How much does a goat give milk a day? Feeding and feeding goats for good milking

Many owners of household plots are thinking about making a goat. After all, this "little cow" is the ideal animal for keeping. Small size, unpretentiousness, cheerful disposition - these attractive qualities of small cattle only increase the number of his fans. It is relatively easier to take care of a goat than for a cow, and on the table there will always be ecologically clean products: milk, tender curd, delicious brynza. And maybe, and there will be something for sale, then the purchase of some fodder will pay off. If you have more than one goat, and a small herd, then the family budget will significantly increase. But those who decided to try themselves in this field, there are completely justified questions. How much does a goat of milk give a day? What to feed her, how to care? How to successfully choose a dairy goat, so that the purchase does not disappoint?

Breeds of dairy goats

Of course, you can buy a common mongrel, and if you're lucky, the amount of milk that a goat gives for a day will be 2.5, and maybe even 3 liters. This is enough for a family of 3-4 people. But it also happens that for some goats a day is 1.5 liters - the ceiling, and milking it will not be 8-11 months of the year, but 6, and then the content of the animal will be unprofitable. Therefore, if the future owner of a productive herd is important for high indicators, then it is worth thinking about the purchase of thoroughbred goats that can provide not only his seven dairy products, but bring a small benefit. On what kind of breed to stop, and what goats will give the highest milk yields?

The territory of Central Russia, its north and west is dominated by the Russian breed. For 7-8 months of active lactation, it can give from 400 to 600 liters of milk. These goats are not very large, their weight is on average 35 kg, but larger specimens weighing up to 55 kg are also found.

Gorky breed is very similar to Russian. And it's not surprising: this is one of its branches. The best individuals give a day up to 5.5 liters, and fat content reaches 4.5%. Lactate up to 10 months.

Especially I want to highlight a goat of Swiss breeding - Zaanen. These animals are very large: their weight is 50-60 kg, and there are also those who weigh 90 kg. Basically, these goats are lumpy (that is, hornless), with white hair, very elegant and beautiful. Nadoi reach 600-700, and even 1000 liters a year. They are popular all over the world, they have been used to improve domestic breeds in Russia, Europe and Asia.

But there are also drawbacks among the representatives of this breed: they are demanding of food and stall maintenance, they do not tolerate severe colds, since their wool has no undercoat, and it is not easy to buy a purebred goat in Russia. But they offer a lot of mestizos, which they give out for purebloods. However, such goats are also dairy, and to keep them profitable, especially since they are more adapted to our harsh winters.

How to choose a goat

Buying an adult animal, you need to consider that, in addition to its dairy qualities, it is important that it was great. Brilliant wool, dense smooth skin, vigorous appearance - the indicators of its good health. The developed proportional body, wide chest, straight back, convex ribs and volumetric abdomen, strong straight legs - all this indicates the productive potential of the animal. Of course, it is impossible to determine the real milk yield from a goat for a day, it is better to do this, monitoring milk yields for several days. But based on the external examination, you can also draw certain conclusions. A goat with good milk yields a voluminous elongated udder, its shape is spherical or pear-shaped, there are no hard hair on it, as well as growths and hardening. Milky veins are visible through the skin. On the edges there are folds: a kind of "stock" of the udder in case of an increase in the amount of milk.

Room for content

For the goat should be equipped with a separate room. It is better if it is a shed built in a dry place from planks, hollow bricks, clay or adobe. To keep goats with chickens, pigs should not be, since they can get infected by skin parasites from a bird, and the pig smell is badly tolerated.

The optimal ceiling height in the barn is 2 meters, at a low ceiling it is inconvenient for the owner, and the high prevents good heating of the room. The window should be located on the sunny side and a safe distance from the floor, because the animal can break it.

Concrete floor in the goat is undesirable: this material is very cold and damp, it is better to spread wooden boards on it. But they also have shortcomings. Over time, the tree decays, and the animal can injure the legs. Therefore, you need to monitor the condition of the floor. Although there is an alternative: on the adobe coverings goats feel great. A small slope of the floor does not hurt, then all the liquid will drain into a special container, and in the pen it will be dry and clean.

Along the wall it is good to arrange wide shelves, they like to go to sleep on the goats, and in the cold weather, sun beds will be saved from cold and inflammation of the udder.

