Workshop Training Manual: " Technologies for improving goat housing and hygiene in the central provinces of Vietnam " ppt

Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development

Vietnam-Australia Goat Improvement Program
(Card Program 009/VIE05 2006-2009)

Workshop Training Manual

Technologies for improving goat housing and hygiene
in the central provinces of Vietnam

PGS Dr. Dinh van Binh
Dr. Nguyen Thi Mui
MSc Khuc Thi Hue

Ha Tay, November 21, 2008


PART I

Housing technology in goat production
1. Principles
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Goat houses are required to be clean, clear, dry and convenient for taking care of goats
Housing floor is 60-80 cm from ground

Housing place is required to be away from rain, wind and sunlight directly shinning to
goats.
Housing place should be with good drainage, dry place and in large tree shade
Along with goat houses should be a yard for managing, breeding, testing, feeding, trading
and treating goats.
Inside the cage and yard is required to be a feed trough for goats
Vietnam’s climate is a tropical monsoon, with high temperature and humidity. Therefore,
goat housing should be in east south direction for avoiding east north wind in winter and
receiving east south wind in summer.

2. Materials for goat housing
Materials for goat housing can be wood, steel nets, or bamboo. House stands are made of brick

Two-roof house

One roof house


3. Goat housing technology
3.1. House frame

Support pillar made of wood
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Two-roof house structure

House frame is made of wood or bamboo. It is the best way if the frame is made of wood
because it is the big stand for the cage.
The support pillar can be made of wood or brick with 50-70 cm height, the top should be

covered with solid wooden girders.

3.2. House roofing

Roofs are made of white corrugated
iron
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Roofs are made of fibro cement

The roof is from the ground enough to avoid wind, and slopping for good drainage, and at
least 60 cm from the wall to keep away from sunshine and rain.
Roof is made of bamboo, wood, or corrugated iron, or fibro cement.


3.3. House walls

House wall covered by B40 net

House wall made of bamboo/wood

Squares made of bamboo for keeping baby
goats before gazing

House walls made of bamboo

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House walls are for keeping goats at the height of 1.5-1.8 m
Walls are made of bamboo, wood, or B40 iron net
The distance of bamboo lines is about 6-10 cm in order to let goats not go out
Walls are required to be strong, and without small iron hooks which can hurt goats.
Walls should be arranged by panels to avoid sticking goat legs.
Inside cages should be small panels for baby goats

3.4. House door
• The door is required to be larger than the goat’s body size (about 60-80 cm) for be easy to
go out and in, especially for pregnant goats
• Materials for goat cage door should be bamboo, wood or plastic
• Cage door can be designed as the barrier and as stairs for goats to go in and out the cage


Door made of wood and corrugated iron

Stair made of bricks

Doors made of bamboo, wood or B40 net

Stair made of wood

3.5. House floor

Floor at 30-35oc slope
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Floor made of cement

House floor should be built at the slope of 30-35o backward for being more convenient to
clean the cage
The house floor at best is made of cement or solid soil


Pit for manure at the back of cage
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Drain for compost

At the back of the cage should be drains or holes for composting. This is a good way of
preventing pollution in the house and from disease infection
Goat manure should be compost for at least 1 month before manuring the trees
In front of the house underneath should be the fence for keeping goats from going inside
or to the back

Fence in front of the cage underneath
3.6. House floor
This is the important part of the goat cage
• The floor should be made of wood with size of 2.5 x 3 cm, assembled into lines with a
space of 1-1,5 cm in between that is large enough for manure, but goat leg to drop down.


Floor made of bamboo

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Floor made of wood

If the floor is made of bamboo, the bamboo sticks are required to be straight so that goat
leg can not be dropped in the space between bamboo sticks, and bamboo splints should
be directed above, which will not in turns create stagnant water and manure on the floor.
Goat cage floor should be flat and at 50-70 cm away from the ground

Floor is about 0.5m from the ground
3.7. Feeding trough
• Feeding trough of green and raw feed should be made in front and outside the cage.
Holes should be made for goats to leave their heads to eat feeds. These holes should be at
40-60 cm from the ground, at the size of 25-30 cm.
• Feeding troughs should be made of wood or bamboo or plastic with the size of 30 x 50 x
25cm.


