Detailed Explanation of Key Technical Points and Management Methods for Black Goat Farming

Black goat muscle fibers are fine, low in hardness, with tender meat, delicious flavor, and very little gamy odor. It has high nutritional value, with protein content above 22.6%, fat content below 3%, and low cholesterol content, 75% lower than pork and 62% lower than beef and mutton. It contains more than 15 kinds of essential amino acids for the human body, especially high in glutamic acid, reaching 11.03%. It has the effects of nourishing yin and strengthening yang, tonifying deficiency and strengthening the body, improving human immunity, prolonging life, and beautifying. It has a particularly noticeable nourishing effect on the elderly, weak, and those with multiple illnesses, and is suitable for both young and old.

Benefits of Barn-Feeding Black Goats

1. Black goats grow and develop quickly. Because wandering and foraging activities are reduced, the conversion rate of forage into mutton is increased, and more mutton can be produced per unit of grass. The feeding cycle can be shortened by half, with fast turnover and high efficiency.

2. More manure accumulation. A grazing goat accumulates an average of 500 kg of manure per year, while a barn-fed goat accumulates 1000 kg.

3. Fewer diseases and high lamb survival rate. Grazing goats, due to “exposure to wind and dew,” are prone to infection and sick goats are not easily detected in time, so lamb deaths often occur. Barn-fed goats can be managed precisely, do not drink dirty water, and have fewer chances of infection, so mothers are healthy and lambs are strong, with a survival rate of nearly 100%.

4. Promote vegetation recovery, resolve the contradiction between forestry and animal husbandry, facilitate the commercialization of the forage industry, and drive the development of herbivore production toward intensification and large-scale operation.

Barn-Feeding Techniques for Black Goats

Barn-feeding means no grazing. Forage is placed at fixed times and in fixed amounts in the feeding trough or pen of the goat shed to feed the goats, allowing them to complete the entire process of growth, development, reproduction, and fattening indoors. The feed for barn-feeding includes planted forage grass, wild grass, shrub branches and leaves, and straw. At the same time, sufficient drinking water must be provided, along with salt, urea, vitamins, mineral feed, or mineral licks.

1. Goat shed construction: The goat shed is where goats live for a long time, and its main task is to provide a safe environmental condition for the goats. Therefore, an ideal goat shed should have functions such as protection from rain, sun, disease transmission, and wild animal damage.

① Goat shed area. The goat shed should have sufficient area so that the goats are not too crowded inside and can move freely. The average minimum area per goat is: breeding male goat 1.2-1.5 sq m, adult female goat 0.8-1.0 sq m, nursing female goat 2.0-2.5 sq m, young male and female goats 0.5-0.6 sq m, and castrated goats 0.6-0.8 sq m.

② There must be an exercise yard outside the goat shed, and the area of the exercise yard should be 2-5 times the area of the goat shed. The height of the exercise yard wall is 1.5 m for young goats, 2 m for female goats, and 2.2 m for male goats. Watering devices, hay racks, and feeding troughs should be set up in the exercise yard.

③ The goat shed should be built as an open-style shed that is dry inside, well ventilated, well lit, warm in winter and cool in summer, with an eaves height of more than 3 m. The goat bed set up inside the shed should be 1-1.5 m above the ground. Trees should be planted outside the shed to help prevent heat and lower temperature.

④ The roof must be completely impermeable, drain well, be fire-resistant and durable, and have a certain slope. Apart from flat roofs and dome roofs, if bark, tiles, or grass materials are used for the roof, slopes of 15, 35, and 50 degrees are respectively required to facilitate waterproofing and drainage.

⑤ The floor of the goat shed should be 20-30 cm higher than the ground outside the shed. The floor should be dense, solid, flat, and free of cracks, with a certain slope from inside to outside, and a manure drainage ditch should be set up at the lower outer side.

⑥ Doors, windows, and walls should be sturdy and durable.

⑦ A manure storage pit should be built outside the goat shed.

2. Timely castration

For male goats not suitable for breeding, except for some male goats kept as teaser goats, the rest should be castrated at 7-60 days of age. After castration, male goats become docile in temperament and easier to manage.

3. Reasonable combination of green forage, coarse feed, and concentrate

Goats are herbivores, and the feed should be mainly forage grass and tree leaves, supplemented by concentrate. In summer and autumn, more grass, tree leaves, or forage grass should be fed (generally, planting Guimu No. 1 on 0.15 mu can support one adult goat). The feeding ratio of gramineous grasses such as Guimu No. 1, elephant grass, and maize-like grasses to leguminous forages such as leucaena, zenia tree, and sandpaper tree leaves should be 4:1, with appropriate concentrate supplementation. In winter and spring, forage is relatively scarce. Where conditions permit, winter fallow fields should be used to plant ryegrass as a supplement, and the problem of insufficient forage can also be solved by feeding more mixed feed. Reference formula for mixed feed: cornmeal 54%, grass meal 40%, soybean or peanut cake 4%, wheat bran 2%, plus an appropriate amount of minerals. Each goat should be fed 5 grams of salt per day.

4. Provide sufficient drinking water

To digest the coarse feed ingested, goats must secrete a large amount of digestive fluid every day, and water is also indispensable for internal circulation and nutrient transport. Therefore, the consequences of water shortage in goats are often more serious than feed shortage, easily leading to decreased appetite, indigestion, and loss of body condition. Therefore, sufficient and clean drinking water should be provided, and warm water should be given in winter.