Goat farming has become popular with small-scale farmers in urban areas and densely populated areas in Kenya. Most Kenyans keep goats for meat and milk purposes. Therefore, for you to start a goat farming business, you have to follow some tips. This article gives tips on how to start a goat business in Kenya.
For you to start a successful goat farming business, you should ensure you have enough capital to run it. The following are ten tips you should follow to start a goat business in Kenya:
1. Goat Farming Business Plan
A good business should have a business plan to assist you in pointing out things you should do to improve goat farming.
Additionally, you should have record keeping if needed, which will assist in documenting what you sold or purchased and knowing where you are gaining or losing.
2. Main Reason for Rearing Goats
When setting up a goat farming business, you should determine the main reason why you want to rear goats. It can be either for milk or meat purposes. Also, do market research to get information on which products have high demand.
3. Choose the Location of the Land
After knowing the reason for rearing goats, you should select the farm where you will rear your goats. The land should be calm, quiet, and free from noise. Select a location that is good for pasture or grazing.
Also, ensure the location of the farm has a sufficient supply of clean and fresh water, is near the market and has good transport for easy access to get the types of equipment you might need.
4. Housing
Constructing a house for goats is another important factor to consider when you want to start a business. Therefore, build a pen that will shed goats from rain and sun. The shed should be well fenced to prevent theft.
When constructing, you can divide the house into two parts; the resting and feeding area. The house should be free from dampness and be well-ventilated and spacious.
5. Select the Goat Breed
You purchase high-quality breeds for farming. In Kenya, goats are bred into two types: dairy goats and meat goats. Dairy goat breeds are Saanen, Toggenburg, Barbari, and Jamunapari. Therefore, ensure you select a goat with a high yield and quality milk.
Meat goat breeds include Boer, Mato, and Black Bengal. Select a breed that is highly productive and produces good quality meat.
Additionally, if you are purchasing a baby goat, make sure it is properly vaccinated.
6. Feeding
Feeding is the most important factor for growth. Goats feed on grass, weeds, small branches of bush trees, vegetable leaves, peels, roots and other plant waste.
The feeding of goats is done according to their production. For instance, feeding meat goats needs complementary feed for them to grow fast and gain weight.
Dairy goats need more green feed to produce the maximum amount of milk. Provide them with sufficient roughage like Napier grass and supplements such as energy supplements like molasses and milling by-products. Protein supplements include Calliandra leaves, cotton seed cake, desmodium and sweet potato vines.
Alongside good food, always give them clean and fresh water according to their demand.
7. Breeding
You can practice breeding when the goats reach maturity. Breeding can be done in two ways: natural or artificial, but natural is commonly used in Kenya.
When breeding, make sure you use healthy and disease-free does and buck. You mate a female goat after two months of kidding, introduce a male with a female and leave it with a female for two to three weeks.
Goats usually give birth to kids after 150 days of mating.
8. Vaccination
Vaccination is crucial because it helps to keep your goats free from all types of viral diseases like PPR, goat pox, foot and mouth disease, and bacterial diseases like anthrax and brucellosis.
Female goats are vaccinated 2 to 3 weeks before kidding to prevent pulpy kidneys and tetanus. Kids are vaccinated at the age of five to six months. Also, to prevent scabby mouth disease, vaccinate goats at the age of two months.
9. Care and Management
Goats are always given good care to avoid stress and improve productivity. This is done by ensuring the goat’s house is neat and clean.
Keep kids, does, and bucks in separate pens and take extra care of breeding bucks, kids, and pregnant does.
Also, deworm the goat against diseases.
10. Marketing of Goats
Goats can be sold in local markets or exported to foreign countries. Therefore, you find a readily available market for selling your products.
