MVSc

The existing practices of management of goats in the homesteads of Palakkad and Malappuram and the economics of rearing have been studied.

Majority of the goat farmers in both the regions belonged to the age group 41-60, and were literate. They belonged to the class of daily wage labourers or service personnels. Hindus were predominant in Palakkad, whereas in Malappuram, Muslims were predominant. The land holding of the goat farmers studied in Palakkad ranged from 3 cents to 8 acres and in Malappuram, 7 cents to 2 acres. They were having more than one livestock component in their homesteads. The farmers possessing less than 10 years of experience were more in both the regions.

There has been an increase in the flock/band strength from the start of farming in all the homesteads. The animals were procured mostly from other farmers. Does were purchased based on appearance, cost and age and were replaced taking into consideration their size and appearance, age twinning and also colour. Bucks were generally replaced taking into consideration their appearance and age.

The type of housing provided to goats was either lean-to-type or a separate shed. The type of floor included either mud or raised wooden floor, the type of roof included either tiled or thatched. The hygiene status of majority of the goat pens was graded as satisfactory in both the regions. The drainage facilities provided were only satisfactory in Palakkad, whereas, in Malappuram, it was adequate.

Natural service was the only means of breeding goats in both the regions. Only 41 percent of the farmers (in general)reared breeding bucks and the rest of the farmers depended on the bucks maintained by other farmers. The age at first kidding in majority of the cases in Palakkad was reported to be 18 months and in Malappuram, 15 months. Majority of the farmers in both the regions reported the kidding interval of goats to be 8 months.

The goats were either let loose outside or tethered around the homestead for roughage feeding. Concentrate mixture was fed only during very dry/summer season and consisted of groundnut cake and coconut cake. The duration of browsing varied from 3-8 hours. Kids were kept along with the dam. The daily body weight gain of kids was 38.3 g in Palakkad and 41.8 g in Malappuram.

Major disease problems encountered by goats in the two regions were digestive problems, respiratory problems, skin lesions, dog bite wounds etc. Farmers, in general did not practice any preventive health care measures for goats.

The proportion of farmers who milked their goats was high in Malappuram than Palakkad. Goats were disposed of to other farmers, butchers, and/or middlemen. Goat manure was sold out by majority of farmers in Palakkad (70%) and 5 percent in Malappuram.

Involvement of women in indoor activities were more than men. Children were involved more in the disposal of milk. The hired labour utilization was negligible.

In general, fixed cost and variable cost were lower in Palakkad than Malappuram but the gross income was more in Malappuram than Palakkad. The net margin over cost A and cost B was positive where as net margin was negative over cost C. The major constraints faced by farmers were feeding availability of labour and disposal of manure.