Green feeding trough inside
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Green feeding trough outside

Feeding troughs of pure feeds can be made of wood, bamboo, or plastics and hung
outside the cage, at 50-60 cm from the floor, which is easy for raisers to clean the house
and put feed in the troughs. The size of the troughs should be 30 x15 x10 cm.
Water troughs are made of plastic or pottery or cement. Water troughs can be put outside
in the ground and should be at 50 cm from the ground so that goats can not step on.

Feeding trough put on the wall

Watering goats with aluminum pots

3.8. Yard
For good management of breeding, it is required to be a yard around the cage
• The yards is put in front of the cage with required area of 1.5 m2 per goat
• Yard should be made of cement or soils and with fence around it
• Fences are required to be made of bamboo, or wood, or B40 net


Yards with fence made of B40 net
4. Standard area for goat house
Depending on the purpose of raising goats for meats or milk, the structure of goat houses are
designed to be different. If raising goats for milk, goats should be kept individually. But for
meat, goats should be kept in groups. Areas of the goat houses should be calculated as follows:
Types of goats
Reproductive goats
Breeding billy goats
Goats of 07-12 months old
Below 6-month old goats

Individual
0.8 -1.0
1.0 – 1.2
0.6 – 0.8
0.3 – 0.5

In groups

1.0 – 1.2
1.4 – 1.6
0.8 – 1.0
0.4 – 0.6


PART 2

Process of raising and taking care of goats at different ages
1. Taking care of goats by their mother
1.1. From birth to the age of 15 day old
After delivered from their mother, baby goats are cleaned and placenta be cut, they are
put in a straw pallet beside their mother. 20-30 minutes right after delivery, baby goats should be
breast –fed. In the first 3-7 days, mother goats’ milk is rich in nutrition which is a good for baby
goats to grow up and prevent from diseases.
In case of weak newly-born goats, it is required to assist baby goats to be breast-fed or
feed them with bottles of breast milk 3-4 times a day.
If the mother goat does not allow her baby to be breast –fed, it is required to keep tightly
the mother goat and leave baby goats to be breast-fed many times until when the mother let her
baby to be fed directly.
In the 3-4 first days, the weak newly-born goat needs to assist to be breast-fed from the
both nipples. If the baby is only breast-fed from one breast, the other breast will in turns be
swollen and can be led to mastitis and no milk left for baby to be fed.

A newly-born goat is kept warm in a straw pallet
1. 2. In the period of 15 days-45 days after delivery
In this period of time, keep the baby from his/her mother. As usual, milk twice a day for
goats with daily milk production of more than 1 litter. After milking, let the baby goat to be
breast fed in order to take all milk from his/her mother. Then let the baby goats to be fed 300-350
ml more (2-3 times per day). To identify the amount of milk for baby goats, it is required to

weigh baby goats before and after being breast-fed, and then you can know how much bottle
milk to provide more for baby goats.


As for milk goats in household farming, as keep the baby goat away from his/her mother at
night (from 5pm until 6.30 am in the following day) and milk once a day in the morning. As for
meat goats, it is required to keep baby goats together with his/her mother.
1.3.In the period of 46-90 days old
Feeding baby goats with 600 ml litter of milk everyday and cut down to 400 ml in two
times a day. Goat milk or any other milk should be kept warm at 38-40oC. Before feeding, nipple
should be kept clean or sterilized
From the 15th days on, baby goats should be fed with other digestive feeds like bran,
corn powder, Soya bean powder, green leaves.
A 24- 45 day old goats should be fed with 30-35g of feed, and a 46-90 day old goats
should be fed with 50-100g of pure feed. Animal feed will be added until the baby goat can eat
indepently. Baby goats needs feeding with clean waters.
3.4.Notes

