Breeds of dairy goats: description, photo. goat breeding

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

A goat is an unpretentious, clean, very comfortable and profitable animal for the household. Of course, she needs conditions of detention, care and attention, even the fulfillment of some whims, for which she will pay the owner a hundredfold. Healing milk, delicious meat - that's what dairy goats are. Breeding them is painstaking, but simple, quickly paid off. Feed and stall costs are much less than those for a cow. They are easy to care for and don't take much time. Goats are interesting to watch. Children love to play with goats - it's a real circus at home.

The goat will feed and cure

Goat milk is nutritious and dietary, an analogue of women's breast milk. Compared to cow, it has more protein, calcium and phosphorus s alts - the “building material” of the skeleton and teeth, it is fatter, and most importantly, it is hypoallergenic. Therefore, there is no better product than goat's milk for artificial children, for people who are allergic to cow's milk. In the old days, when there were no mixtures, which are now resorted to for feeding babies, babies were fed with goat's milk. The elderly, who have problems with digesting food, also speak favorably about him. Animal therapy (healing with the help of animals)recommends getting a goat suffering from hypertension, Graves' or gallstone disease. Milk and communication with a pet can cure these ailments.

You don't have to go far for an example of the usefulness of goats. Consider Robinson. With goats he was fed, dressed and shod, communication with them brightened up the long years of loneliness in a foreign land. The dairy goat is traditionally called the "cow of the poor". But in recent years, goat's milk has been valued more than cow's milk, and it's rarely available for sale.

A large tribe

Goats are one of the first domestic animals with a long history of service to humans - 9000 years. According to the productive direction, they are divided into 5 groups: wool, down, meat, dairy and mixed (wool, down, meat and milk). On every continent there are representatives of a small-horned tribe for various purposes. In Southeast Asia, goats are mainly grown for meat; downy ones frolic in the Altai mountains. In Europe, dairy goat breeds are predominantly bred. They are kept not only by the population for milk and for the preparation of products from it. There are many goat farms that supply raw materials to the food industry. For others, the specialization is the breeding of goats for the purpose of sale. Breeding experiments continue to improve the quality of milk and the constitution of animals, to breed new breeds.

Consider the breed of dairy goats - the most productive and more adapted to cold winters than African Nubian goats. These are Saanen, Toggenburg, Alpine (Swiss, French, British), Megrelian andGorky dairy goats. The photo of each representative is accompanied by a list of exterior features, a characteristic of productivity.

Saanen goats

The most common and most prominent of the breed of dairy goats are Saanen. Their homeland is the Saanental valley in Switzerland. Breeding in mountainous alpine meadows with a wonderful climate lasted several centuries. First exhibited in Paris in 1856 under the name Saanen white hornless goat. Gradually, the breed spread to European countries, where it was exported to improve the milk production of local goats.

These are the largest goats in the world: breeding queens with a height at the withers of 75-80 cm (sometimes 85), their live weight is 60 kg (some individuals 90 kg); goats-producers with a height at the withers of 82-86 cm weigh from 70 kg (some 100 kg). Newborn goats weigh an average of 3 kg, goats - more than 4 kg. At 2 months, their weight reaches 10 kg in goats and 12 kg in goats. One-year-old goats 30 kg each, goats up to 35-40.

Saanen goat exterior

Appearance - a sample of a dairy goat. The constitution is dense or tender dense, the backbone (skeleton) is strong with moderately developed muscles. The skin is strong and thin, covered with an awn without fluff-undercoat. The head is dry, medium, polled, the ears are “horn” directed forward and slightly to the sides. The neck is long, flat, sometimes with "earrings". The body is deep, long, rather wide. Legs are strong and well set. The hooves are light yellow. The suit is white. On the skin of the ears, udder sometimesblack pigmentation in the form of spots. A good supply of ball or pear udders with well developed teats.

Lactation up to 330 days a year. Barren goats are milked continuously for several years. Milk yield of 600 or more liters per lactation with milk fat content of at least 4%. The record of 3507 liters has not yet been defeated. Dairy goats must be kept away from the sire, otherwise the milk will taste and smell unpleasant.

