How much milk does a goat give per day? Keeping and feeding a goat for a good milk yield

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Many household owners are thinking about getting a goat. After all, this "little cow" is an ideal animal for keeping. Small size, unpretentiousness, cheerful disposition - these attractive qualities of small cattle only increase the number of its admirers. It is relatively easier to take care of a goat than a cow, and there will always be organic products on the table: milk, tender cottage cheese, delicious cheese. Or maybe there will be something left for sale, then the purchase of some feed will pay off. If you get more than one goat, but a small herd, then the family budget will be significantly replenished. But for those who have decided to try themselves in this field, there are quite justified questions. How much milk does a goat give per day? How to feed her, how to care for her? How to successfully choose a dairy goat so that the purchase does not disappoint?

Dairy goat breeds

Of course, you can buy an ordinary outbred goat, and if you're lucky, the amount of milk that a goat gives per day will be 2, 5, and maybe 3 liters. This is enough for a family of 3-4 people. But it also happens that for some goats a day 1.5 liters is the ceiling, and she is milkedthere will be not 8-11 months a year, but 6, and then keeping the animal will be unprofitable. Therefore, if high performance is important for the future owner of a productive herd, then you should think about buying thoroughbred goats that can not only provide his family with dairy products, but also bring a little profit. Which breed to choose, and which goats will give the highest milk yield?

On the territory of Central Russia, its north and west, the Russian breed prevails. For 7-8 months of active lactation, she can give from 400 to 600 liters of milk. These goats are not very large, their average weight is 35 kg, but there are also larger specimens weighing up to 55 kg.

Gorky breed is very similar to Russian. And no wonder: after all, this is one of its offshoots. The best individuals give up to 5.5 liters per day, and the fat content reaches 4.5%. Lactate up to 10 months.

I especially want to highlight the goat of Swiss selection - Saanen. These animals are very large: their weight is 50-60 kg, and there are those that weigh 90 kg. Basically, these goats are polled (that is, hornless), with white hair, very graceful and beautiful. Milk yields reach 600-700 or even 1000 liters per year. They are popular all over the world and have been used to improve domestic breeds in Russia, Europe and Asia.

But representatives of this breed also have a drawback: they are demanding on food and housing, they do not tolerate extreme cold, since their wool does not have an undercoat, and it is not easy to buy a purebred goat from us in Russia. But they offer a lot of mestizos, who are passed off aspurebreds. However, even such goats are dairy, and it is profitable to keep them, especially since they are more adapted to our harsh winters.

How to choose a goat

When buying an adult animal, you need to consider that, in addition to its milky qualities, it is important that it be he althy. Shiny coat, dense smooth skin, cheerful appearance are indicators of her well-being. A developed proportional body, a wide chest, a straight back, convex ribs and a voluminous belly, strong straight legs - all this indicates the productive potential of the animal. Of course, it will not be possible to determine the real milk yield from a goat per day by eye, it is better to do this by monitoring milk yield for several days. But based on external examination, certain conclusions can also be drawn. A goat with good milk yields has a voluminous elastic udder, its shape is spherical or pear-shaped, there are no hard hairs on it, as well as growths and hardenings. Milky veins show through the skin. Folds are located along the edges: a kind of "reserve" of the udder in case of an increase in the amount of milk.

Containment room

For a goat, a separate room should be equipped. It is better if it is a barn built in a dry place from boards, hollow bricks, clay or adobe. Goats should not be kept with chickens, pigs, as they can become infected with skin parasites from birds, and they do not tolerate the smell of pigs.

The optimal ceiling height in the barn is 2 meters, with a low ceiling it is inconvenient for the owner, and a high one prevents good heating of the room. It is more correct to place the window on the sunny side and a safe distance from the floor, because the animal can break it.

It is undesirable to make a concrete floor in a goat's rue: this material is very cold and damp, it is better to lay wooden boards on it. But they also have disadvantages. Over time, the tree rots, and the animal can injure its legs. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the condition of the floor. Although there is an alternative: goats feel great on adobe surfaces. A slight slope of the floor will not hurt, then all the liquid will drain into a special container, and the paddock will be dry and clean.

It's good to arrange wide shelves along the wall, goats love to sleep on them, and in cold weather, loungers will save you from colds and inflammation of the udder.