Feeds and water must be supplemented for
stall-fed kids
In the period of from birth to 90 day old age, it is required not to gaze baby goats with his/her
mother, to avoid being exhausted from running after the mother or being caught by dangerous
animals. At this period, it required to keep baby goats in cages and provide green feed and water.
2. Take care of reserve goats
It is better to select high-productive she goats and nanny goats after weaning:
• Take care of reserve goats by good regulations. Goats should not be fed with feeds rich in
energy like corns, cassava, mixed feed, but fed with green and raw feed (2-5 kilogram per
day), equivalent to 65-75% dry materials.
• As for new feed, by products should be added step by step with digestion capacity of 0,10,5kg per head.
• Provide enough clean water for goats, create good conditions for goats to exercise 3-4

hours a day. Clean cage floor, ground, trough daily.
• Baby Billy goats should be taken good care. After 3 month old, the goat should be keep
separately. When the goat is 11-12 months old, it is able to copulate.


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At the first stage of taking care of reserve goats, the goats are easy to be infected such
diseases as diarrhea, bloating stomas. Thus, feed sources are required to be hygienic, and
suitable solutions should be given out.

3. Technology of taking care of reproductive goats
3.1. Pregnant goats
After mating, if the cycle of heat does not come back, it means that the goat is pregnant.
The time of pregnancy for goats lasts at average of 150 days (ranging from 145-157 days). Thus,
it is required to make preparation for goats to deliver.
During the time of pregnancy, goats should be paid more attention because they tend to
eat more. Therefore, they should be provided more nutritious feed for more milk and better life
of their baby.
Do not graze goats too far from the house. Do not beat goats. And do not keep male goats
together with pregnant goats.
As for the pregnant goat at the first time, massage udders of the goats to stimulate milk
gland.
Estimate the time for delivery so that you can have time to make preparation for take care
of newly-born goats
3.2. Reproductive goats
A goat about to deliver should be kept individually in a cage. Before delivery 7-10 days it
should be cut down pure feed for milk goat to avoid mastitis and milk-fever.
It is required to prepare some work for goat delivery such as litter, persons, scissors,
thread, Iodinated alcohol. Goats about to deliver often have some signs like irritable, frequently

urinating, red and swollen udder, distended belly, and fluid and amniotic fluid in vulva. When
the amniotic fluid is burst, it is time for goats to deliver the baby goats. It often takes 1-4 hours to
deliver the baby goats, depending on the number and the position of the foetuses in the uterus.
If the baby goats get stuck, mother goats will cry out. At this time we need help them by
using sterilized hand to push the embryo out favorably by rhythm of contracting muscles of the
mother.
It is important to identify the position of the embryo. When the baby goat goes out, the
mother goat herself lick her baby. Then clean the baby goat and cut umbilical cord which is 34cm from the belly by sharp sterilized knife. It is important not to allow the mother to eat the
placenta.
In case of difficult delivery and 4 hours after delivery placenta not going out, it is
required to ask veterinary staffs.
After delivery, mother goats are required to be fed with 0.5% salty water or 5-10% sugar
water. Everyday, mother goats are fed with fresh, green and high quality feed by identified helps.
However, mother goats should not be fed with too much pure feed to avoid bloating.
Clean udder and vulva of mother goats. In case of red swelled udders, it required to apply
hot compress to avoid obstructed lactiferous duct.
3.3. Milking goats
If good care is taken of goats, they will give a high production of milk. Therefore, it is
required to provide the following assistance:


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Mother goats should be fed with more green and fresh feed and pure mixed feed with a
content of protein of 15-17%, Premix, mineral, and salt. In addition, some feeds like jack
fruit leaves, mixed bran good for milk should be supplemented
• A goat with a daily milk productivity of more than 2 liters should be provided with
enough pure feed of 400 g per liter of milk at the first and the second month, and it
should be milked twice daily.
• Provide as much water as possible (about 3-5 liter per head) in troughs inside cages and