Saanen goats are prolific, early maturing and hardy. In the absence of closely related coverage, thoroughbred traits are transmitted to offspring in full.

Goats from Toggenburg

In the 18th century, the Swiss created the Toggenburg goat breed by folk selection. Over the next 3 centuries, as a result of crossing this breed with representatives of local breeds, brown Czech, noble Toggenburg, British Togennburg goats were bred in different countries. Single Togennburg goats first came to Russia at the beginning of the last century.

The exterior of the breed is distinguished by its brown color, but there are also spotted animals. Toggenburg goats are recognizable by a pronounced feature - white markings: 2 stripes located parallel on the muzzle, ear trim along the edges, the lower part of the tail and legs from hooves to hocks are also white. The constitution is strong and dry, the body is harmoniously built with a height at the withers of 0.6 m. An elongated head on a long neck. Straight slightly flat profile. Toggenburg goats are polled, goats with horns, but there are also hornless ones. Straight back, convex ribs. Limbs are strong, of moderate length,set correctly, hooves are strong and stable. The sacrum is wide, the udder is large. The wool is silky, grows up to 20 cm along the back and hips. The weight of producers is up to 70 kg, in queens up to 55 kg.

The Toggenburg goat breed is prolific (there are usually 2-3 kids in the offspring), easily acclimatizes to winter and mountain conditions, prefers coolness and shade in summer, but is demanding on the diet, which determines the taste of milk.

Lactation up to 300 days a year. The milk yield at the first goat is 500 liters, with subsequent lambing, milk yields grow to 1000 liters without reducing volumes in winter. Fat in milk 3-4%. Excellent tasting cheese.

Alpine goats

Cultivation of animals of this breed began in the mountainous regions of Switzerland by folk selection. Then the selection continued in France and England. Swiss Alpine goats were exported there and crossed with the best local breeds.

General "alpine" features

Large-sized animals: at the age of 4 years, a goat at the withers 76 cm high, weighing 61 kg, a goat - 81 cm and 77 kg. The neck is long, the head is dry with upright ears, the profile is straight. There are polled and horned ones. Milk productivity and fertility are high - from 1200 to 1600 liters of milk per year with good feeding and favorable conditions, several kids in one lambing. Milk is tasty, fat (up to 5.5%) and nutritious (protein 3%).

Alpine goats are undemanding to the diet,they adapt quickly to new climatic conditions, strive to become leaders in the herd (you need to make sure that others do not beat off the feeders), they are quick-witted, affectionate, friendly to the owner. Alpine breeds of dairy goats are indispensable in the mountains - they are graceful and dexterous, real "climbers" and will get their own food where the cow does not climb, and in the evening they will bring milk to the owner. Of course, the milk yield will be smaller, but what a useful one, created from medicinal plants. These goats are suitable for stall keeping.

Distinctiveness of color

Swiss alpine goat breeders joke that with every goat they get a "colorful gift" - such colored goats are born. The classic colors are "white neck" - the head and to the middle of the body are white, and the rest is gray or black, or "red neck" - brown head-neck-shoulders and black color of the back. There are variegated (white spots on a black background and vice versa), brown with black spots, brown with a black stripe along the ridge and black legs. There are also such goats - black from the head to the middle of the body, and then white to the tail. Pure white color and brown for the Alpine goat breed are not considered - this suit is typical for the Saanen and Toggenburg breeds.

Alpine breed varieties

Alpine French dairy goats, whose photo is in front of the reader, are bred on the slopes of the French Alps from the best local breeds crossed with thoroughbredsSwiss goats. adapted to the conditions of the mountains. The color is different - white, spotted, under the color of chamois. They come with and without horns. Average productivity up to 900 liters from lambing to lambing. In France, some farms keep a population of 1,000 goats. Breeding work is carried out to improve the composition of milk and the suitability of animals for machine milking.