For a pair of goats, 8 square meters of paddock is enough, and in a narrow stall it is difficult for them to move around, and this can negatively affect how many liters of milk a goat gives per day.

Keeping goats in summer

During the summer season, goats usually feed on grazing. But it is not enough just to take the goat to a clearing, tie it to a wooden or iron peg and leave it unattended for a day. Properly organized grazing is a guarantee of high milk yields, it depends on how much milk a goat gives per day. They feel great on a free walk under the supervision of a shepherd, then the food will be more complete. But in the absence of such an opportunity, changing the place from 2 to 3-4 times a day will help the animal satisfy the need for its favorite food.

When the herbs inthe field is abundant, the goat needs to be watered at least 3 times during the day. If she does not drink enough liquid, then the milk yield will not please. Goats should be watered from clean dishes, because these whims are very clean and squeamish, and would never touch a dirty bucket. If there are several goats, then some “ladies” refuse to drink from common dishes, then you will have to take care of a bucket for each. Water should not be too cold, it is acceptable if it is 10-15 degrees.

Stall maintenance

With the onset of cold weather, goats are transferred to a permanent stall until spring. At this time, a varied and nutritious diet is most important to prolong lactation and produce he althy offspring.

Juicy food is not excluded from the diet, all kinds of waste, coarse and concentrated feed are given.

You don't need to tie the goat in the stall, and there should be a warm bed of hay on the floor. On sunny days, a goat can be released into the yard for 4 hours. If there is a slight frost, then 2 hours is enough.

It's great if the air temperature in the shed where the goats winter is positive, because the udder can become inflamed in a frosty room, besides, the cold reduces the indicators of how much milk a goat gives milk per day. “Foreigners” are especially demanding on warmth. Goats imported from Europe do not have an undercoat, so you should take this feature into account and try to create conditions conducive to high productivity and maintaining animal he alth.

Juicy food

The category of these feeds includes vegetables and root crops grown in the garden: carrots, beets, cabbage, potatoes, pumpkins, zucchini, Jerusalem artichoke. The amount of their use is determined by how much milk a goat gives per day. Vegetables are thoroughly washed and finely chopped, 500-700 g is given per head per day. Sugar beets stand out especially in this row: from its excessive consumption, bloating, fermentation in the intestines, and diarrhea may begin.

Concentrated feed

Concentrated feeds include oats, barley, bran and compound feed. Oats and barley are given in crushed form.

Bran is fed in the form of a mash. They contain a lot of protein, so it is advisable to dilute it with food waste. Peelings from potatoes, beets, carrots need to be slightly s alted and mixed with bran. For enrichment with vitamins, bone meal and chalk are added.

Mixed feed contains vitamins and microelements. For goats, you can use nutrient mixtures adapted for birds. They have a positive effect on the intrauterine development of offspring, the he alth and immune system of animals and, of course, on how many liters of milk a goat gives during the day. During the stall period, the animal eats them up to 300 kg.

Roughage

The basis of nutrition of artiodactyl domestic animals in the cold period is hay. Dry food with thin stems of grasses, legumes and cereals is especially appreciated. Hay should not be overdried, the moisture content of a good harvest is about 17%. It makes up a third of the total diet of a goat in winter, enoughit is 2 kg per day, but if the animal is large or lactating, then the rate can be increased to 2.5 kg.

Goat straw is preferred by spring cereals, legumes, lentils, peas, and beans. But the stems from winter crops goats are reluctant to eat.

To increase the nutritional value of the straw, as well as to give it a more attractive taste, it is crushed and sprinkled with warm s alted water (50 g of s alt per 10 liters). Then, they are kept in a wooden box for 16-18 hours, concentrates and root crops are added. Such a goat product is eaten with pleasure, but the next time you should not leave it, it may deteriorate.

Goats and branch food are very fond of, in addition, it significantly increases milk yield, significantly affects how much milk a goat gives per day, and contains an impressive set of trace elements. They begin to collect brooms from the very beginning of summer. Branches of willow, linden, poplar, birch, hazel, ash, elm, mountain ash are suitable. Branches no more than 1 cm thick and half a meter long are cut with secateurs and dried for several hours in the sun to produce vitamin D in them. Then they are hung under a canopy or in the attic and dried for 2 weeks. Then they are folded in rows in several layers.

