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Information sheets   |   Elsenburg infopaks   |   Animals, species: 3

The Boer goat Afrikaans | Xhosa

Click to enlarge!		 Of all domesticated animals the goat is one of the most important, and it is found worldwide, particularly in the tropics and sub-tropical regions. Goats have the ability to adapt to all climatic conditions. The Boer goat has its origins in the Eastern Cape.

Click to enlarge!		 Goat breeds

A wide variety of goat breeds are currently found world-wide: from the Pigmies in Central Africa to the Improved Boer Goat which was bred in South Africa. The most popular milk breed is the Saanen goat. Goats used for the production of meat have a smaller physique than milk goats. Fibre-producing goats, such as the Angora and the Cashmere, are best known for mohair and cashmere fibres.

Click to enlarge!		 Scrub / cull faults

When looking at the characteristics of the Boer goat, the following have to be eliminated during the selection process:

Physicque

Head: a hollow forehead, horns too upright or too flat, sharp or twisted mouth, ears folded or spread out or too short, lower jaw too long, short lower jaw, blue eyes.

Neck and forequarter: neck too long and thin or too short, with excessively loose shoulders.

Mid-section: back too hollow.

Hindquarter: a rump that hangs too low or is too short, flat buttocks, shanks too long.

Legs: Knock knees or bandy forelegs, sickle hocks or straight hocks, legs too thin or too thick and fleshy, flabby fetlocks, hooves twisted in- or outwards.

Hide and cover: cover too long and coarse or too downy.

Reproductive organs: bunched, gourd-shaped or double teats, testicles too small, scrotum split for more than 5 cm.

Size: too small or too large animal.

The ideal colour is a goat with a white body, a red head and ears, and a blaze with shades of light to dark red.

Products

The main products from goats are meat, milk, hides and fibres.

Meat products

The Boer goat is regarded as the only breed of goat on earth that is bred exclusively for meat. Slaughter-masses vary from 35 to 40 kg for rams, and from 30 to 35 kg for ewes and adult animals.

Click to enlarge!		 Milk production

It is claimed that goat’s milk is better than cow’s milk for human consumption.

A comparison of goat’s milk and human breast milk shows the following:

  • The protein content of goat’s milk is higher than that of breast milk - 25% in the case of goat’s milk, against 7% for humans.
  • The total fat content in both cases is virtually identical.
  • Goat’s milk contains more than the required amounts of calcium and phosphate for babies, but without any detrimental effects on the child.
  • As in the case of cow’s milk, untreated goat’s milk can also transmit diseases such as brucellosis, but not tuberculosis, since goats do not readily succumb to tuberculosis.
  • Goat’s milk tends to be more suitable for the treatment of stomach ulcers.
  • In poor countries where the consumption of meat is low, goat’s milk provides for an important daily intake of protein, phosphorus and calcium which would not otherwise have been available due to the severe shortage of cow’s milk.

Click to enlarge!		 Fibre production

Boer goats produce both fine and coarse fibre. A very fine fibre known as cashmere, develops on the skin beneath a longer type of hair. The long hair is combed. Any long-tooth comb may be used. Comb downwards by holding the head of the goat in the standing position. A woolly neck gives an indication that the goat has the potential to produce more cashmere.

Click to enlarge!		 The lighter (whiter) the colour and the lower the thickness of the fibre, the higher the price it will fetch. The downy hair grows from December until June to provide protection against the winter’s cold, while moulting takes place during the early spring. All animals in a herd or flock do not moult simultaneously. Cashmere can be harvested from the age of six months.

Click to enlarge!		 Reproduction

The ewe: The reproduction rate of the Boer goat is one of its prime characteristics as a meat producer. Twin births and lambing percentages of 180 - 200% are common occurrences with the Boer goat. There are a number of factors that affect the reproduction percentages of ewes, namely: season, age, body mass and diet.

  • The ewe’s period of heat occurs according to seasons, peaking in April/May (autumn) and declining from October to January.
  • Under good feeding conditions ewes can reach puberty as early as six months of age. However, a pregnancy at such an early age can retard growth and permanently damage future performance.
  • A general guideline is that young ewes are not to be mated until they had reached two-thirds of the adult body mass of the flock to which they belong.
  • Good grazing and veld conditions go hand in hand with the production of animals (lambing percentage and milk production). As with other ruminants, the level of nutrition has a marked effect on the reproductive percentage of goats.

