My business prospect after two male kids got delivered to our Boer Goat

Two young goats were brought from the village as a gift for my younger sister, and ever since then, the family has taken care of them, allowing them to roam freely within the compound. Thankfully, we have a large compound with some veggies, and the goats made it a duty to attack every green leaf, including the bark of some trees like the orange and moringa trees.

My younger sister, who has been most concerned about the goats, has dedicated much attention to their feed and health. The two goats were brought into our house at the end of May 2022, and we were all concerned about their mating as there were no visible signs of the mating ongoing. A few months ago, after a close observation of the doe, her insatiable feeding pattern and mammary gland gave me a clue that the doe may be gravid. Our suspicion was confirmed when the mammary glands became more accentuated, giving us the assurance that the doe was truly pregnant. Since we could not ascertain the period of conception, we could not predict a possible delivery date, especially due to the breed. There are common and local breeds reared by many homes, such as the West African dwarf, Sokoto maradi red, and Borno sahel, which would have been a lot easier to manage.

We have raised local goats in the past and allowed them to roam the community. Occasionally, some never returned home, but most often, they were a good source of meat for domestic consumption. About a week ago, I observed that the abdomen of the doe had propelled towards the rear, giving the impression of an empty stomach, and my conclusion was that the fetus had engaged. Two days ago, my sister called me to say that the doe had delivered two beautiful kids with two different placentas. The beauty of the kids was that each took the color of the buck and doe. Their weights are also significant, even though they were not weighed. My mom had stated that the doe made no unusual bleat to indicate labor and delivery, just to be surprised by the bleat of the kids.

Goat business is fast on the rise in Nigeria, especially this breed of ours, the Boer Goat, which has significant size and is equally low in fat and cholesterol with a high fertility rate. It can be cross-bred with local breeds, but I doubt we would do that.

Recently, in May, I asked for the price of a similar buck I saw at the market during the Sallah festive period and was told N85, 000 ($95) without further bargaining. We did not plan to rear them for commercial purposes; however, as the case is, we may opt for that alternative.

I remember two years ago when I got swindled out of N100,000 ($110) during my attempt to purchase some sheep for breeding from an online seller. I spent an extra N15,000 ($17) in a pursuit to retrieve my money, which ended up being futile. This had made me skeptical about starting the sheep or goat business I had had since about five years ago.

BUSINESS PLAN AND PROSPECT

The two kids delivered happened to be males, meaning that in the long run, we would have three bucks for a doe. The options are limited: get extra does for the buck or sell off the bucks when the kids are mature. I would prefer to get extra does to complement the number of bucks that would be in the house.

It has always been in my mind to build a pen house as a shelter for the goats, and this may be the prompt I need to achieve that. The cleaning and other logistics would be factored into the budget, and I believe we can have a semi-commercial goat farm with the pioneer goats we have reared.

I hope to update us in a few months’ time on how the goat rearing plays out, which I am optimistic will be in multiples and a prospective income stream.

Thank you for reading. I would love to have your comments and contributions.

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