Boer goats are a meat breed that occupies an important place in modern cattle breeding. They are considered one of the most popular among other breeds of goats of this orientation. These are animals that are not common in agriculture, but have managed to show excellent productive indicators.
Origin of breed
Animals were bred on the territory of South Africa, in South Africa. The result was obtained by crossing local goat breeds with animals that were imported from Europe and India. When crossing, breeders wanted to get a breed showing excellent meat performance.
The Boer goat got its name from the Dutch word “boer”, which means “farmer”. The second name of the animal is boster.
Distribution in Russia
Today in Russia, not many farmers are breeding Boer goats. For this reason, it is beneficial to start your business with breeding animals of this breed, due to low competition. One breeding animal can be purchased in the country at a price of about 60,000 rubles or more.
Goats of this breed are grown not only for meat and wool, but also for decorative purposes. An attractive exterior makes the breed special, because it is often found in many private zoos.
Exterior Features
A distinctive feature of Boer goats is a massive body. The weight of females reaches 90-100 kilograms, while males weigh much more - from 110 to 135 kilograms. To the touch, long smooth coat is very pleasant. The animals have long horns, slightly curved towards the ridge. The breed is characterized by a convex large head, drooping ears and a Roman nose.
Boer goats are dominated by short, strong and well-fed legs with heavy and dense hooves. The animals have a well developed chest, back and hips. Goats have a short, non-hanging tail, which is in a standing position. A characteristic feature is the presence of an udder with a different number of nipples in females. There are goats with 1.2 or 4 nipples. Such a defect does not affect the health and productive qualities of the animal. Usually extra nipples are poorly developed.
Almost always, the color of the head is brown, and the body is white. But in some individuals, brown spots are located almost throughout the skin. If the Boer goat is crossed with another breed, the coat color can be fawn, black, sometimes spotty.
Productivity indicators
Boer goats have good productivity indicators. Distinctive characteristics of females and males are such data presented in the table below:
Indicators | Goat | Goat |
Weight | 110-150 kg | 90-100 kg |
Daily increase | 500 g | 200-350 g |
Milk quantity | — | 120-150 kg |
Slaughter meat yield | 55-70% | 55-60% |
Boer goat pregnancy lasts 5 months. Goats feed the kids with their milk for 90-100 days. At the age of three months, farmers often send kids for slaughter, during this period the weight of the animal reaches about 35 kilograms.
Content Features
Important conditions for keeping Boer goats are several points that the farmer must adhere to:
- In the summer, Boer goats need to provide a grazing plot. Goats are protected from nearby plants, shrubs and low trees.
- In the room where goats are kept, it is necessary to adhere to a temperature regime of more than +5 degrees.
- Daylight hours in winter should be at least 8 hours.
- It is mandatory to carry out preventive examinations and vaccination of animals.
- Twice a year, trim the goat's hooves. Being in a stall all winter, animals can not walk on the ground - there are growths that interfere with walking.
- The farmer must control the humidity level in the room - no more than 80%, optimally - 60-70%. With high humidity, pathogenic bacteria multiply with animals, which increases the risk of disease.
- Provide animals with sufficient water.
- Arrange goats with a warm litter. The legs of animals are considered their weak point.
Boer goat diet
Boer goats eat various foods. Their diet is recommended to be built on the basis of such ingredients:
- potatoes, carrots, beets and other vegetables;
- hay;
- sunflower meal;
- straw;
- food waste;
- concentrate.
Boer goats are considered very unpretentious in nutrition. They will enjoy food, even if there is not much of it - this will be quite enough for them. In the summer, they are released into pastures, where animals eat their pasture. Goats consume almost everything that seems edible to them. They can also find food in places where other animals have recently grazed. Often Boer goats are bred to destroy vegetation that grows near the house.
One adult goat needs about 9 kilograms of greens per day. In the winter, she will have enough:
- hay - 1.5-2 kg;
- concentrated feed - 300 g;
- fresh root crops - 2-4 kg;
- other feeds - 200-300 g.
It is important to include mineral supplements in the diet of Boer goats. Use ordinary table salt - it is placed in a stall in an amount of not more than 7 grams. Chalk or bone meal is added to pregnant females. The same supplement is given to seven-day-old kids.
With a lack of food supply, the goat can begin to deplete, and the quality of the meat deteriorates. But most often, animals do not react to meager food, they consume everything that the farmer gives them. The main condition for proper feeding is free access to clean drinking water.
