By Moses Nosike

Considering the huge role which animal farming plays in developing countries of Africa especially Nigeria, an animal farm expert and Managing Director/CEO, Jovana Integrated Farms, Prince Arinze Onebunne has given guidelines on how one can become rich through Boar goat rearing. Prince Onebunne has been organising seminars and conferences in most parts of the country, training interested Nigerians how they can earn additional income through animal farming, and educating them on the huge employment opportunities that abound in animal farming.

He said, “Boer goats can help make emerging farmers successful, and it also has a large local and foreign breeding goat’s market. The Boer goat is bred to thrive under extensive livestock farming conditions in hot, arid environments where the quality of grazing is poor. The breed has the ability to convert poor-quality forage into meat at a very low cost, enabling livestock farmers in these arid areas to farm commercially.

If you’re looking for an economical meat animal or interested in making a little extra money, consider raising a Boer goat. Boer goats are natural browsers, consuming a variety of plants, shrubs, and trees. Providing access to quality pasture or browse is crucial for their overall health and growth. In areas with limited grazing resources, farmers can supplement with hay or other roughage sources”.

“The world’s fastest growing goat Boer goats originated from South Africa in the early 1900. Boer goats have garnered immense popularity in the meat production industry due to their exceptional growth rates and high meat-to-bone ratio. Boer goats offer many advantages: they’re an excellent source of meat and milk, resist disease, make good mothers, and adapt to difficult conditions. Boer goats are polyestrous (they can breed throughout the year), and they reach sexual maturity at five months of age. Gives birth to between 1-4 kids {usually 2}. Boer goats are prized for their size, rapid weight gain, carcass quality, hardiness, and docility. Boer goats are seasonal breeders.

“Typically, Boer goats breeders do breed their does twice in a year. Boer goats are known for their hardiness, adaptability, and resistance to diseases. They have a high fertility rate, with a conception rate of about 90% and a kidding rate of about 189%. The Boer goat is commonly a goat with a white body with a brown head and ears. Their ears are long, similar in appearance to Nubian goat ears. Boer goats are herbivores and are browsers by nature, preferring brush, shrubs and broadleaf weeds rather than grass. Males attain a weight of up to 170kg while females attain weight of about 80kg. Kids can attain a weight of 37kg at 90 days if from a good bloodline. Poorer bloodline will attain 16kg in 90 days.

“A Boer goat must thrive under extensive conditions, bucks should display a high libido, easily covering does in the veld on natural grazing with minimum inputs. They should walk long distances and convert poor-quality vegetation into healthy lean meat. Does should kid in the veld and raise the kids easily and with minimal intervention by the farmer. The Boer goat’s low input costs are what drive the profitability of farming with the breed. This is what the commercial producer is looking for. The trend toward stall-feeding will result in substandard genetics becoming more prevalent in the breed, to its detriment.

In Nigeria, Jovana integrated farms and other farmers import Boer goats as commercial production units or as part of cross-breeding programs with indigenous goats to improve the quality of their flocks.

Meanwhile, Jovana Integrated Farms is set for its 7th International Modern Commercial 4-in-1 livestock farm management masterclass in 24 Nigerian cities and online where participants will be trained on goat, grasscutter, fish and snail farming. Participants will learn how to start Livestock farming, packaging and processing, handling and transportation management, land and infrastructure design, outsourcing quality foundation breeds, health system, nutrition and feed formulation, overall farm management, comprehensive Breeding and Revenue projections and marketing Strategies, with a token fee of N10,000.