Domestic goat Domestic goat Scientific classification Kingdom: Animals Type ... Wikipedia

Y; goats; and. 1. Domestic ruminant fam. bovids, providing milk, wool, meat. Angora village. Keep and raise goats. Milk a goat. Wild k. (roe deer). Show, make a goat (when playing with a child, extend your hand to him with two outstretched... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Goat: Wiktionary has an entry for “goat” A goat is a female animal of the genus mountain goat (Latin... Wikipedia

Goat: Domestic goat is a small livestock. The goat is a female of the genus Goat, a ruminant from the group of bovids. The Goat with Kids is part of the constellation Auriga, which in antiquity was sometimes interpreted as an independent constellation. Goat (gesture) gesture... ... Wikipedia

Goat- Goat. Domestic GOAT, artiodactyl ruminant (bovid family). Descended from wild goats, one of the first domesticated productive animals. Breeding (Mingrelian, Soviet wool, etc.) for wool (cut 3-6 kg), fluff (0.2 0.5... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

Domestic, artiodactyl ruminant (bovid family). Descended from wild goats, one of the first domesticated productive animals. They breed (Mingrelian, Soviet wool, etc.) for wool (cut 3-6 kg), fluff (0.2-0.5 kg), milk... ... Modern encyclopedia

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Books

• I'm a goat, Boris Kuznetsov. I'm a goat! The creature is proud, independent and very smart! And why? Because I and all my many relatives are descended from rugged mountain goats. And life in the mountains...
• Goat milk, goat cheese and goat hair, Natalia Ermilova. For 5,000 years, goat's milk, goat's cheese and goat's hair have been considered a true elixir of life and an effective remedy for many diseases. Doctors recommend goat milk...

Goats are very unique and interesting animals. They are very smart, funny and devoted to their owner, not at all picky about living conditions and the quality of food. Communication with them brings a lot of positive emotions, and fresh air, physical labor and goat's milk improve the health of the owner.

Getting a goat in your country house or garden is not at all a difficult matter, because a goat is the most unpretentious farm animal. On the farmstead, a shed for goats will not take up much space - only 2-4 square meters is enough for one adult goat. m. The main condition is the presence of an area for free grazing of animals. In the spring-summer season, a free-range goat does not need additional feeding - the grass that she finds while grazing is quite enough for her. Therefore, raising goats is the most profitable activity - the costs of maintaining them are insignificant, and the return is quite high.

Goat is a useful pet and friend

If you live in the private sector and are thinking about getting a useful pet, buy a goat. This is an amazing creature, one of the first tamed by humans.

The goat is not at all a whimsical artiodactyl. Like every animal, she needs a warm home. If you have a barn or other outbuilding, you can insulate it by padding it with batting, covering it with foam and covering the floor with straw. In such a room your pet will be warm and comfortable.

How to choose a goat to be sure of its longevity and good productivity? This can be determined by the external characteristics of the animal. The goat should be strongly built, with a well-developed body and strong legs. Thick, beautiful coat also indicates a positive state of health. A goat lambs once, sometimes twice a year. The animal bears from 1 to 3 cubs, sometimes more, but rarely.

A goat, like many animals, is very clean and reacts with disgust to stale food or water. In its home, the animal usually chooses a certain place where it relieves itself.

A special place for grazing is not required; the goat does not overdo it in this regard, although it loves clover very much. He also eats bran, vegetables, and loves crackers. The milk of this animal is extremely healthy and nutritious and has healing properties.

The most important thing is not to forget that goats, feeling care and affection, will reciprocate your feelings, which will also affect productivity.

Goat's milk - medicine

The goat is a real healer. People call goat's milk "living water" due to its miraculous properties. There are many cases where people who used this valuable product for a long time were able to recover from serious illnesses. Goat milk is very useful for anemia, allergies, bronchial asthma, stomach diseases, liver and gall bladder diseases, arthritis, migraines, and insomnia. Doctors recommend using it for heart disease, thyroid disease, and for the prevention and treatment of tumor diseases. In addition, milk has a strong antioxidant effect.

Even in the works of the greatest scientists Hippocrates and Avicenna, there is a mention of the healing properties of this drink. Goat's milk is best suited for artificial feeding of infants, as it does not contain highly allergenic proteins and is very easily digestible, unlike cow's milk. The ratio of minerals in goat's milk brings it closer to mother's milk. In addition, excellent cheeses are made from goat milk, since the fat content of goat milk is 1.5-2 times higher than that of cow milk. Some people are confused by the specific smell and taste of goat milk. However, this issue can be easily resolved - there are breeds of goats whose milk does not have a specific odor (for example, Saanen and Nubian).

