazershavenltd.com