grounds. Often supplement mineral prefix of 0.5 kilogram for goats per month during the
time of milking. The mineral premix can be mixed with pure feed or be made in blocks
on the cage walls, or put in bamboo pipe for goats to lick
• Create good conditions for goats to exercise or run around the ground 3-5 hours
everyday. Rub and delouse goats
• Keep tracks of mother goats in the first second months after delivery. The weight of
mother goats in the period of time decline by 5-7%, but it will improve since the middle
second month. If the mother goats are not taken good care, they will give bad production.
• As for high- yield goats, it is easy for them to get mastitis. Thus, it is required to keep
tracks of goats, their udders, colors and flavor of milk. In case of unusual circumstance,
there should be some methods of warming or massage udders by salty and warm water,
or some other veterinary solutions
Milking technology
• When milking, the process of milking is required to be followed. It is required to clean
the nipples before and after milking.
• Before milking, a soft towel, warm water are prepared for cleaning nipples and stimulate
producing milk. Barrels for milk are clean.

Towel for milking

Milk


Posture for milking
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Milking process

1. Clean hands and nipples before milking

2. Hold the nipple
3. Hold tightly by other fingers
by thumb and fore finger

4. Hold the nipple by the whole hand

5. Hold tightly by the whole hands


6. Leave milk go down to the nipple 7.Do again the above process

8. Milking by the thumb and fore finger

9. Stroke the nipple from up to down

4. Taking care of male breeding goats (bucks)
The breeding bucks should be kept away from the milking goats or kept in the region at
the back of the house. This will make the bucks more ardent and will prevent the strong smell
from the milk. As usual, a 50 kilogram buck needs feeding about 4 kg of green grass, 1.5 kg of
protein leaves and 0.4 kg of pure feed daily. If breeding twice a day, it is required to be fed 0.3kg
of vegetables or 1-2 chicken eggs more.
Breeding goats needs providing enough minerals. It is required to leave goats to exercise
twice a week by cleaning and combing goat body.
It is required to have a book tracking the effects of breeding for productivity management
When the effect of breeding can only reach below 60%, and the age of the breeds is more
than 6 years, the breeds should be rejected.


Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development

Vietnam-Australia Goat Improvement Project
(CARD Project 009/VIE05 2006-2009)

Workshop Training Manual

Goat selection, breeding and management in the
Central provinces

Asst. Prof., Ph.D Dinh Van Binh
Engineer: Trinh Xuan Thanh

Ha Tay, Nov. 21, 2008


Part 1
Goat selection and management
I. Background
Goat raising industry is cost effective, with a low initial cost and a high rate of walking capital.
Goat development crucially depends on breeding knowledge, which can help create goats of
great adaptability and high productivity, and thus improve goat raising industry.
1. Goat raising in Vietnam
Total number of goats in Vietnam in 2006 is over 850,000; in which the North accounts for
72.5% and the South accounts for 27.5% (12.3% for the Central Highlands, 8.9% for the Central
Coast, and 2.1-3% for the Southeastern and the Southwestern). Goats in the Northern moutainous
areas make up 48% of the country, and 67% of the North.
Most of them are local grass goats, which are small in size and low in productivity. Presently,
there is neither a national system of breeding management, nor a large scale farming industry.
In 1994, there were 3 breeds of dairy goats (Beetal, Jumnapari, Barbari) imported from India. In
2002, there were 2 breeds of dairy goats (Alpine, Saanen) and 1 breed of meat goat (Boer)
imported from America for raising and cross-breeding to improve productivity.

The result shows that cross-breeding between the Bach Thao or Indian male with the local grass
female will help create an F1 with 25-30% higher productivity. In case of the F2, the
productivity is higher by 40-55%.
Up to now, goat development has been contributing to hunger ellimination and poverty
eradication, income enhancement and economic improvement in many places, especially in the
mountainous areas.
2. Goat raising’s significance
Goat is a cow to a poor family, according to Mahatma Gandhi – the famous Indian leader, or a
bank of the poor, according to Peacock, or even a trustful insurance company to the poor,
according to RM Acharay, President of the International Goat Association.
In China and Vietnam, goat industry is considered to be profitable and cost effective; due to the
fact that goats are fecund, adaptable, disease-resistant, easy to raise, as well as have a short
period of pregnancy (5 months), and do not compete with human for food.
According to FAO, more than 90% of goats in the world are raised in developing countries,
which may represent a significant income.
Goat raising has been contributing to the poor’s economic development, especially in the
mountainous areas, where other animal like cows or pigs are hard to raise. Goats play an
important part in hunger ellimination and poverty eradication; many households get out of
poverty thank to goats.