Goat breeds

Goat breeds are divided into downy, milky, woolly and coarse-haired. Typical representatives of wool breeds are Angora and Soviet, while downy breeds are Kashmir. We will dwell in more detail on dairy goat breeds:

• – the most popular goat breed all over the world. It is considered the highest yielding breed. These animals are quite large - a goat is 70-90 cm at the withers, a goat is 85-110 cm. The weight of adult animals is 50-75 kg and 70-100 kg, respectively. There are horned and polled ones. Their coat is usually short and white, but can be cream-colored. Maximum milk yield up to 8 liters. Milk has a pleasant creamy taste and does not have a specific goat smell. The goat's character is calm, affectionate, and friendly. The Saanen goat has on average 2 kids, less often 3-4.
• Alpine is a mountain breed with high milk production (up to 8 liters). Milk has a high fat content. One of the most unpretentious breeds that can adapt to any climatic conditions, as well as food. The height of goats at the withers is 65-85 cm. The typical color of an Alpine goat is red-brown with a black stripe along the entire back, with dark boots on the legs and two dark stripes on the face. There are also other colors: spotted, black with white boots, white and black, gray. The character is calm and friendly. The Nubian is one of the most beautiful breeds in the world. The color is varied - from brown to cream, white and black are also found. The milk yield of the Nubian goat is not very high - up to 4-5 liters per day, while the fat content of the milk exceeds that of the Altai and Saanen goats and is 8%. The disadvantage of this breed is that they do not adapt well to the Russian climate, since these animals are very thermophilic. Therefore, crossbred goats, such as Nubian-Saanen or Nubian-Alpine, are more suitable for our latitudes.
• Russian White is the most common breed of goat in our country. This is a dairy type of breed, common in the central and northwestern regions of Russia. Representatives of this breed are medium-sized animals, weighing 35-50 kg. Goats usually have long, white fur, but short-haired specimens are also found. Their milk production is average, milk fat content is 4-5%. Russian goats are very prolific animals, they are distinguished by high endurance and unpretentiousness, therefore they are often recommended for keeping in country houses.

There are several subspecies of Russian dairy goat: Gorky, Ryazan, Yaroslavl, Valdai, etc.

As already mentioned, goats are not demanding in terms of living conditions. Any room is suitable for a stable - a closet, a barn, a canopy, and even an attic, where goats can easily climb. In the southern regions, goats can be kept outside even in winter, but under a shelter. The only thing that goats do not tolerate well is dampness and drafts, so cracks in the walls of the barn are not allowed. However, it is necessary to consider the conditions for ventilation and air circulation so that moisture does not accumulate.

The main condition for good milk yield is grazing of animals. In spring and summer, you can let goats outside your property for a walk, where they will eat meadow grass. It is enough to tie the goat to a peg and change its place as it eats the grass around the peg. As complementary food, you can give weeds from the garden, trimmings and peelings of vegetables, and leftover plant food from the table. In winter, goats also need to walk in the fresh air, but for this you can allocate them a small area in the yard. For more information about breeding, giving birth and milking goats, read the section “ «.

In winter, in addition to hay and concentrated feed, goats are fed root vegetables, potatoes with salt and chalk mixed into the feed. It is very useful to feed goats with previously prepared tree branches in winter. Vitamin and mineral supplements may be a desirable addition to feed. Water for goats should always be clean and cool (but not cold), because goats will never drink dirty water, even if they are very thirsty. You can read more about feeding goats in the section “ «.

Keeping goats in the yard is very profitable and easy, much easier than cattle. And if you are thinking about having horned animals on your property, we recommend starting with goats.

Saanen goat breed

The place "Saanen", which is located in the Bernese Alps, is the birthplace of the Saanen goat breed, which is considered the best of the dairy breeds created by the Swiss. An important role in the origin and creation of this goat breed was, of course, played by the selection of the appropriate type of animal, as well as feeding conditions, which in the Alpine mountains are extremely favorable for livestock breeding, and, in particular, goat breeding. In Russia these appeared sometime after 1905. They spread throughout the country, starting with the Leningrad, Moscow, Kaliningrad, Yaroslavl, Gorky, Kazan and Sverdlovsk regions.

Exterior of Saanen goats

The most attractive thing for dairy goats is the exterior of the Saanen goat. A small graceful head, the ears are short, semi-erect, directed slightly to the sides and forward. Quite a long, flat neck, sometimes there are “earrings” (skin outgrowths). Usually these goats are polled (the horned ones are not left for breeding). The body is wide, long and deep. The disadvantage of this breed is poor muscles, especially in the thighs, and sometimes a pendulous rear. Correctly placed, strong legs with light yellow hooves. Limb defects such as clubfoot and saber-footedness are sometimes encountered.

Average sizes of Saanen goats:

Saanen goats have a white color, short, shiny hair, sometimes there are black spots, but the hair on these spots is white, which is considered a sign of purebred.

The udder of Saanen goats is pear-shaped, large in size, well developed and directed somewhat forward. Well developed nipples.

The value of the Saanen breed

Goats are fertile - 100 queens produce 180 to 250 kids per year.

On average, you can get 600-700 kg of milk per year from a Saanen goat, but if you improve its feeding and maintenance, you can reach 1000-1200 kg. The record milk yield for lactation is 3499 kg. In comparison with cows, when tested over a year, goats gave milk 12-15, and sometimes 25 times more than their live weight, and cows only 5-8 times. The percentage of fat in the milk of Russian goats is higher, and in Saanen goats it is usually about 3.5-4%. The milking period lasts from 8 to 11 months.

In terms of live weight, Saanen goats are one of the largest dairy goats. An adult goat weighs about 45-55 kg, a male goat - 70-80 kg. Kids weigh at birth: female goat - 3.5 kg, female goat - 4.5 kg. These goats are quite precocious, at the age of about 2 months, that is, by the time of weaning, female goats weigh 9-10 kg, and female goats weigh up to 10-12 kg. The live weight of kids increases per day from 90 to 160 g. By the age of one year, kids weigh 38-45 kg, female goats are slightly less - from 30 to 35 kg.