Breeding Features
It is profitable to breed goats of this breed. The increase in economic benefits from Boer goats is real due to the fact that animals have increased resistance to disease. Goats easily adapt to any conditions, breed well, are unpretentious in nutrition, and also give high-quality meat for slaughter.
Breeding of Boer goats requires compliance with some rules:
- Male manufacturers are somewhat distinguished by the quality of fertilization. Even the weakest goats after mating lead a strong and healthy offspring, which after 9 days gains weight in 30-35 kg. 5 months after birth, the kids become sexually mature and ready for mating. Recovery and feeding of the kids takes about 2 years, 9 months. Then there is a rebound and covering the goat.
- When the kids are born, all the milk goes to feed them. During this period, it is fatty, tasty and healthy. If the farmer plans to take milk, the kid is weaned from the mother 14 days after birth. In such a situation, the farmer needs to decide for himself what to do with milk. There are two options: after milking, manually give milk to young animals, and leave the rest for consumption or allow the goat to take care of the offspring herself so that the kids suck milk from the udder.
During the first month, the kids are fed 4 times a day, then they reduce the number of meals to 3 times a day. - Experienced farmers know that the most viable and healthy kids are born in early spring. In Boer goats, the gestation period of the kids lasts 5 months (150 days). It is best when the female becomes pregnant in the fall (October-November). In addition, during the period of birth and early development, greens just appear, due to which animals will receive all the microcomponents required for the body.
- Females are fertilized throughout the year. It will be possible to obtain a high-quality and stable offspring if there are several goats for the entire pen with females. One male is able to cover 50 females.
It is very easy to determine the right time for mating. Initially, the goat’s hunting period is calculated — it ranges from 1-2 days. At this time, the animals behave uneasily, stop feeding, constantly label, the outer parts of their vagina swell. If the female was not fertilized the first time, she will have to repeat the process during the next hunt - it appears every 2-3 weeks.
Crossbreeding
Crossing the Boer goat with other breeds is possible, but this process can cause several difficulties. First of all, it is necessary to choose a pair for crossing carefully - the quality of meat products depends on this.
To create a hybrid, it is recommended to choose Nubian type breeds. It is better that the female is Nubian, the male is a Boer breed. The quality of the goat in this case is not in last place, because only with a high level of seed and genetics will it be possible to get a healthy offspring.
Even the average female is able to give birth to a quality kid. Such young growth is developing rapidly. If the manufacturer is of poor quality, the weight of a kid in three months will vary within 15 kilograms.
Crossing goats is recommended not only with Nubians, but also with such breeds:
- Jamnapari;
- Kiko
- Spanish
- Angora.
If the farmer plans to get excellent breeding results, it is recommended to cross the Boer goats with the breeds described above, because purebred mixing will cost an exorbitant price. But when mixing the Burts with other breeds, the cost of meat will be slightly lower.
A tribal goat needs to be crossed with a female of one of the breeds. Next, the resulting offspring are crossed again with a purebred buryat, but different. Animals should not be one lambing - crossing close relatives can lead to the fact that the offspring will turn out to be weak and unproductive.
Purebred cattle - one with more than 75% Boer breed in the blood. That is, the second generation of animals is purebred goats. They are considered valuable and are in demand by real gourmets.
Offspring
Sexual maturity in females occurs at 5 months. But experts recommend prolonging the barrenness of females for one to two months. The first offspring is one kid. Then the female will bring 2 or more kids. Babies give birth with a weight of about 4 kg. Excellent development and rapid growth provides the goats with a good gain per day - 250-500 g.
Boer females are not distinguished by good milk yield. In the lactation period, the female gives about 2 liters of milk per day, for this reason it is not always enough for the kids that are breastfeeding. Because of this, farmers may need to solder kids from a bottle with a pacifier.
Care for young animals and their rearing
Newborn kids get on their feet almost immediately after birth - for 3-4 days. During this period, they already begin to graze, eat dry food and drink water. Around the same time, the kids are allowed to be released into the general herd. The farmer can not be afraid for the safety of the kids, because goats will never harm young animals.
From birth to 14 days, kids are recommended to be kept close to their mother so that they are provided with sufficient milk. After the babies are two weeks old, they are separated from the mother, and they begin to feed from the bottle three times a day. It is advisable to add oat broth and carrot juice to milk.
At the age of one month, experienced farmers are advised to add a decoction of hay, chopped wheat bran. During this period, the kids are fed 2 times a day. Usually young animals refuse the bottle themselves, giving preference to hay and compound feeds.
