Goats are among the main meat-producing animals in India, whose meat (chevon) is one of the choicest meats and has huge domestic demand. Goats can adapt to diverse climatic conditions and require relatively low investment as compared with other livestock. With proper care, management, and breed selection, goat farming can be transformed into a commercially viable and rewarding agribusiness. In this article we are going to discuss more about business opportunities in goat farming.

Before selecting a goat, you should ask what kind of goat you want. Do you want a goat for meat production or milk production.

While selecting goat look at these general characteristics:

• Large, alert, growing, and upstanding kid
• Free from disease and injury
• Good appetite and healthy

• Body capacity
• Mammary system
• Dairy Characteristics

• Muscle
• Structural correctness
• Growth Potential

For starting profitable goat farming business, you need to start with a good breeding stock.

In India, several goat breeds are known for meat production, including Black Bengal, Osmanabadi, Barbari, and Sirohi. Additionally, breeds like Jamunapari and Beetal, while primarily milk producers, also yield good quality meat. 

Learn more about Indian cattle breeds for goat farming in this comprehensive blog.

The best type of floor for a goat stall is an earth floor covered with clean sand. This provides a good base and sufficient drainage. Wooden floors are not usually desirable because wood tends to rot. There is another type of floor where plastic sheets are used, which will be odourless and robust structure. Additionally integrated farming can be practice by designing two tier system – housing goats on upper level and poultry underneath. Learn how poultry farming can complement goat farming in an integrated system. This will maximize space and resources efficiency.

Concentrate feeds include farm grains, mill feeds, and manufactured supplements. Some of the most common concentrates are oats, barley, wheat, wheat bran, shorts, corn, molasses, dried beet pulp, pea meal, cottonseed meal, and soybean meal. Dry roughage includes feeds such as hay and straw. Dry roughage is high in fibre but low in digestible nutrients.

Goat shed should be equipped with easily accessible water through automatic waterers. It’s important to regularly clean these containers to prevent the spread of diseases.

Proper ventilation is essential in goat housing to maintain healthy environment. Good airflow helps to control temperature, reduce harmful gases from urine and manure. Without adequate ventilation, goat can suffer from diseases.

It is important to know the signs of a healthy goat so you can recognize when a goat may not be feeling well and address the issue immediately. The best way to detect disease is by spending a little time each day watching your goats.

The threat of some diseases can be partly eliminated by vaccinating your goats. Most veterinarians recommend vaccinating for clostridium perfringens type C and D as well as tetanus (CDT).

Deworming is the process of eliminating parasites (worms) from the digestive system of goats using medicine such as anthelmintics. These internal parasites impact the goat health, poor growth and anemia.

• Kids should be dewormed at 6-8 weeks of age.
• Adult typically dewormed every 3-4 months depending on condition.
• Most frequent deworming should be needed in the rainy season, when the parasites level is high.

With the growing demand for chevon and other products, goat farming offers profitable opportunity for farmers and agripreneurs when approached with proper planning. With appropriate selection of breeds, proper housing, effective health management and deworming success in this field can be rewarding.