The breeding value of Saanen goats is very high, since they perfectly pass on their good economic qualities by inheritance and perfectly adapt to any, even harsh climate. The famous specialist M. Levi said about the Saanen breed of goats that they “are the most valuable breed for increasing the milk production of our goats.” The improvement of local goats, carried out with their help in the areas of the Leningrad and Moscow regions, as well as in the Caucasus, fully confirms this opinion.

Goat feed

An ancient legend says: once, Satan, leaving on his business, entrusted his subordinate - the devil - with two of his especially beloved goats. When Satan returned, the devil threw himself at his feet with a petition and tearfully begged him to allow him to herd ten ferocious tigers, and not goats, another time. Keepers of goats should remember the addiction of their charges - the merciless destruction of green growth, gnawing the bark of young trees - and nail the peg tighter, leaving them alone to graze.

Animal Features

Goats are successfully bred in mountainous, semi-desert, and steppe regions. This is facilitated by the peculiar biological characteristics of these animals:

• pointed muzzle;
• thin, very mobile lips;
• strong hooves;
• eating a lot of plants;
• attachment to a person.

Summer diet of goats

Goats are herbivorous ruminants. They eat succulent, roughage and concentrated feed well. In the summer, they should spend more time on pastures, since green grass is the most complete food and source of vitamins. Alfalfa produces especially excellent results. Animals are given water in the summer - in the morning and after a day break. Also should receive salt slime daily.

In spring and autumn, when there is cold dew, goats are driven out to pasture only after the grass has dried, thereby protecting the animals from stomach diseases and hoof rot. In bad weather, they eat well the dried grass from the feeder,

Winter diet of goats

The winter feeding ration consists mainly of roughage:

• Small steppe and meadow hay, forbs.
• Barley straw, spring cereals, legumes.
• Brooms made from dry branches of poplar, birch, willow, linden, rowan.
• Dry corn stalks.
• Fallen dry leaves.

Grain feed is better absorbed by goats in flattened or crushed form:

• Oats - promotes rapid growth, therefore it is especially valuable for young animals.
• Barley is a good feed for increasing the live weight of goats and young animals; To avoid obesity, it is advisable to give goats mixed with other concentrates.
• Corn grain is best given with bean hay or cake, that is, with protein-rich feed.
• Cake is a protein feed, used as an additive to straw and root crops.
• Bran is a protein feed that is very necessary for all goats; it is fed by mixing it with succulent feed or moistening it with water.
• Peas, soybeans, beans, lentils are eaten by goats in the form of crushed or coarsely ground flour.

It is good for maintaining health to give rowan berries to goats in winter, because these berries are rich in vitamins A and C. Goats eat fresh, boneless table scraps well. They will not refuse watermelons, beets, pumpkins, carrots, and corn silage.

In winter, goats refuse to drink cold water; it is better to heat it. It’s even better to brew tea from the leaves of raspberries, currants, cherry strawberries collected in the summer and dried, as well as from dried St. John’s wort, yarrow, nettle, mint, chamomile.

How to raise goats

Goats are versatile animals that make a good addition to a farm with the right space and facilities. You can keep them for milk, meat, wool, or simply as pets. If you are interested in breeding goats, learn some basic information to help you get started with breeding.

Before getting goats

Do you want to have animals for milk? Meat or wool? Or do you just want to see a cute pet in your yard? The motivation behind your decision will influence the choice of breed and rearing methods.

Raising goats comes with a lot of commitment - you'll have to feed them every day, pay for food and veterinary care, and provide good conditions - so make sure you're prepared to take on this responsibility.

Breed selection

Choose a breed based on your needs. As mentioned above, the choice will depend on whether you want to keep them for milk, meat or wool. In addition, size, temperament and maintenance requirements will need to be considered. Some of the most popular breeds are:

• Dairy goats: Alpine, , Sable, LaMancha, Nubia, Oberhasli, and Toggenburg.
• Meat breeds of goats: Boer, Kiko, Spanish, Savannah, Texmaster, Genemaster.
• Goats with good hair: Angora (which produces mohair), Cashmere, Pygora and Nigora.
• Decorative breeds: Nigerian gnome, Kinder.

Where to keep goats

• Consider how much space you have. Ideally, you should have a large outdoor enclosure where your goats can frolic. Goats should also have a place with a roof for resting and shelter.
• The general rule is to provide 10 to 15 feet of space for each standard size adult buck. Decorative ones will require a little less space.
• It is important not to keep animals in confined spaces. This will cause them to start getting sick.

How to choose kids

• Don't buy a goat that doesn't suit your needs.
• Look for clear-eyed, nimble goats that move quickly and easily with a distinct gait.
• Place your hands around the goat's body to check for swelling or bruising, which may indicate an abscess.
• Check the goat's droppings to make sure they are solid and not runny.
• Look for goats with deep, round bellies, wide-set hips, and large, downward-pointing udders. If possible, you should also try to milk the goat to ensure that it has a good temperament and that the milk comes easily.
• If you buy dairy goats, make sure they are friendly and not shy, as you will have to milk them.

How to choose a goat

• Goats can be aggressive and start to smell as they get older. Pheromones can affect the taste of milk if a goat lives in close proximity.
• If you don't want to raise a large herd of goats, it's better to just get a goat when you need one for breeding instead of buying one.
• Goats are castrated only to be used for meat (or as pets).

What age to buy goats

You have several options when it comes to purchasing - which option you choose will depend on your budget and how soon you want your goats to produce milk or give birth.

