The breed of Boer goat belongs to meat artiodactyls. Although many farmers breed it for milk. This is due to the fact that goat meat is considered tough, which is why it is not very popular. However, the product from the Boer breed resembles veal to taste, for which it is highly appreciated by real gourmets.
Origin of breed
Since ancient times, goat breeding has been carried out in Africa. Artiodactyl breeding occupied a leading place among livestock. This is due to the peculiarity of the goats to adapt to any conditions, it is better to assimilate roughage than others, highly resistant to various diseases.
When Dutch immigrants arrived in southern Africa, they decided to transform the animals, creating a new breed by means of planned breeding. For this, goat breeds were imported from India, European countries. By crossbreeding a new species was obtained. we are talking about a Boer goat breed.
High productivity has contributed to the rapid spread of the species throughout the world. Now it is grown in the United States, South Africa, New Zealand and other countries of the world. There are few Boer goats in Russia.
Features
The Boer goat breed has a number of distinctive features. It is characterized by a unique color, unusual appearance. Purebred individuals are usually white with a brown head or completely brown. Other color options are allowed only in admixtures.
According to the description, the Boer goat breed differs from others in massiveness, a large head with an unusual convex skull shape and a pronounced Roman nose. Horns of medium length. At the goats they are twisted in the shape of a sickle. In hybrids, horns can have a different shape.
The breed is characterized by the following:
- A lot of weight. Goats can weigh 110-150 kg. Goat weight - from 80 kg.
- The breed has sufficient milk yield - up to 150 liters per year with a lactation period of up to 5 months.
- Newborn kids weigh about 5 kilograms. They quickly gain weight by gaining up to 500 grams or more per day.
- Goats are meat breeds with a slaughter yield of 60%.
A characteristic feature of the species are long hanging ears, short hair.
Boer meat goats are large animals that look like Nubian animals. But the studied on the udder may have four nipples, but two lobes. This fact is valid only in this breed of goats.
Animals are characterized by a high growth rate. Early ripening of young animals allows slaughter to be carried out as early as 6 months with a live weight of 50 kg.
How to increase the herd
According to the description, the breeding of Boer goats is carried out at year-round grazing at temperatures above minus 10 °. The deep snow cover is detrimental to the animals, as they are not able to get food from under the snow. Although their winter diets are mostly shrubs, a lack of nutrients negatively affects their feeding qualities.
The Boer breed is responsive to fattening. For greater fatness, animals are kept without grazing. However, this option increases the proportion of adipose tissue, but muscle mass does not change.
To get tender meat, farmers recommend combining livestock with concentrated feed. It is rational to use inexpensive waste, such as oilcake, meal, barley.
A feature of breeding Boer goats is the choice of producer. The quality of the goat determines the offspring received. Even from goats of average fatness, you can get productive young animals, which will exceed the weight and growth rate of their parents. Such animals are capable of gaining about 35-40 kg of live weight by three months. If the producer is not of high quality, then by this age young goats can have no more than 15 kg of weight.
To increase the efficiency of growing goats, compacted lambing is practiced. To do this, from one uterus try to get three kid in 2 years.
In the first pregnancy, the young females bring one kid each, but in the subsequent pregnancies, from two kids. Young females are ready for mating at 5 months, but experienced farmers involved in raising Boer goats recommend waiting another 1-2 months for the young to grow stronger and gain strength to bear offspring.
Cross
According to the reviews and description, the Boer goat breed can be improved by crossing it with other species of artiodactyls. Crossbreeding with the following species gives good results:
Good results are obtained when crossing Boer and Jamnapar goats.
Getting milk
Some farmers use goats to get not only excellent meat, but also for milk. To this end, an early weaning of the kids is carried out, continuing the milking of the animal. Young growth is evaporated by goat milk substitutes or through feeders. This method allows not only to receive dairy products, but also to seal lambing.
Manufacturers
The advantages and disadvantages of Boer goats determine the possibilities of their breeding. Most often, interbreed breeding is carried out by crossing Boer goats with uterus of meat breeds. Pure breeding is rarely practiced, as it is expensive. The price of the Boer goat breed reaches 100,000 rubles and higher. For this amount, you can buy about ten heads of meat goats, which will be more cost-effective for the farmer.
When breeding, a gradual increase in the share of Boer blood in the animals obtained is considered targeted. Thus, farmers manage to get a stable, highly productive crossbreed. This model of goat breeding is used in many countries of the world where there is no developed dairy goat breeding.
Advantages
Boer breed has several advantages. It is characteristic of her:
- resistance to high temperatures;
- high quality meat;
- unpretentiousness in the diet;
- calm nature;
- excellent endurance and easy adaptability to the conditions of detention;
- high fecundity of goats;
- high level of male performance.
disadvantages
Despite the advantages, the goats of the breed have a lot of disadvantages. They are characterized by low adaptation to severe cold and frost. Also, animals are able to destroy all the vegetation that they will find within reach. To get high-quality meat, it is necessary to keep pure-bred animals without impurities, but they are not cheap.
Maintenance
The Boer goat breed is characterized by a calm disposition, which is why animals graze perfectly with other representatives of artiodactyls. They get along well with cows, horses, sheep. Animals are unpretentious in food and can quickly build weight even with poor nutrition. However, most preferred for them are leaves, young shoots, hedges, shrubs.
Any conditions of detention are suitable for the Boer goats, the main thing is to provide them with access to clean water.
In winter, the diet should consist of hay, food waste, concentrated feed, oilcake, root crops. Goats are satisfied with any feed, so they are selected so that the costs are minimal.
In the warm season, goats feed on green fodder on pastures. In addition, they are given various additional foods. When adding new feeds, you can choose the exact feeding scheme that will help to get the maximum amount of production.
For the Boer breed, it is important to consider the temperature regime in winter - it should not fall below +5 degrees. In cold winters, the stall is heated.
Be sure to pay attention to the floor. It can be covered with straw or sawdust. This is necessary so that the animals are warmer.
Goats are afraid of drafts; therefore, they provide ventilation in the room. It will eliminate the need to once again open the doors for ventilation and keep the humidity level at the optimal level - 60-80%.
Along the walls set feeders. A high fence is being built around the perimeter with a hole for the head so wide that the animals can stick their heads in.
Boer breed differs from others in its high resistance to various diseases. But even excellent immunity does not guarantee that animals will not get sick when kept in rooms with a high level of humidity. The weak point of goats are limbs. Boer representatives are clipped hooves. This procedure is carried out twice a year - before winter and spring, before the goats go for grazing.
In the summer, goats are kept under a canopy. He protects them from the rain, the scorching sun. There are equipping feeders, drinking bowls.
In order to increase immunity, animals are vaccinated.
Breeding in Russia
In the territory of the Russian Federation, goat meat is not very popular. Because of this, it is unprofitable to breed it. Although in recent years, more and more restaurants are starting to buy products of the Boer breed.
Disease
Boer goats are practically immune to most artiodactyl pathologies. However, with suppressed immunity, parasitic diseases can occur, as well as paramphistomatosis, fascioliasis, eurytrematosis, hassteleiosis, dicroceliosis.
Youngsters usually suffer from parasites. To reduce the risk of diseases, timely treatment for worms is carried out, all livestock are vaccinated.
Conclusion
Boer breed of goats is profitable to breed from an economic point of view. She is able to give a large amount of tender meat. At present, goats are bred mainly in the south of Russia, as in other regions it is too cold, and the breed adapts to the cold for a long time.