During the stall period, a goat can be given 5 brooms a day, but give birch brooms in limited quantities, they can provoke inflammation of the kidneys. One goat needs a minimum of 100 brooms for the winter.

If it was not possible to prepare brooms in the summer, then thin twigs up to 4 mm thick can save the situation. Goats are happy to eat up to 40 pieces at a time. They are also rich in vitamins, they have a lot of chlorophyll. Branches can be cut from November until spring.

In the feeding of goats, fallen leaves are also used, vitamins are preserved in it, and they have sufficient nutritional value. The leaves are raked in dry weather, rolled into rollers, dried and cleaned of dirt.

Approximate daily ration

If in the summer the goat is mostly satiated on the pasture, and the green juicy grass practically covers the need for nutrients, then during the stall period, properly organized feeding plays a huge role. After all, a well-fed animal will never freeze, it will be cheerful, and a balanced diet will help maintain its he alth, and future offspring will be born strong and developed. Plus, this will have a positive effect on how much milk a goat gives per day.

In the morning it is better to give a goat concentrates - 150 g or a little more for a large animal and half a kilogram of root crops per head.

At lunchtime, hay, wreaths or leaves will satisfy your hunger.

In the evening, as much concentrated food as in the morning. And more hay for the night.

If the feeding norms are not observed, cattle may develop rickets and beriberi.

How to increase milk production

How much milk does a goat give per day? The amount depends on several conditions. This is a hereditary factor, conditions of keeping, feeding, the age of the goat, the number of milkings per day, and the duration of lactation. Some of them do not depend on the owner: they are caused by genetics, but there are reasons that a person can significantly influence. A set of correct measures will help the goat to fully reveal its productivepotential.

1. As soon as the kids are born, the goat needs to be milked: frequent milking up to 4 times a day, udder massage stimulates the addition of milk, increases blood circulation, which positively affects the quality of the product.
2. You can significantly increase the amount of milk by increasing the rate of concentrated feed. But here it is important not to overdo it, otherwise you can harm the animal.
3. Milk comes from juicy additives, especially pumpkins, apples, root vegetables.
4. Experienced breeders recommend feeding goats with turnips: it has a milk-producing property. It should be added to the mash.
5. Tree branches diversify the diet, they contain trace elements and vitamins.
6. Sometimes beriberi is the reason for the decrease in milk yield, therefore, especially in winter, it is necessary to include vitamin supplements in the feed.
7. How much milk a goat gives milk per day is affected by the amount of water she drinks, it is impossible to refuse an animal either on a hot summer day or in severe frosts. Some caring owners offer their pets water with the addition of a decoction of herbs, lemon juice, regular tea or kombucha. They steam a handful of rowan or viburnum berries, some dried fruits. Goats drink this water with great pleasure, just choose it according to the taste of the animal.

How to milk a goat

How many liters of milk a goat gives per day depends on how well milking is organized. Some recommend starting to massage and develop the goat's udder fora month before giving birth, but this is wrong. Irritation of the udder can cause a miscarriage, and then the young will be lost.

It is better to start massage an hour after lambing, during milking, then the benefits of it will be obvious. After the goat has given birth, the offspring should be isolated immediately, otherwise the uterus may subsequently prevent the host from reaching the udder.

In order for the animal to stand still, you need to put a bowl of water in front of it and throw pieces of bread, dried fruits, chopped apples into it. The udder must be washed with warm water, wiped dry with a towel and massaged into each lobe. Then grab the nipple with your fingers, squeeze and pull down, squeezing the milk with sliding movements. The first trickles should not fall into the pan, as they are not sterile.

The udder must be completely emptied, because mastitis can begin due to milk residues in it. It also affects the increase in lactation: an empty udder fills up faster.

If the goat is young, and her kids have appeared for the first time, then it is more difficult to milk her. She still does not understand what they want from her, and is worried about new sensations. Not everyone has a machine, so you need to tie her to a short leash, offer her her favorite treat or tasty swill. It’s good if someone close to you helps, holds and strokes, reassuring. A little patience - and your nurse will get used to the procedure, will take it calmly.

Having successfully bought a goat with good heredity, properly caring for her, the owner can be sure: how many liters of milk a goat givesper day, enough to provide the whole family with high-quality dairy products, and even bring tangible profits.