• Buy a kid. The kid can be as young as 8 weeks old, since at this time it can already be weaned from its mother. Baby goats are relatively cheap to buy, but you'll have to wait about a year and a half before the animals are old enough to be bred, and another five months before they start producing milk.
• Buy pullets. This is a young female who has not yet been pregnant. Pullets are more expensive than kids, but you don't have to wait to breed them and start producing milk. You can buy a young goat that is already pregnant, in which case you will have to wait 5 months before she starts producing milk.
• Buy an adult goat. Finally, you can buy a goat that is already producing milk. This is faster and cheaper than previous options, however there is a risk that the female may have problems as breeders usually try to sell the weakest animals in their herd.

What to pay attention to

• Goats are herd animals, which means they prefer to live in groups. Therefore, you will need to buy at least two goats to start breeding them.
• Many people make the mistake of buying just one goat. Lonely goats bleat loudly in search of company.
• If possible, try to buy two goats from the same herd. This will help them adapt to their new environment much faster.
• Under certain circumstances, goats will socialize with other ungulates such as sheep, cows and horses, so this is an option if you already have some of these animals.

Conditions of detention

As mentioned in the previous section, goats require sheltered housing to sleep, feed, and hide from the weather and at night from predators.

The shed doesn't have to be very elaborate, there should be plenty of open space to roam around during the day. The room does not have to be very large - goats like to sleep together in small groups.

You just need to make sure that your home stays dry and draft-free. It is also a good idea to have a small nook where you can place sick, injured or pregnant goats.

The floor of the shelter should be covered with a thick layer of bedding consisting of wood shavings (except cedar), straw or hay waste.

Goat grazing

Goats can climb trees, jump fences, and chew ropes, so it's important that you put up a good fence around your pasture.

Your fence should be at least four feet high, or five feet for more active breeds of goats. You can use a smooth electrified wire fence.

You also need to ensure that there are no poles inside the fence and that there are exits to the roof.

Goats prefer to eat twigs, leaves and weeds rather than plain grass. This allows them to be kept with sheep, cows and horses, as they do not compete for food. Goats can be used to clear land and get rid of unwanted vegetation.

Feeding goats

• Goats do not get all their food from the field, they need a large supply of good quality hay (or other forage crop).
• Goats that are pregnant or for milk production have additional protein needs, so they need to be fed grain every day. You should also add a mineral mixture, which is available at most feed stores.
• You can give your goats fruits and vegetables, including apples, pears, peaches, watermelon, bananas, carrots, celery, and spinach.
• It is important that your goats have a constant supply of fresh water, especially during very hot, dry weather. If you have a stream or pond, this is a convenient way to ensure you stay hydrated.

Goats that have reached sexual maturity

When a goat reaches maturity, at about 6 months, she is ready to . Annual breeding cycles begin around August or September. If you are not the owner of a goat, you can take the female to a farm for breeding, in which case you will have to pay for the mating. You can tell that a female is pregnant by milky-white discharge from the genitals (this is one of the best signs of successful mating). Pregnancy lasts 150 days, or five months. In most pregnancies, two kids are born, although sometimes there may be more, three or four.

Caring for young animals

Immediately after the kids are born, they are thoroughly wiped with a cloth to remove blood and birth secretions. Next, you need to decide on the feeding method.

• Some goat breeders prefer to immediately separate the kids from their mother in order to feed them their mother's milk. The meaning of this is that the kids may be difficult to wean off their mother's suckling and you will get less milk. It is also believed that with artificial feeding, goats will be more obedient and friendlier.
• Others believe that separating goats and kids is cruel and unnecessary. They allow the mother to nurse the kids and separate them when the kids are ready to be weaned, between 8 and 12 weeks of age.

Which route you decide to go is a matter of personal preference and will depend on how important increasing your milk production is to you.

What to do with kids

Unless you are interested in increasing the size of your herd, you will have to decide what to do with the kids.

• Young kids from good sires are usually easy to sell, as the demand for milk-producing good breeds of goats is very high. Baby goats can be sold immediately after weaning from the goat.
• If you want to keep offspring from the best dairy goats, keep in mind that you will start receiving milk in about a couple of years.
• With goats the issue is a little more difficult to resolve. Most young bucks should be castrated before three weeks of age as they will eventually be sold for meat.

Goat lactation cycle, milking

After a goat has given birth to her first offspring, she will begin to produce milk and will continue to do so for approximately 305 days after giving birth. Milk yield is usually high in the first 2-3 months after birth, then milk declines, stopping towards the end of the lactation cycle. Then the goat requires two months of a “dry period”, this period is needed for the final formation of the fetus and to prepare the body for a new birth. If you have never milked an animal before, it is important to learn proper milking technique.

• Do not pull on the nipple;
• You need to close your fingers around the nipple, stopping the supply of milk from above using your thumb and index finger.
• Next, use the remaining fingers to squeeze the nipple and extract the milk.
• At first, you may start out slow and clumsy, milking a goat may take you up to 30 minutes, but once you get used to it, the whole process should take no more than 5 minutes.
• You should milk goats once in the morning and once in the evening. If you do everything correctly, following the feeding regime, at the peak of production you can get up to 7 liters of milk per day from dairy goats of good breeds.

Signs of goat disease

Sooner or later you inevitably have to deal with sick animals, so it is very important to be able to recognize the signs of disease. Some of the most common and visible symptoms of goat diseases are:

• lack of appetite;
• immobility and cloudiness of the eyes;
• diarrhea;
• hot udder;
• pressing the muzzle against a wall or fence;
• coughing, groaning, grinding teeth;
• pale eyelids and gray gums.

