Husbandry practices of Western highland goats in Enebse Sar Midir district, East Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia

Abstract

The study was conducted in Enebse Sar Midir district of East Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia, with the main objective of investigating the smallholder goat husbandry practices. For the study, data were collected by interviewing 150 sample households who are selected purposively from three agro ecologies using semistructured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS (version 16). The survey result showed that the major feed source and water sources for goats were natural pasture (48.7%) and river water (81.3%), respectively. Goats are housed for protection from adverse climatic conditions and predators. The most common type of goat house in the study area is the one which is constructed attached to the family house sharing the common wall. Majority (80.7%) of farmers in the study area practice castration of goats for the purpose of fattening and selling. The majority (54.5%) of farmers in the area used modern method (using Burdizzo) of castration. The major reason for culling of goats in the area was reported to be old age (48.9%). The overall mean age at first kidding and kidding interval was reported to be 12.2 ± 0.17and 7.39 ± 0.09 months, respectively. Disease and parasites and feed shortage were reported to be the two major constraints of goat production in the area. Even though the current productivity of goats in the area is fairly good, full potential need to be exploited by improving husbandry practices, applying appropriate disease prevention methods and applying strategic forage development and feeding practices.