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3. Advantages and disadvantages of goat raising
3.1 Advantages
• Goat raising needs less initial capital than cow raising (the price of 20-25 million VND
for a cow is equal to the amount needed for 10-15 Bach Thao dairy goats, or 25-30 meat
grass goats).
• Goat is more prolific than cow. After 4 years, a nanny-goat gives birth to 23 kids with
500 kg of meat and 2,500 kg of milk, in comparision with a cow delivering only 1 calf

with 350 kg of meat and 2,000 kg of milk. Moreover, goat is easily adaptive, even in
severe environmental conditions.
• Goat is smaller than cow; still a good dairy goat can produce milk of 3-3.5 liters/day,
providing a suitable raising procedure. In term of milk output/100 kgP ratio, Barbari goat
has the highest figure of 3.41, Bach Thao goat reaches 2.4, and Ba Vi local cow records a
mere figure of 2.1. Goat’s feed is abundant, multiple, easy to find; total amount of
feedstuff for goats is smaller than that for cows or buffaloes.
• Total amount of feed for 10 goats is equal to that for 1 cow, whereas total amount of feed
for 7-8 dairy goats is equal to that for 1 milch cow. Meanwhile, the sensitivity to change
of food is much lower in goat than in cow.
• Raising goat is easy due to goat’s tameness and small size; whereas raising cow is more
difficult to undertake, especially to the elderly, women and children.
• Goat is clean; it does not eat the leftover, dirty or rotten stuffs. Goat prefers to stay in
high and airy place.
• Goat pasturing needs a smaller space, with a larger number of heads in comparison with
cow pasturing. A small herd of goats can be pastured around the house, alongside the
dyke or ricefield’s edge. Goats can be raised inside stable, or in grassland, orchard,
timber forest or moutainous areas.
• Goat’s excrement provides a good source of manure, foodstuff for fish, foodstuff for
earthworm (which in turn can be fed to domestic fowls and fertilized plants).
• Goat raising is a stable source of self-insurance. In case of crops failure or emergency
condition, goats can be easily sold for a quick cash.
• Goat is small in size, easy to carry and sell; products from goat are nutrious and prefered
in the market.
• Goat milk is healthy, nutrious, digestive. It is especially good for the elderly and children.
3.2 Disadvantages
• Due to tranditional custom of cattle-breeding and misinformation of goat raising, this
industry has yet developed as it should be.
• As traditional thinking, goat is destructive, as it gobbling the buds and preventing plants
from development. Goat is thus considered as a pest and should be limited. In reality,

with an active nature, goat usually plucks several buds on a plant and grazes to another,
unlike the destructive gobbling nature of the cows. In the other hand, goat helps to
prevent the weeds and fertilize the plants with its excrement.
• Lack of experience is one of the main causes for the underdevelopment of the goat
raising industry. Experience comes from reality, guidebook, or information exchange.
But in fact, goat raising documents are rare, whereas raising knowhow has yet found the
way to spread around. It is important to notice that goat raising is traditionally based on

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natural grassland, to take full advantage of natural resources, idle employment and
dormant capital; goat raising is yet conceived as a main source of income and wealth.
II. breeds of goat in vietnam
1. Dual-purpose goat
1.1. Bach Thao goat

Normal weight: 45-50kg (female) and 6070kg (male)
Fertility rate: 1.8 young/brood

Milk output: 1.5-3 liter/day
Milk cycle: 150-160 days

1.2. Babari goat

- Male: 50-55kg
- Female: 35-40 kg
Milk output: 1.2-2.2 liter/day
Milk cycle: 150-155 days