Goat care

In general, goats do not require too much care (except for long-haired ones).

• Cleaning and bathing. Goats should be brushed at least once a year (preferably in early summer) with a firm brush. This gets rid of dandruff and matting, stimulates blood flow, and gives a chance to detect signs of disease. Bathing your goat is not strictly necessary, but it helps remove fleas and makes trimming or combing the coat easier.
• Trimming. You will need to trim your goat's hair at least once a year to keep them cool throughout the summer. You can trim the tail and areas near the udder - this will help keep the animals clean during milking all season long.
• Hoof trimming. It is also necessary to trim the hooves about once a month, otherwise they will overgrow and flake. This is a relatively quick and easy process that you can do yourself.
• Goats, by nature, can eat a lot of hay. Learn to calculate the diet and not overfeed the animals more than necessary.
• Goats prefer bushes and trees to grass. Walk goats where damage to lower branches is acceptable.
• Goats are smart animals. They are able to open the latch on the fence and leave.

Warnings

Never leave horned goats, they can cause injury.

Stud goats require more skilled handling and are not intended for beginners.

Goats can be aggressive, so train your animals from the moment they are born.

Goat breeding: how to breed your goat

Before you start raising goats, learn to recognize when a doe is in heat and when it is appropriate for her to be with a buck. The article describes some signs that your goats are ready for breeding, their behavior during the rut, and mating rules.

Preparing goats for mating

If you want your goats to start reproducing, you must learn about the characteristics of the breed. Some goats become sexually mature as early as two months, although most breeds do not mature until 5-6 months. This range arose because goats are typically bred for the season and are rarely kept until the fall. Females, as a rule, can safely mate at seven months - this means that they will give birth to kids this year. But if the animals are underweight or short in height compared to the goat, then mating will not work.

At the beginning of the breeding season, it is necessary to carry out preventive measures, preparing the animals in optimal condition. During the rutting period, it will be difficult for you to cope with the animals, so take care of everything in advance. So, do the following:

• complete all vaccinations if required by veterinary regulations;
• trim the hooves;
• cut off all the hair on the goat's belly;
• Get a CAEV test and a stool test for infection (at a veterinary clinic).

Preparing and examining goats during this time provides an opportunity to fully examine the animals to ensure they do not have any problems that could affect performance during the breeding season.

Seasonality of mating, sexual cycle of goats

Goats are mainly seasonal animals, but some of the mini breeds can mate all year round. Goats that live closer to the equator also ovulate throughout the year. Beginning in late summer and early fall, the amount of daylight decreases, signaling the animal's body to enter estrus (also called the rutting season). Estrus ends with ovulation.

From July to January, ovulation can occur approximately every three weeks. At the beginning of the breeding season, some animals experience a slower cycle. Standard estrus occurs between 18 and 24 days. If your goat has a shorter cycle all the time, then you need to talk to your veterinarian, as the female goat may have a cyst on her ovary and will not become pregnant until she receives treatment to resolve the cyst.

As fall approaches, you can expect your goats to go on a spree. They will become more restless because sex hormones become overactive. When hunting, goats gather along the fence, aiming for males. During this time, you should begin planning breedings in order to have kids by spring.

Hunting period

This cycle lasts from several hours to several days. In a young goat this may go unnoticed, but an adult female will become noticeably nervous and may even try to run away. A female in heat exhibits visible physical changes: her vulva may become swollen and red, and discharge may leak from the vagina. In addition to these physical changes, you may see the following behavioral changes.

• Active tail. When the female is in heat, her tail will wag vigorously.
• Noisy behavior. When the female is in heat, she can bleat loudly, calling for a male.
• Anxiety. If the female is in heat, you can see that she will constantly walk and rub against something more than usual.
• Aggressive behavior. The goat will attack other goats, or, conversely, allow them to jump on its back.
• Reduced milk production. Due to decreased appetite and hormonal changes, milk levels noticeably decrease during this period.

Behavior of a goat during the rut

During the rut, bucks are ready to breed, and during this period they cannot think about anything else. An excited animal constantly urinates, resulting in an odor caused by urine and increased activity of the gonads, leading people to think that all goats smell bad. But this smell is temporary - it is only needed to attract females.

During the rut, the male constantly sniffs, gets nervous, and bleats loudly. If there are several males, they constantly fight even with young animals. This is how goats try to identify the dominant individual in their environment.

A goat in heat can mate up to 20 times a day, but this should not be allowed, since during this period the animals weaken, eat little, and lose weight. Supplement your pet's diet with grains, leafy branches, and beet pulp. Keep an eye on the males to make sure one of them is not injured by the others, or becomes ill due to lack of food and excessive activity.

Mating

When a doe shows signs of heat, you can take her to a buck. He will act very actively - jump and step with his front legs. If the goat begins to urinate, the male will definitely sniff to ensure the presence of the animal's maturity hormones.

The female will constantly wag her tail and stand still when the male tries to jump on her. Animals can circle in foreplay for five to ten minutes. Sex only lasts a few seconds. In order for the female to become pregnant, mating must be repeated two to three times. If she no longer goes on a spree, you can assume that the mating was successful.

In rare cases, even when a female is in heat, a certain male may not like her and he will refuse her. You can try to leave it in the goat's stall, but the goat will do everything to make it go away. This usually happens with older goats when their sex hormones are low and they don't smell as sexy as they should, or with very young females.

