Hope Child Care Centre Uganda dairy goat program

Project Hope

Africa 2015

Hope Child Care Centre

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School Project

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Hope Guest House

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DR Congo CERAO

DR Congo Moringa Estate

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ABCD

Bishop Pinos
Jenny Tryhane

Rev. Abraham Kisembo
Bishop David Akondowe

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Hope Child Care Centre - Uganda goat program

As a poverty alleviation intervention in Uganda focusing on reducing child malnutrition within our orphanage the Hope Child Care Centre and supporting families within the community negatively affected by diseases such as HIV / AIDS, United Caribbean Trust is looking to implement a dairy goat program
in Uganda.

Goat breeds: The most recognized diary breeds in Uganda are the Anglo-Nubian of North Africa and the Swiss namely the Alpine, Saanen and Toggenburg.

Milk production: output is about 2 - 3 litres per goat per day.

Reproduction cycle: The first mating for females should be at about 8 months old. Gestation takes 145 to 155 days but averages 150 days. A doe will be served while lactating so subsequent kidding should be every 8 months.

Feeding: Goats consume grasses, fodder trees, legumes and kitchen scraps.
- Balance the diets: enough proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and water
- Let them browse for eight hours a day in good pastures to ensure that they consume enough food. Provide enough feeds in stalls for those on zero grazing

The most nutritious grasses include: Chloris Gayana, Panicum, napier (elephant grass), potato vines, sweet potatoe slips, Congo Signal grass for body maintenance.

Feed them on proteins for optimum growth and milk production. The best protein sources are:

Fodder tree:

Leaves, young pods and small branches from the Moringa tree can be fed to the goats to increase their milk production.

Leaves and small branches from Gliricidia Luecaena is another excellent fodder tree.

Leaves from Calliandra can be added to subsidize the goats dietary requirements.

Water is a very important nutrient especially for milk production. It should be sufficient and clean.

Give them mineral salts for developing strong bones and teeth, providing good appetite and thus weight gain, and improving the hair coat. The most important minerals are calcium, phosphorous and selenium.

Vitamins can normally be obtained from green feeds as the goats browse especially if Moringa is added as a supplement.

Treatment
Routine treatment involves:
(a) Deworming (worms and flukes) every 3 to four 4 months depending on the prevalence of the parasites. Kids might need monthly deworming until they are about 4 months old
(b) Spraying for lice, mites, ticks, etc. the interval depends on the prevalence of the parasites and the type of acaricide used.
Be strict on controlling ticks – they cause Heartwater disease. It can be treated with oxytetracycline Hi-tet but if not detected and no treatment is given within about 3 days the goat will not survive.

Shelter (pen / stall)
A pregnant doe needs at least 1.92 square meters of space while a dry one needs 1.5 square meters. 0.3 square meters is enough for a kid.
Floors of stalls should be about 1 meter above the ground to allow a person to clean under there.
Good ventilation is a must to minimize/prevent spreading of diseases and particularly ammonia gas from urine which chocks terribly.
Goats do not like to get wet and especially their feed so cover the shelters.

Below are some links to some excellent websites of goats in Africa:

Information on African goats: www.joygoats.org.uk

Goat Management: www.joygoats.org.uk