Generally speaking, in the four to six weeks prior to mating the following activities contribute directly or indirectly to increased reproduction:

  • Supplement zinc and manganese if there is a deficiency, since this increases fertility.
  • Immunise against enzootic abortion and enterotoxemia.
  • Dose against roundworm and nose-worm.
  • Ensure that ewes are in good health and that they do not have any problems with their hooves.
  • Cull ewes with damaged or bunched teats, or teats that are too large.

Click to enlarge!		 The ram: A single infertile ewe has only a slight influence on the reproduction of a flock, while one infertile ram has a very severe influence. Generally speaking, in the two to three months prior to mating the following activities contribute directly or indirectly to increased reproduction in rams:
  • Dose or inject with vitamins A, D, E.
  • Supplement zinc if the zinc levels of the grazing or fodder are low.
  • Immunise against enterotoxemia.
  • Dose against round-worm and nose-worm,
  • Ensure that rams are in good health and that they do not have any problems with their hooves.
  • Rams must get sufficient daily exercise to get them fit and to ensure that they do not get too fat and lazy.

Click to enlarge!

Lamb management

The lambing season is the most important phase of small stock farming. Under extensive farming conditions lamb mortality is an important problem with a detrimental impact on production. Losses of up to 50% can occur due to poor supervision, and to under- or over-feeding of the ewe. Therefore the feeding and care of the ewe during late pregnancy and the lambing season is of great importance. Proper feeding during late pregnancy (i.e. the last six weeks of pregnancy) is essential, since during this time the ewe has to gain seven to nine kilograms in weight.

During late pregnancy ewes have to be dosed against internal parasites, in particular nose-worm, to ensure that they do not lose their lambs. Smell is important in the recognition of the lamb by the ewe, and therefore the nose has to be kept clean. During this period administering of Vitamin A will improve the general health of the ewe and increase resistance to diseases, as well as facilitate the detaching of the placenta.

The growth and development of the lamb from birth to maturity depends on environmental factors. When sucking lambs are three weeks old, they can be moved with their mothers to larger grazing camps.

The proper procedure for weaning is to remove the ewes and to leave the lambs in the camp to which they had become accustomed. Provision must be made for sufficient grazing or feed for the lambs. Leave a few old cull ewes behind with the lambs.

Nutrition

Goats have grazing habits that differ from those of sheep. Unless the animals are controlled, these habits may lead to the destruction of natural grazing. The goat is able to utilise a wide variety of plants. With its muscular upper lip and grasping tongue the goat is able to crop grass very short, and to utilize leaves, shoots and even the bark of shrubs and trees.

The goat is capable of comfortably utilizing well-protected plants such as brambles, thorn bushes, thistles and stinging nettles. The goat can also stand on its hind legs to reach plant material that is inaccessible to other small stock. It is necessary, therefore, to exercise control over goats to prevent them from destroying natural grazing.

The importance of the availability of water can not be overstated. Water is a major component of the animal’s body, comprising 60% of the total body mass and 75% of the soft tissue.

Click to enlarge!		 Diseases

Although Boer goats are relatively resistant to diseases, the few diseases to which they are susceptible can cause severe losses. This is because these diseases often strike very suddenly and result in massive mortality. In the Eastern Cape post parturient gasgangrene is very common among ewes, and vaccination from four months to one month before the lambing season is essential. The common symptom is ewes that die within 48 hours after lambing, while the lambs are healthy.

Other diseases that occur sporadically and for which vaccines are available are Clamydia, Pasteurella and Enterotoxemia.

Contagious exthyma (Sore Mouth) is a viral disease which presents in lambs in the form of small sores around the mouth. It is transferred by direct or indirect contact, and therefore it can be transmitted from the lamb to the ewe, where small sores can emerge on the teats and/or udder. Vaccination of young lambs can be done from the age of one week. Ewes must be vaccinated at least four weeks before the lambing season to protect them against udder infection.

Click to enlarge!		 Heartwater, moreover, is one of the foremost erosion diseases of all small stock, occurring especially in the coastal regions and adjacent interior.

Click to enlarge!		 There are various methods of treating the disease, such as regular dipping, the use of antibiotics, as well as treatment with heartwater infected blood available from the Onderstepoort Veterinary Laboratory.

JC Scheltema
ELSENBURG / PORT ELIZABETH Extension