If you allow your buck to stay for the goat's birthing season, he will need to be housed separately. It can harm the babies, and in addition, it can kill the female earlier than allowed.

Goat vaccination: vaccinations and injections

Each goat should be examined annually for leptospirosis, brucellosis and should be vaccinated against anthrax.

What diseases are goats vaccinated against?

• An anthrax shot is usually given in the spring. At the same time, when blood is taken for brucellosis and deworming is carried out (treatment for worms). If anthrax is detected, you need to give an anthraxin injection. For prevention, you need to get an injection with live anthrax vaccine or anthrax globulin.
• Brucellosis is a disease of small cattle. Transmitted to humans through milk. If a goat gets sick with it, the station may give an order to destroy all small livestock within a radius of 5 km, since there is no vaccine for this disease.
• Goat pox is an acute viral disease. If this disease is detected, it is necessary to quarantine healthy goats and inoculate them with aluminum hydroxide formol-glycerol vaccine. For sick goats, everything usually comes down to zinc ointment. Bubbles that appear on the skin must be lubricated with brilliant green or iodine.
• Foot and mouth disease is another disease of these animals. It is transmitted to artiodactyl animals through touch. In case of illness, it is necessary to place the sick goats in a dry room on a dry and soft bedding made of straw. Where goats used to be kept, a complete disinfection of the premises must be carried out. Vaccinated with lapinized inactivated vaccine.

What injections should be given if a goat is sick?

Bronchopneumonia. Manifested by bronchial disease and mucus secretion. They are treated with oxytetracycline injections and sulfonamide drugs. If pneumonia is caused by lungworm infestation, then for the injection you should mix oxytetracycline and brovadazole in a ratio of 50 to 50. If within one day you were unable to achieve a positive result, you should immediately contact a veterinarian, otherwise everything may end in the death of the animal.

Gastritis occurs when goats are not fed hygienically. You need to organize a starvation diet for two days, then give mucous decoctions of oatmeal, barley and rice flour with 2 eggs. Give 100, 150 grams of vegetable oil to drink. You should also give injections of caffeine, glucose and camphor.

Endometrium is a disease after childbirth, associated with damage to the uterus during childbirth. It should be washed with potassium permanganate 1:1000, furatsilin 1:5000, ichthyol 3%. BUT it is best to contact a veterinarian and not self-medicate.

Description about goats.
Goats They are quite unpretentious in maintenance and are perfectly adapted for growing in central Russia in a temperate climate. These animals are the latest on the list of susceptibility to infectious diseases and there have never been widespread epidemics among them as among other domestic farm animals. Goats also do not require large expenditures and require basic human care. When selecting an animal, you should take into account the data for which the animal is purchased, mainly meat, milk and less often fat and cheese products.
Toggenburg goat produces milk with a fat content above average, and produces from 2 kids per lambing, has a high milk yield, is raised as a dairy animal, not a meat animal, since its height and weight are relatively small, due to which the goat is compact.
Saanen goat It is equally suitable for both milking and meat, since the weight of the average individual reaches almost a hundredweight. Produces large volumes of milk, but with a low fat content, no more than 3%.
Russian goat, bred in the Smolensk region, where it is mainly bred. It is distinguished by tasty meat and very high milk yield with a relatively high fat content of milk, from 5%.
Goat care.
A goat is a very clean animal, so the room where the animal will live should be treated with the utmost care. It is important to consider the following requirements for the goat's rue:
The air should be clean, free of unpleasant odors, and free of garbage and compost pits.
The temperature inside the goat's rue should not fall below 6 degrees in winter and not exceed 20 degrees in summer. Violation of these standards will lead to a significant reduction in milk yield, and some apathy will occur among the animals (especially at high temperatures).
When hanging, phlegm and high humidity are not allowed.
Cleaning in winter is carried out as little as possible (depending on the situation) to preserve heat, and in spring and summer, on the contrary, as often as possible.
The goathouse building itself should not be located far from other buildings and nothing should cast a shadow on it; this is necessary for solar heating of the room in the spring months.

The floor should be at a slight slope so that sewage flows into the grooves prepared for this, and does not spread over the entire surface of the floor; the recommended floor material is concrete.
To disinfect the room, you need to whitewash the inside at least 2 times a year.
Each animal must have an individual stall measuring at least 1 m. by 2 m., kids that have not reached the 2 year mark can live together, but the size of the stall should increase 1.5 times with each new animal, of which there should not be more than 4.
The buck should be positioned as far away from the kids and goats as possible to reduce the intensity of regular aggression.