The British Alpine breed, often referred to as the Black Toggenburg, was registered at the beginning of the last century in England. Pure black color with white "Swiss marks" - stripes on the muzzle, edging of the ears, "stockings" on the legs, "tuck" at the bottom of the tail. The goat is tall and slender, with a light long head on a graceful neck, erect ears slightly forward. Daily milk yield up to 4.5 l.

Breeds of dairy goats in Russia

A worthy representative is the Gorky goat. The history of the appearance of the breed is not exactly established. But it is known that her ancestors were Russian white dairy goats and foreign Zaanenki, brought at the beginning of the last century to the Nizhny Novgorod province, which was called Gorky in Soviet times, which is why the name of the breed was given. Currently, these goats are kept by the population and farms of peasant farmers in the Nizhny Novgorod region. Among the domestic Russian breed is considered the best and through the efforts of folk breeders continues to develop in the direction of milk productivity.

The exterior of the Gorky goat is similar to the Saanen goat, but the animals are slightly smaller in size and weight: goats up to 50 kg, goats are more massive - 60 kg or more livemass. Characteristic white color with short hair and undercoat - up to 10% fluff. On different parts of the body, wool of different density and length. Fertility is good: usually a goat brings 2 kids, but there are cases of 4-5 kids.

Lactation up to 10 months per year with an average milking during this time of 500 liters. With good care, milk yields reach 1000 liters or more. After goating for half a year, daily milk yields are kept in the same volume, then they decrease noticeably.

Fuzz is obtained from goats - up to 250 g per comb, an excellent goat skin used for high-quality chevron leather.

Today's popular thoroughbred dairy goats, the price of which, frankly, is fantastic (a purebred goat costs 30 thousand or more rubles a month), is not available to everyone. For beginners, you can give advice: buy an inexpensive Gorky goat, adapted to the cold, unpretentious to feed, prolific and with good productivity of tasty and rich milk.

Mingrelian goat

In the west of Georgia, in Megrelia, Megrelian dairy goats of lowland and mountain type are bred. On flat terrain, residents of settlements keep animals of the first type on a leash and in stalls. They feed them with harvested vegetable food, waste from fruits and vegetables. Goats of the lowland type are small, the average weight of queens with a height of 60 cm at the withers is 33-37 kg, goats are larger and heavier - under 50 kg. For 200 days of lactation, an average of 300 liters of milk is milked from a goat, record holders give 750 each. Fertility is low: only 20 out of 100 queens bring 2goat, the rest one by one.

Mountain goats are larger than their counterparts, with a strong constitution and coarse bones, more massive. Weight of goats up to 50 kg, goats up to 70 kg. They graze on high mountain pastures from spring to late autumn, in winter they are lowered from the peaks into mountain valleys, where they are kept for pasture. Productivity is on average from 200 to 250 liters per six-month lactation. Fertility is small - 110 kids from 100 queens.

The suit of Megrelian goats is white, red and gray. The short coat is coarse. All animals with well-developed curved horns in the form of the letter S on a slightly elongated head, with beards of medium length.

Mingrelian goats are disease resistant. Relocating these goats to other areas will improve the hardiness and productivity of local breeds.

Goat breeding

Adult thoroughbred goats per tribe are hard to find and will have to pay dearly for them. You can go the other way - select goats and goats from thoroughbred parents in different farms, following the most important rule - a ban on inbreeding. It is most reliable to contact breeders of breeding goats. Do not forget the good old rule: expensive and cute, but if it's cheap - you yourself understand, the "trick" may not work.

Examine the stud goat and the mother goat - they should have clear thoroughbred signs. Verify the words of the seller about the high productivity of the uterus in practice - let them milk the goat in your presence. Taste and smell the milk.

Kids from lambing, in which there were more than two of them, are unsuitable. Special attention to the future manufacturer. A goat for a tribe should be hornless. Check the development of the genitals of the kids.

Ask the seller how the feeding went. Important: up to the age of two months, goats should be their main food. Growth and development are judged by weight, appetite, appearance, condition of coat and agility of the object of sale.

And now the kids arrived at the permanent place of detention. The rest (successful breeding) depends on proper feeding and caring for the animals.