Once a farmer has decided to commercialise their goat flock, they will need to take control of the herd composition – how many bucks, productive does, castrates and so on.
Management must focus on the ultimate marketing goals. For example, if you aim to sell castrated males, you should castrate all male kids early.
Breeding females should be replaced after 4 to 5 years. This means that enough maiden does must be kept back from sales to fill the gaps of culled females.
Understanding the costs, income and profitability of your business
It is important to understand the potential profitability of your goat business. You need to be able to answer the following questions:
How many kids will be born each year?
How many will survive until I can sell them?
What price will I receive for them?
What does it cost per year to keep my herd (feed, medicines, labour, etc.)
What goats will I sell each year (age and gender)?
This information will allow you to start working out how much money your business is likely to make. It depends on you as an individual and how well you run your goat business. If you have lots of mortalities you will not make money. If your costs are very high you will not make a profit.
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