It is desirable for a goat's rue to have an attic where the hay will not rot and will remain dry; it is also very easy to throw it from above.
Violations of basic requirements not only entail a decrease in milk yield, but also significantly affect the quality of milk; you cannot save on food, bedding and space, such “savings” will not allow the animal to pay for itself as quickly as possible. Also, the goat must be regularly combed with a brush to remove all the lint, and each individual must have its own brush; if the goat has gone to slaughter, its brush must be disinfected before it begins to serve another animal. To get rid of lice (this often happens when animals are free-range), they must be washed with a soda solution or a special lice shampoo. A complex of care is necessary to prolong hygiene and prevent the development of diseases, this also affects milking.
Diet.
Goats are quite picky eaters and will not eat processed greens or plants that have grown in areas fertilized with chemicals. Also during winter, goats require not only harvested hay, but also maple branches, bark, and fodder root crops. But basically the complete nutritional picture looks like this:
Hay or fresh grass at the rate of 1 kg. per individual.
A variety of cereals in dry and steamed form. These are mainly oats, bran and barley.
Mineral supplements such as sow flour and “lick salt” should be freely available.
If you have a choice among pastures, then it is better to choose mixed-grass meadows with grass no higher than half a meter, since a goat is a collective animal and in order to feel confident and safe, they simply need to have their relatives in their field of vision. It is also not recommended to graze before 7 am and on wet grass in rainy weather. During walking, the goat is usually tied to a peg; this peg does not have to be a concrete pile; an ordinary stick or pole with the thickness of a shovel handle will do. The length of the rope should be at least 3.5 meters, and you should not constantly worry about goats on the run. The goat itself will never try to escape, and goats run away extremely rarely, and then only during the mating season.

Goat breeding.
Sexual activity occurs in mid-autumn and spring; it is at this time that mating will be most profitable. Pregnancy lasts about 5 months, and birth occurs in mid-spring. This is the time that is most beneficial for the growth of young animals, since there is an abundance of a variety of herbs that promote growth. The healthiest individuals are selected for mating, especially the mother; she must be at least 2 years old and without visible defects. A person must be present during childbirth, the umbilical cord is cut at a distance of no closer than 6 cm from the abdomen, after removing the mucus from the mouth and nose, the kid is washed in a weak solution of potassium permanganate and wrapped in a warm blanket.

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Correct goat breeding, whether it be the mating of animals of the same breed or the crossing of individuals of different breeds, requires serious attention to the selection and breeding animals in accordance with their physique, useful productivity and purity of origin.

The issue of choosing animals for the tribe is very important. It should be remembered that the following are considered body defects: 1) an excessively large, elongated head (pike); too long, curved neck (swan neck); 3) deep scruff and narrow, tight chest; 4) a long middle part of the body and a hanging (cow) or tucked (deer) belly; 5) low (carp) back; 6) narrow hips; 7) chopped off sacrum and pointed backside; 8) fleshy udder, bag-shaped (sheep); 9) weak or high limbs; 10) bad hooves and 11) weak shins.

After these general provisions, we move on to the selection of breeding bucks and goats.

Breeding goat. The whole center of gravity of goat breeding lies in the choice of a goat-producer, and therefore we will dwell on this issue in more detail.

It has been established that breeding goats have a great influence on the formation of economically useful qualities in the herd, through their transmission to their offspring. If a goat's milk supply is formed, the goat must certainly come from a profusely milking mother who gave milk of good quality and odorless.

Being completely healthy and descended from healthy parents, a goat destined for the tribe should have the following forms: not large, not heavy, but courageous head, with a short thick beard, not long neck, strong, muscled rear, broad back, wide and deep chest , vertically set, not long limbs.

The hair should be thick and strong, the skin thin and delicate. In addition, the animal must present all the characteristic features of the breed to which it belongs, and leave an impression of power and courage.

The particularly pronounced odor characteristic of goats is generally undesirable, and this, while inevitable, evil must be fought through selection. When choosing a goat, it is necessary to examine its genitals in detail, since bisexuality in goats is often observed.

A sign of milk production in a goat is more or less developed nipples, capable of secreting milk even with mild irritation.

When selecting a stud goat, you need to keep in mind the timing of sexual and physiological maturity. In goats, sexual maturity occurs at 5-8 months of age, and physiological maturity at 8-12 months of age. Although a young goat can be mated at the age of six months, in our climate this cannot be done before a year. In goat breeding, it is customary that breeding goats go into mating no earlier than one and a half years. Premature sexual exploitation of a goat significantly affects both its health and its offspring, which become short and frail.

The load on one male goat in the first year should not exceed 10 - 20 queens during manual mating. The load can be increased to 30 queens, but no more than 4 cages per day. After 6 years of use, the goat is culled, castrated, and 2-3 months after castration it can be killed for meat.

Many people advise changing the goat every year and avoiding in-breeding in every possible way, but we believe that this is only true for inexperienced goat breeders, and in cases where free mating is used, that is, when the breeding goat is in a common herd with queens. With manual mating or artificial insemination, inbreeding can be avoided.

The selection of male goats is made on the basis of an assessment of: external forms and breeding qualities, productivity, origin and quality of the offspring. At the same time, they keep in mind that in dairy goat breeding, the assessment of sires based on external signs is not accurate, so you need to pay more attention to the origin. On the contrary, when selecting sires in wool and down goat breeding, special attention is paid to external shape, live weight and fertility.

Breeding goat. In general, a dairy animal should be of a delicate constitution, have soft skin that is easily pulled away from the body, soft, fine hair, and well-developed mammary glands. Not only well-known breeds, but often their individual representatives differ significantly from each other in this regard. There are goats that eat and especially drink too little to be dairy-bearing; others, on the contrary, show a great appetite, but tend to process food into the deposition of meat, fat, wool and not into milk.

A well-built dairy goat should have a thin, light head, not a wide neck, a straight, not too sharp back, convex ribs, a deep chest, a large but not hanging belly, full hunger pits, a well-developed rump, full thighs, a well-developed rear, the legs are not high with strong hooves, shiny fur and a gentle gentle expression in the eyes.

