Goat farming is another lucrative agricultural business in Nigeria, after poultry farming it is the next in terms of profitability.
I have seen numerous cases of people that started with one breeds of goat and later expand to many breeds.
But what to do when farmer take the necessary step to have a high profit but he did not house the best breed that can give them a good yield either in terms of milk, meat, or hides.
That is why we decided to write this article to show farmer deferent local and exotic breeds of goat in Nigeria.
After a thorough research we classified goat breeds in Nigeria according to following
Meat type
Milk type
Hide type
Breeds/types of goat in Nigeria
1) Sahel goat
Sahel goat is found majorly in the northern part of Nigeria. It comes in white and black coat color with some patches of red.
Both the male and female has a horizontal horn and long leg which shows that they are well adapted to grazing system of rearing goat.
Male (buck) of Sahel goat can attain weight of 25kg to 30kg, while that of its female stop at 25kg.
If you are a farmer leaving in southwest I will advise you not to go for this breed because they don’t do well in southern Nigeria perhaps because of teste fly
Summary/ characteristics of Sahel goats
They have fine coat color which comes in black and white with red patches
They can be find in the northern region of Nigeria
They adapt well to dry environment
Buck can weigh up to 30kg wile female weight rest at 25kg
They produce small quantity of milk compare to exotic breeds
Both male and female has horn but more pronounce in male.
Feed/feeding method: grazing and grass respectively
Where to find them: northern part of Nigeria
Purpose: for meat
2) Red sokoto or Maradi
As the name implies red sokoto, is a native of sokoto and has red coat color. Due to its environment red sokoto goat have a long leg with a well develop foot.
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Both the female and male has horn and can attain up to 35kg weight.
If you are a southern farmer, red sokoto breed of goat is good but you can improve it survivability by crossing it with West African
Summary/ characteristics of red sokoto
It has a red coat color
Can be found in the north, sokoto to be precise
It adapt well to arid and dry environment
It has a long leg and ear
Both male and female possess horn
Purpose: for meat
Where to find them: northern Nigeria
Feed/feeding: grass and grazing respectively
3) West African Dwarf goat (WAD)
West African Dwarf goat is indeed dwarf. It has a short leg, short ear and head. It usually comes in black and white coat color with patches of other color. Both female and male has a short but robust horn and they are prolific and hardy.
WAD has small weight compares to other, they can attain up to 25kg weight if they see good care.
Summary/ characteristic of West Africa dwarf goat
They are very small with a weight of 25kg
They can be found in the southern Nigeria
They are hardy, and can withstand trypanosomiasis
They comes in black and white and patches of other color
Their milk production is better than other breeds
Purpose: meat and small milk
Where to find them: southern Nigeria
Feed/ feeding: left over food and grass but rarely grazed
4) Cameron dwarf goat
This look a lot like West African Dwarf goat and often group under it. But it is different; they are a little bit shorter than WAD and can be find in Cameroon.
Due to cross breeding program CDG are now everywhere even in southern Nigeria (you might have seen them without knowing).
If you are a farmer I will advise you to cross breed Cameroon dwarf goat with sokoto breed
Summary/characteristic of Cameroon dwarf goat
It is shorter than West African dwarf
It originated from Cameroon
It attain up to 15kg weight
It can be rear as pet
Purpose: pet and meat
Feed/feeding: kitchen left over and grass
Where to find them: West Africa
Exotic/ foreign breeds of goat in Nigeria
Below are the exotic breeds of goat that can do well in Nigeria
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1) Saanen
Saanen is a goat rear for milk and if well fed they can produce 3 to 4 liters of milk per day.
They are white in color with large body and well developed udder. They originated from Switzerland but right now they are all over Europe.
The male can attain 70kg weight while female will attain 65kg weight.
Summary/ characteristic of Saanen
They are milk purpose breed
They originated form Switzerland
They have large udder and well developed body
Male have horn while female don’t
Purpose: milk
Feed/feeding: concentrate, silage and grass
Where to find them: Switzerland
2) Toggenburg
Toggenburg is another milk goat breed that originates from Switzerland.
They have brown coat color with well-developed udder better than Saanen which makes them to have capacity to produce above 4 litters of milk per day.
The female can weigh up to 50kg while male can weigh 60kg.
Summary/ characteristics of Togenburg
They are brown in color with white color at the udder
They have well developed udder
They originate from Switzerland but can now be find everywhere in al Europe
Purpose: milk
Where to find them: Europe
Feed/feeding: concentrate, hay, silage and grass
3) Jamnapari
Jamnapari comes from Indian and it is a multipurpose breed meaning it can be used for milk and meat production.
It has large droopy ear and can attain up to 70kg weight. Jamnaprai also comes in white coat color.
Summary/ characteristic of Jamnapari
It can adapt well to tropics e.g. Nigeria
It is a multipurpose breed
The adult can weigh up to 70kg
Purpose: both milk and meat
Where to find them: India
Feed/feeding: grass. Hay, concentrate and silage
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4) Boer goat
Boer comes from a series of cross breeding of African goat. It comes in white coat color with a brown neck and head.
It is a meat purpose breed and the male can weigh as much as 140kg while the female can weigh up to 95kg depending on the environment. It is mostly found in South Africa
If you are a farmer I will advise you to buy this goat and cross it with the local breeds.
Summary/ characteristics of Boer
It is a meat purpose breed
It has white coat color with brown at the neck and head
Both female and male has horn
Purpose: meat
Where to find them: South Africa
Feed/feeding: grass, hay silage and concentrate
5) Kalahari
Kalahari is another breed form south Africa; it is also a meat purpose type with a brown coat color.
Remember I stated that Boer goat is cross breed of deferent African goats, the brown color of the neck is from Kalahari red. It is hardy goat than can adapt to arid and dry climate.
The male can weigh up to 130kg while female can attain 100kg weight.
Summary characteristic of Kalahari goat
It is very hardy and can adapt to dry environment
It originated from Kalahari Desert in South Africa
It has brown coat color
Purpose: meat
Where to find them: South Africa
Feed/feeding: grass, hay silage, they can also be grazed
6) Alpine
Alpine is a European breed and it is a multipurpose breed. It male can attain up to 70kg weight while the female can attain 60kg weight.
Its appearance looks like West African Dwarf goat but with well-developed udder. It comes in many colors but white is common.
Summary/ characteristics of alpine
It originate from Europe
It has Well-developed udder
Male can attain 70kg weight while female can attain 60kg weight.
7) Anglo Nubian
Anglo stand for English. Anglo Nubian is a result of cross breed between European breeds and Nubian breeds.
It coat color is white and it is a milk purpose type. Both the female and male can attain 60kg weight.
Summary/ characteristic of Anglo Nubian
It has white coat color
Both the the male and female are horned
It has well developed udder
Purpose: milk
Where to find them: Europe
Feeds/feeding: Grass, Hay, Silage and Concentrate.
