Boer Goats

Boer goat emerged in early 1900 in the region of South Africa. African ditches give the meaning of Boer as a farmer. It is famous for meat production. The specialty of this meat is its taste and high-quality protein.

The Boer goat was initially from South Africa reserved by the Namaqua, San, and Fooku tribes with some crossbreeds of Indian and European bloodline. They are vital in producing meat than milk. Moreover, this breed is famous for having high fertility rates and for being fast-growing and obedient.

They are also continuously used for land maintenance, mainly to prevent bush encroachment on rangeland. It causes suppression of re-growth after bush thinning. And to grow from plants up to 1.8m high, standings on their thin legs.

Boer Goats for Show

Since the sole purpose of raising Boer goats is commercial meat production, but they are also very admired and appropriate for taking in shows. Large-sized Boer goats are essential for show purposes. Consequently, extra care, feeding, covering, and other management are necessary for this type of goats.

Characteristic

 Boer goats are usually white-colored with red or brown heads. Anyhow, some goats have a single solid color like brown or white. All Boer goats have a pair of long, dropping, and pendulous ear. Their horns are curvey. They are swift in growing. Most of the farmers prefer them for commercial goat farming business. A buck of Boer breed weighs about 110-135 kg, and a Boer doe weighs about 90-100 kg. The milk yielding is 1.5-2.5 kg/day

Goat of this breed owes the property of fast hair growth rate and brilliant carcass qualities. Boer goat has excellent immunity to fight with different diseases and adapt well to hot, dry semi-deserts. Though, they have a unique metabolism for weight gaining and also have large-size bodies. Indeed, a buck from a sure fast-growing bloodline will provide the highest price in the market.

Feeding

For the growth of hair and muscles of Boer goat, eating plants is necessary. They typically love to eat leaves of trees, green grasses, corn, and a few other additional feeds. But some plants are not suitable Boer because they have insects in them. Consequently, these parasites can be harmful to their growth and productivity of milk. Boer goats need six classes of nutrients for their growth and sexual maturity.

Following are those:

• Protein
• Carbohydrates
• Fat
• Vitamins
• Minerals
• Water

If these nutrients include in the eatings of goat, then the sexual maturity will be suitable for their breed production. Always offer them an adequate amount of clean and freshwater, as they drink lots of water daily.

Breeding

A Boer Buck gets mature early, usually at the age of 6 months and a doe in 10-12 months. The Boer goat also has an entire breeding season making probable three kids every two years. There are two techniques for breeding in Boer goat. The first method is artificial insemination (AI), and the other is embryo transfer (ET). These techniques are successful in goats for a rapid increase in the rate of genetic gain. Anyhow, the selection and breeding from these goats with superior genetics: the result is much more excellent in numbers than natural joining.

Crossbreeding

Crossbreeding of Boer goat with other numerous goat breeds is also thriving and productive. The widespread and trendy crosses of Boer goats are Boer with Spanish goats, Boer with Kiko goats, Boer with Sirohi goats,  Boer with Nubian goats, Boer with Rajan Puri Goats, Boer with Osmanabadi goats, and Boer with Angora goat (Fibre goats). All of this crossbreeding is equally profitable.

Care of Boer goats

Care the newly born Boer kids and feed the mother’s milk daily until three months. Maintain the kids and their mothers in a separate place for a few days. Vaccinate the newly born kid to prevent it from viruses and other Common Goat Diseases. Make the house worms and insect free.