There are enough 8 square meters of goats per pair of goats, and it is difficult to move in a narrow stall, and this can negatively affect how many liters of milk the goat gives per day.

Contents of goats in summer

In the summer season, goats usually eat on grazing. But it is not enough just to take the goat to a clearing, tie it to a wooden or iron peg and leave it for a day unattended. Correctly organized grazing - the pledge of high milk yields, on this depends how much milk the goat gives per day. Great they feel on a free walk under the supervision of a shepherd, then the food will be more full. But in the absence of such an opportunity, changing the place from 2 to 3-4 times a day will help the animal satisfy the need for your favorite food.

When the grass is in the field with an excess, the goat needs to be watered during the day at least 3 times. If she consumes enough fluids, then milking will not make you happy. To water goats follows from pure ware, after all these whims are very clean and squeamish, and for what will not touch to a dirty bucket. If there are several goats, then some "ladies" refuse to drink from common utensils, then they will have to take care of the bucket for each. Water should not be too cold, acceptable if it is 10-15 degrees.

Stable Content

With the onset of cold weather, goats are transferred to permanent stall maintenance until spring. At this time, diverse and nutritious feeding is most important for prolonging lactation and the birth of healthy offspring.

Juicy food is not excluded from the diet, all kinds of waste are given, coarse and concentrated fodder.

You do not need to tie a goat in the stall, and a warm litter of hay should be on the floor. On sunny days, a goat can be let out to the courtyard, for an hour at 4. If there is a small frost, then 2 hours is enough.

It's great if the air temperature in the shed, where the goats are wintering, is positive, since the udder may be inflamed in a frosty room, moreover, the cold reduces the indices of how much the goat gives milk per day. Especially demanding are the "foreigners". In goats imported from Europe, there is no undercoat, so one should consider this feature and try to create conditions that are associated with high productivity and preservation of animal health.

Juicy forages

In the category of these feeds are vegetables and root crops grown in the garden: carrots, beets, cabbage, potatoes, pumpkin, zucchini, Jerusalem artichoke. The amount of their consumption is determined by the milk yield of the goat per day. Vegetables are thoroughly washed and finely cut, 500-700 grams per head per day. Particularly in this row is allocated sugar beet: from its excessive consumption, swelling, fermentation in the intestine, diarrhea can begin.

Concentrated feed

To the concentrated forages include oats, barley, bran and mixed fodder. Oats and barley are given in crushed form.

The bran is fed in the form of a mash. They contain a lot of protein, so it is advisable to dilute it with food waste. Clearing of potatoes, beets, carrots should be poured a little and mixed with bran. To enrich the vitamins, bone meal and chalk are added.

Mixed fodders contain vitamins and trace elements. For goats, nutrient mixtures adapted for birds can be used. They positively influence the intrauterine development of offspring, the health and immune system of animals and, of course, how much milk a goat gives during a day. In the stall period, the animal eats them up to 300 kg.

Roughage

The basis for feeding of cloven-hoofed domestic animals in the cold period is hay. Especially prized dry food with thin stems of herbs, legumes and cereals. The hay should not be overdried, the moisture of a good billet is about 17%. It makes up a third of the entire diet of a goat in winter, it is enough for a day of 2 kg, but if the animal is large or lactifies, then the norm can be increased to 2.5 kg.

Straw goats prefer spring cereals, beans, lentils, peas, beans. But the stems from winter crops goats are reluctant to eat.

To increase the nutritional value of straw, and also to give it more attractive taste qualities, it is crushed and sprinkled with warm salted water (10 liters of 50 g of salt). Then, stand in a wooden box of 16-18 hours, add concentrates and root vegetables. Such a product is eaten with pleasure, but the next time it should not be left, it can deteriorate.

Very fond of goats and fodder, in addition, it significantly increases milk yields, significantly affects how much milk a goat gives per day, contains an impressive set of trace elements. Begin to collect brooms from the very beginning of summer. Suitable branches of willow, linden, poplar, birch, hazel, ash, elm, mountain ash. Branches not more than 1 cm in thickness and half a meter in length are cut by a pruner and dried for several hours in the sun to make vitamin D. They then hang under a canopy or attic and dry for 2 weeks. Then they are stacked in rows in several layers.

