Goat farming business is another agric business that can turn entrepreneur into rich.
Though it is capital intensive and stressful, if entrepreneur can get hold of himself and start the business he or she will forever smile to bank, the reason for this is not far fetch, look around you how many people do you see trying to go into farming?
They are few and 50% of those few are not taking it as a business, it an hobby to them, not that goat production is not lucrative, it is, just that people prefer white collar job even if they have to kiss ass to collect their meagre salary.
By reading this article it shows you want to go into goat faming or you want to broaden your knowledge, whatever the case you have come to the right place as this is the exact purpose of this article; to take you through the steps of creating successful goat farming business in Nigeria.
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Are you ready?
I know you are, before we go into the steps I want you to take note of the following
Breeds of goat
There are different niches of goat farming and these niches require different breed of goat.
A goat farm with the purpose of collecting milk will go for foreign breed while the farm establish for the purpose of meat can chose Nigeria breed.
Following are the various breed of goat
West African Dwarf (WAD)
It is a meat purpose goat and can be found in West Africa especially in southern Nigeria.
West Africa Long Legged Goat
This is also reared for meat and can found in northern Nigeria. They look like WAD, but have long leg and tall body.
Kano Brown
Kano brown can be found in large quantity in the northern part of Nigeria. It has brown coat color with long leg
Sokoto Red
They are also predominant in the northern part of Nigeria.
Foreign breed of goat
- Boar
- Kahalari
- Saneem
Business opportunity in goat farming
Meat production
Here you rear goat for some month, then sell it to processor who will turn it into meat. It is the most common niche in goat production and easy to set up since there are already working business model you can follow.
Milk production
Your job here is to collect milk from lactating goat, then sells it to company like cosmetic company or individual.
It is not so common in Nigeria, but if done well it is very profitable, because goat milk command a premium price.
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Processing
This can be standalone or combine with goat production if you choose this niche you will have to build a processing plant. It is profitable but capital intensive.
Cheese production
Cheese making is another way of making money from your goat farming business. You can also combine it with raw milk selling.
Middle man
This might be stressful. Once you exceed 1 year in your goat production journey people will start asking you about many things like where to buy feed, what to feed goat, what drug to use, instead of connecting them to the source directly, you can act as middle man and deduct your commission.
Farm operation in goat farming
Weaning
This is the separation of kid from the mother goat usually after three month of age. It might take longer or shorter than that depending on your niche.
A goat farm with the purpose of producing meat will wean at 2 to 3 month of age while milk purpose farm will wean at 3 to 5 month to lengthen the milk production of the doe (mother goat).
Fattening
You can engage in fattening if your niche is meat production. To fatten goat follow the below steps
1) Separate the kid from the young age
2) Feed them concentrate and grass in 7:3
3) Do not let them mate, in fact you can castrate them
Kidding
This is the act of giving birth, there is little to be done here since goat can give birth without help. To reduce stress of kidding gives the goat an oxytocin injection
Milking
If your focus is milk production, you will have to milk, you can do this by using hand milking technique or machine, whatever you use make sure your milk comes out clean.
How to start goat farming business in Nigeria
1) Feasibility report
It is a known fact that goat farming is profitable but what if the profitability is not the kind you want, you might be expecting 50% ROI which is unrealistic in any farming business.
Therefore carry out research in your proposed location, interview your potential customer. Also you can check industry average revenue, cost, and profit; these will let you know how feasible your goat farming business will be.
2) Location
I will like to buttress location, site your farm in an area accessible by road, because you will surely carry material to farm and product to market, also chose location that you won’t be chased out once the area developed.
3) Chose a system of rearing goat
There are three system of rearing goat and they are
Extensive system
This is not advisable if you are serious with your business. In this system goat are left to fend for themselves no feeding or care from the owner, it is common in the villages and local area
Semi extensive
Here little care is provided for the goat. Usually they will be provided with money, food and leave them to fend for themselves. It is also not advisable.
Intensive system
In this system the owner produce all the care needed by goats. It is the best system if you want to start commercial goat farming.
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4) Build your farm house
Goat house (shed or barn) do not require much material. To build a shed follow the below point
- Make a wall of not more than 3 m
- Cover it with roofing material that do not conserve heat
- Put a pallet on the floor to prevent foot rot
- You can plaster the wall to avoid snake pest
5)Procurement /stoking
Stocking
Is this step most farmer get it wrong and it can be costly so be patient. Take professional along during procurement it will prevent buying sick animal. Take note of the following when stocking
Do not buy from villagers during the raining season, because goat are known to carry disease during raining season
Sick animal will be dull
Do not buy lame goat
By active goat
Do not buy pregnant goat the kid may come out bad
After buying your stock do not take them directly into shed instead put them in a quarantine situated at the entrance of your farm this will let you know if any of them will come down with infection
6) Feeding
Goat eat many things, but it will be best to give them feed based on their nutrient requirement and the niche of goat farming you engage in, for instance goat in fattening niche will eat more of concentrate.
Below are the feed you can give your goats
- Brewers’ waste
- Cassava peel
- Cocoa husk
- Rice brown and straw
- Wheat brown and oval
- Maize Stover
- Millet Stover
- Citrus residue
- Grass
- Hay
- Silage
- Legumes
7) Management
Good management practice can prevent disease therefore reducing cost of production, so take it serious.
Do the following to have healthy farm
Always put foot bath in front of each shed to prevent workers and visitors from taking disease in to the pen
Reduce number of visitor into your pen
Regularly deworm and groom your goat
Check each goat regularly
Feed and water them regularly
8) Staffing
Hire people who are already familiar with goat farming activities, you don’t want to hire newbie, it will result into blind leading blind also make sure you employ those you can trust.
9) Marketing
Start your marketing as soon as you stock, contact your target customer and connect with middle men as backup.
Advertising in goat farming is through leg and word of mouth but if you have a big farm you can use the following advertising medium.
- Share flyers and business card
- Brand your vehicle if you have
- Erect a sign post
- Create website and content that will drive traffic to it, although this might take between 3 to 6 months before you will see result, it will surely pay off. To create website and SEO content contact us.
Cost of starting a goat farming business
Cost of starting goat farm depends on the niche and scale of production.
You should have between #200,000 and #3,000,000
Below is the cost analysis for 50 goats in fattening niche
Note: This is a rough estimate
Land (1 acre) = #200,000
Housing material = #1,000,000
Labour = #150,000
Total cost of fixed asset = #1,350,000
Feed (Concentrate and Grass) and drug = #800,000
Goat procurement: 1 wean goat = #10,000
50 goats = #50,000
Labour = #100,000
Transportation = #20,000
Total = 980,000
How lucrative is goat farming business (Profit analysis)
1 fatten goat sold for #35,000
Let say 5 goat died
45 fatten goat will be sold for #1,575,000
Profit = Variable Cost – Revenue
#1575, 000 – 980,000
= #595,000 in 3 months, not bad!
