A. Sheep and goat breeding

Question. 1 / How to care new born kids?
Answer / Care of kids
  1. Immediately after birth the nose of the kids should be cleared to prevent suffocation.
  2. The naval Cord should be painted with tincture iodine.
  3. If the milk production is insufficient the triplets and quarterplets can be reared by hand feeding or nipple feeding using whole milk or milk substitute.
  4. Some times aged Does may have poor mothering ability. In this condition the Does can be restrained by attendant to facilitate the feeding of colostrum to the kids.
  5. First two to three weeks kid should be provided with 0.9 to 1 liter of milk/day. Milk can be fed twice daily but should be discontinued when the kids are 3 to 4 month old.
  6. Adequate space for exercise should be provided for the playful kids.
Kids can be weaned or sent for grazing along with mother by the age of 3rd month.
Question. 2 / When to breed the sheep and goat?
Answer / Breeding is carried out two to three times in a year. In India there are three main mating seasons viz.
March to April (or summer)
June to July (or autumn)
September to October (or post monsoon)
In general, fertility is high during autumn [June to July] in plain and higher fertility rate occur during summer in hilly area [March to April]
  1. Breeding, too young ewe will results in more weakling resulting in higher lamb loss.
  2. Ewes should not be prepared for mating when they are gaining weight. She should be allowed to luxuriant pasture or feeding 2 to 3 week prior to mating
Normally goat comes to heat through out the year. But the monsoon rainfall in correlation with availability of forage may have some significant effect of estrous. There are two kidding peaks viz. January to April and September to November.
Kids born during January to April survive and grow better. Hence the mating can be manipulated accordingly [August to November]. Bucks should be separated from the does and it should be allowed only at the time of mating. Better to allow the buck to stay with female during the nighttime.