In the stall period of the goat, you can give 5 brooms a day, but give birch in limited quantities, they can provoke inflammation of the kidneys. One goat, at least for the winter, needs 100 brooms.

If it was not possible to prepare the brooms in the summer, then the position can save thin twigs up to 4 mm thick. Goats with pleasure they eat up to 40 pieces at a time. They are also rich in vitamins, they contain a lot of chlorophyll. The branches can be cut off in November and until the very spring.

In the feeding of goats used and fallen leaves, it retains vitamins, and they have sufficient nutritional value. Collect the leaves rake in dry weather, roll into rollers, dry and clean from dirt.

Approximate daily ration

If in the summer the goat is mostly saturated in pasture, and the green juicy grass practically covers the need for nutrients, then during the period of stable maintenance correctly organized feeding plays a huge role. After all, a full-bodied animal will never freeze, will be cheerful, and a balanced diet will help to preserve its health, and the future offspring will be born strong and developed. Plus, this will have a positive effect on how much a goat gives milk a day.

In the morning goat is better to give concentrates - 150 grams or slightly more for a large animal and half a kilogram of root crops per head.

At lunchtime, hunger will be quenched with hay, wreath or leaves.

In the evening, the same concentrated feed as in the morning. And hay for the night.

If you do not comply with the norms of feeding, rickets and beriberi can develop in cattle.

How to increase milk yield

How much does a goat give milk a day? The number depends on several conditions. This is a hereditary factor, the conditions of maintenance, feeding, the age of the goat, the number of doses per day, and the duration of lactation. Some of them do not depend on the owner: they are caused by genetics, but there are reasons that a person can significantly affect. A set of correct measures will help the goat to fully reveal its productive potential.

1. As soon as baby goats were born, the goat should be given out: frequent milking up to 4 times a day, massage of the udder stimulates the addition of milk, increases blood circulation, which positively affects the quality of the product.
2. It is possible to significantly increase the amount of milk by increasing the rate of concentrated fodder. But it is important not to overdo it, otherwise you can harm the animal.
3. Milk comes from juicy additives, especially pumpkins, apples, root crops.
4. Experienced breeders recommend feeding goats with turnips: it has a milky property. It should be added to the pouches.
5. Branches of trees diversify the diet, they contain microelements and vitamins.
6. Sometimes vitamin deficiency is the reason for the decrease in milk yield, therefore, especially in winter, vitamin supplements should be included in the diet.
7. On how much a day a goat gives milk, affects the amount of water it drinks, to deny the animal this can not be either a hot summer day, or in severe frosts. Some caring owners offer their favorites water with the addition of decoction of herbs, lemon juice, plain tea or a tea mushroom. They steal a handful of berries of mountain ash or Kalina, a little dried fruit. Such water is used to drink goats with great pleasure, but it is necessary to choose it according to the taste of the animal.

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How to milk a goat

On how well the milking will be organized, it depends how many liters of milk the goat gives per day. Some recommend starting to massage and develop the udder of a goat a month before the birth, but this is wrong. Irritation of the udder can provoke a miscarriage, and then the young will be lost.

It is better to begin massage one hour after lambing, during milking, then the benefits from it will be obvious. After the goat gave birth, the offspring should be immediately isolated, otherwise the uterus may not be allowed to the udder of the host afterwards.

In order for the animal to stand still, before it you need to put dishes with water and throw there slices of bread, dried fruits, sliced apples. The udder should be washed with warm water, dry with a towel and massage each share. Then grasp the nipple with your fingers, squeeze and pull down, sliding movements squeezing milk. The first trickles should not get into the pail, because they are not sterile.

The udder needs to be completely emptied, because of the remnants of milk, mastitis can begin in it. This also affects the increase in lactation: the empty udder is filled more quickly.

If the goat is young, and the kids have appeared for the first time, then milking it is more difficult. She still does not understand what they want from her, and worries about the new sensations. The machine is not everyone, so it should be tied to a short leash, offer her a favorite treat or delicious swill. It is good, if someone from relatives will help, will hold and pat, calming. A little patience - and your nurse will get used to the procedure, will take her calmly.

Successfully buying a goat with good heredity, properly taking care of it, the owner can be sure: how many liters of milk a goat gives per day, enough to provide the whole family with high-quality dairy products, and even bring tangible profits.