The udder is of particular importance, and it should be noted that it is not the large outer iron sac that matters, but the inner udder. A large, long, but fleshy or fatty udder should not occur in a dairy goat; such an udder is soft and full to the touch, the skin on it is somewhat thicker than usual and is covered with individual coarse hairs. Such an udder does not form folds after milking and decreases slightly in volume. A real milk udder in its upper part is strong and granular to the touch; its skin is soft, thin, covered with thin short hair and, when emptied, forms folds and wrinkles, completely sagging. In addition, due to the thinness of the skin, blood vessels are outlined, including the so-called milk vein, which never happens on a fatty udder.

It is believed that goats (like sheep) began to be domesticated in ancient times: from 12 to 8 thousand years ago, in the late Stone Age (Neolithic), as evidenced by fossil remains and rock carvings found in various regions of Europe, Asia Minor and Central Asia .

For example, images on stone tiles show that already in the 4th–3rd millennia BC, in the ancient Mesopotamian states of Sumer and Akkad, domestic goats with long, wavy hair, very similar to modern Angora goats, were bred. Assyrian bas-reliefs depict goats with drooping ears, which distinguishes them from their wild ancestors.

Domestic goats belong to the class Mammals, the order Artiodactyla, the suborder Ruminantidae, the family Bovidaceae, the subfamily Goataceae and the genus Goat.

Several species are considered their wild ancestors. One of them is bezoar, or bearded, goats. Bezoar goats were found in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, the Caucasus, Transcaucasia and Asia Minor up to the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea. They get the name "bearded" for their thick and long "beard", and bezoars are mineralized deposits of food debris ("stones") that are sometimes found in their stomachs or intestines. Now bezoar goats are preserved only in inaccessible regions of the Himalayas, in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan and in southern Turkmenistan at altitudes from 500 to 4500 meters above sea level. They are listed as endangered species in the International Red Book.

Bezoar goats are larger than domestic goats - the height at the withers of goats reaches 95 cm. They have a reddish-gray or brownish-yellow color with a black stripe along the back. The forehead, chest and front of the neck are brownish-black. Coloration varies depending on gender and age. The wool of bezoar goats consists of a coarse awn, and in winter also of a fine downy undercoat. The body is slender, on high limbs, with developed muscles, the horns are large, flattened on the sides, form a semicircle and diverge from the base to the sides. In females, the horns are much less developed.

The second probable ancestor could be the markhor, or markhor, which lives in the mountains of North-West India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia. In Persian, “mar” means snake, “khur” means devouring. There was a belief that the horned goat devours snakes, deliberately looking for them in the mountains, so its meat is healing, neutralizing snake venom. This goat has long, flat horns directed upwards and somewhat backwards.

Each horn is corkscrew-shaped, forming from one and a half to five turns of a spiral. In some animals, the horns take the shape of a screw, having six or more turns. Females have curved but small horns. The coat of horned goats is more developed than that of bezoars. Goats have a well-developed mane and beard. Winter coloration, due to regrown down, is lighter than summer coloration. The height of males at the withers is up to 105 cm, the length of the horns in a straight line is more than 100 cm. The horned goat is also listed in the International Red Book.

The third ancestor of domestic goats is considered to be a fossil species discovered in Eastern Galicia in sediments of the Neolithic period and called the “primitive goat prisca”. The horns of Prisca goats bend back, diverge to the sides and have a weak spiral twist, with the right horn twisting to the right and the left horn to the left, that is, the direction of the turns is opposite to that observed in the markour. Domestic goats with prisca horns are widespread throughout the world. However, a number of scientists consider the Prisca goat itself not to be wild, but a domestic species or a variety of bezoar goat that appeared as a result of mutation.

Wild goats of various species can be tamed and in captivity interbreed well with domestic breeds.

There are different types of wild goats on our planet, including:

In Europe, Alpine, Bezoar, European, Pyrenean goats; Dagestan, Caucasian and West Caucasian (or Severtsov) tours;

In Asia, ibex (or Siberian goat), markur, tahr;

In Africa, the Nubian goat;

In America there is a snow goat.

In general, evidence of the relationship of domestic goats with one or another wild species is considered to be similarity in the structure of the horns, which is firmly transmitted by inheritance, and by some other characteristics, as well as the production of fertile offspring as a result of crossing.

In the several thousand years since domestication, domestic goats have changed both in appearance and in terms of productivity. The selection took place artificially and also depended on external, natural conditions. In the domesticated goat, the legs became shorter and wider, the neck shortened, and the body became relatively longer and deeper, mainly due to the development of the rear part. Domestic goats are smaller than wild goats, their live weight and height vary greatly, they do not have such powerful horns as wild ones, and some breeds of goats are predominantly polled (hornless). Domestic goats have lost the protective coloring and powerful mane characteristic of wild goats.

The wool of domestic coarse-haired goats differs significantly from the wool of wild relatives in the diameter of the fluff and awn, and transitional hair has appeared in the coat. The fleece of Angora goats is not even remotely similar to the hair of wild goats. The fleece of goats of the Don breed is unique. Their wool is more like the wool of Romanov sheep, consisting of long gray fluff and short black awn.

Dairy goats are significantly superior to their wild relatives in mammary gland size, milk production and length of the lactation period.

As a result, domestic goats have 10–20 times higher milk yield, 2–5 times higher wool yield, and 10–15 times higher fluff. The meat of wild and domestic goats differs markedly in taste and smell, which is due to dietary habits, as well as differences in the microstructure and chemical composition of muscle tissue.