Due to the fact that Boer goats are a meat breed, it is advisable to allow a kid to drink goat's milk in the quantities that he wants. If the kid has already grown, but does not tear himself away from his mother, while continuing to suck milk, put on a goat udder a bag of linen.
Why trim the hooves?
Care for the hooves of the Boer goat is one of the most important stages. Hoof trimming is necessary in order to avoid the development of limb diseases. Many breeding farmers know that animals of this breed often suffer from leg problems. For this reason, several times a year they undergo similar procedures. The first cutting is carried out in the winter, the second - before the first cattle pasture.
In summer, the hooves are machined on their own, due to which the farmer does not have to intervene. To clean the hooves, use a pruning shears with straight blades.
They operate according to this scheme:
- To clean all the dirt from under the hooves. Check where the dry part of the hooves ends and soft tissue begins.
- Cut the horn from the outside of the hoof.
- Continue to perform the action until it is possible to get to the soft part of the hoof.
- Proceed to heel circumcision. Do this very carefully so as not to injure the legs of the goat.
- Cut the second half of the hoof using the same system.
- Trim the hoof.
How much is?
The price of one copy varies between 1.5-8 thousand dollars. For these reasons, farmers who breed this breed prefer to purchase goat sperm rather than the animals themselves. This allows you not to spend large amounts of money. Artificial insemination contributes to the birth of several kids at once, and after the kid appears in the offspring, you do not need to buy sperm. The disadvantage of this method is the long wait and the possibility of having a baby whose appearance does not meet the standards.
The acquisition of young animals for future breeding and further breeding requires the right approach. The farmer must inspect the animal's coat and its external characteristics, pay attention to the behavior of the kid. If the baby is healthy, he will be constantly active.
It is equally important when choosing to measure the length and height of the body, the width of the ears. Sellers should have on hand all the necessary documents for purchase, medical certificates, as well as the passport of the animal, where vaccinations are indicated. An individual that does not match the breed is unlikely to be returned to the seller, therefore, a responsible approach to the inspection process is required.
What are the pros and cons of the breed?
The Boer goat breed has both advantages and disadvantages. Before breeding, the farmer needs to know about them. Highlight such positive points:
- have a calm and friendly character;
- goat meat is considered a high-quality product;
- animals have increased resistance to disease;
- are characterized by a high level of progeny productivity in males;
- goats are unpretentious in food;
- females breed well and are able to take great care of the kids;
- breeding allows you to get a good profit, which will pay off all maintenance costs;
- animals are resistant to high temperatures;
- characterized by a high rate of endurance to any conditions of detention.
Negative features:
- Boer goats tend to destroy all vegetation within their reach;
- only purebred animals produce high-quality meat products;
- animals are not very resistant to cold climates and frosts.
Where animals are kept it is impossible to grow flowers or shrubs - goats just gnaw them.
Reviews
There are not many reviews on Boer goats on the Web, because the minimum number of farmers is breeding in Russia, due to the expensive cost of animals. But those who develop business speak positively about cattle.
Fedor, 48 years old, owner of his own house. I decided to build a business on the breeding of Boer goats. I chose this breed due to low competition. I learned from familiar farmers that animal meat is of high quality, tastes like beef. I noticed that goats are unpretentious in food and keeping, behave calmly in relation to goats of other breeds. I had no difficulties keeping the goats, so I plan to continue to raise them for the purpose of selling meat, especially since the kids can be slaughtered in three months.
Elena, 54 years old, farmer. I was originally engaged in goat breeding, constantly acquiring more and more new breeds. From friends I heard about Boer goats, became interested. Through them, they managed to buy a male and a female. I like animals: they have a calm character, attractive appearance. In addition, goats are not fastidious in nutrition, care for them is required in the same way as for ordinary goats. They admired the taste of meat: there is no smack of goat meat, delicate texture. It remains to get another male for further breeding.
Eugene, 43 years old, a breeder. I heard about Boer goats from a friend of mine who built a good animal breeding business. I decided to try to start my own business. Fortunately, there was money to buy a male and several females. So, within a few years more goats appeared. He began to sell meat. I have enough for life. And with animals, practically no difficulties arise - my goats rarely get sick, walk a lot, eat well.
Hide
Add your review
Boer goats are animals that have attractive external characteristics and are characterized by high productive indicators. This meat breed is considered one of the best, due to the rapid growth and weight gain of animals.
Posted by
3
Ukraine. City: Kryvyi Rih
Publications: 110 Comments: 0