- Fertility rate
Young/brood: 1.5; brood/year: 1.5
Survival rate until weaning: 85-95%

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1.3. Jumnapari goat

- Male: 80-85kg,
- Female: 45-50 kg
- Milk productivity
Milk output:1.8-2.5 liter/day
Milk cycle: 180-200 days

- Fertility rate
Young/brood: 1.4; brood/year: 1.3
Survival rate until weaning: 85-95%

1.4. Beetal goat

- Male: 80-85kg,
- Female: 50-55 kg
- Milk productivity: 1.8-3 liter/day
- Milk cycle: 180-210 days

- Fertility rate
Young/brood:1.3 ; brood/year: 1.3
Survival rate until weaning: 85-95%

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2. Dairy goats in Vietnam
2.1. Saanen goat

- Male: 75-85kg
- Female: 65-70kg
- Young/brood:1.5 ; brood/year: 1.3

Milk out put: 3,2-4,5 liter/days
Milk cycle: 200-240 days
Total milk output: 700-1000 liter

2.2. Alpine goat

- Female:50-55 kg
- Male: 65-80kg

- Female:50-55 kg
- Fertility rate
Young/brood: 1,5; brood/year:1,3
- Milk out put: 2.8-3.5 liter/day
Milk cycle: 180-220 days

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3. Meat goat
3.1. Boer goat

Male:100 - 140 kg
Female: 80 – 100 kg

Young/brood: 1,7; brood/year: 1,5
Carcass rate: 50-55%, Meat rate: 38-40%

3.2. Grass goat
Weight: 27-32 kg
Female’s weight 24-27 kg Milk output: 0,3-0,4 liter/day, Milk cycle: 80-90 days
Survival rate until weaning: 65-70%

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4. Hybrid goats in Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Lam Dong

Boer x Bach Thao

Saanen x Bach Thao

Boer x Bach Thao

Saanen x Bach Thao

III. Selection
Breeder is selected by:
1. Appearance
2. Productivity
3. Combination of appearance and productivity

- Rating
- Other methods
1. Male selection for breeding
1.1. Selection by the previous generation
A good male breeder is very important, because it may contribute up to 50% of its heredity to the
next generation.

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Selection standards:
Breed males should be selected from a generation of high reproductiveness, with a good
appearance, excellent fertility rate, and healthy offspring. Breed Male should be selected from a
prolific mother, within the second breed onwards (which secures the healthiness of the
offspring). Fertility rate reaches at least 85%.
1.2. Selection by apperance and productivity
Breed Male should have a short head, large and thick and lowered ears, wellproportioned body, large neck, brawny breast, strong and robust limps, equal and big
testicles. Sperm quality must meet VAC standard (i.e. over 1 billion).
Fertility rate should be over 80%. Offspring should be healthy; the rate of new born/breed
should be higher than normal.

Breed Male with short head, Equal, big, split testicles. Well-proportioned body, large
large and thick and lowered Sperm quality meets VAC neck, brawny breast, strong
ears, well-proportioned body
standard (i.e. over 1 billion).
and robust limps.
1.3. Selection by the next generation
Evaluating the male breeder by its offspring
2. Female breeder selection
Selection by the previous generation (grandparents, parents)

Selection by the quality of the breeder:
- Appearance
- Productivity and adaptability

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- Selection by the next generation
In case of goat, due to its high fertility rate, short reproductive cycle and large herd, people
often choose the breeder by its attributes.
Selection criteria:
1. Broad, firm and slightly long head, vivacious face
2. Neck is long, soft, firm and tapering toward head
3. Straight back
4. Rib is round and slanting backward
5. There is a furrow before pelvis, representing a good digestive system
6. Broad hip, equal and large breasts with obvious milk sinew.
7. Straight and well-proportioned forelegs; straight hindlegs
8. Long and strong jaw
9. Good genital
10. Meet with criteria of weight and fertility
11. Suitable age; overage nanny-goat should not be chosen as breeder.

Goats suitable for breeding

Goat with 3.2 kg of milk/day

Boer goat with 3 newborns

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