A survey of the meat goat industry in Queensland and New South Wales. 1. General property information, goat and pasture management

Nogueira, D. M.; Gardiner, Christopher; Gummow, Bruce; Cavalieri, J; Fitzpatrick, L. A.; Parker, Albert

doi:10.1071/an14793

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Australia is the largest exporter of goat meat worldwide, exporting 31,700 tonnes of meat and 75,100 live goats in 2013-14 (McRae andThomas 2014). Meat goat exports from Australia were initiated in 1952 (Restall et al 1982), but producers in the pastoral regions are still conducting opportunist harvesting of goats and they keep few records related to their property (Nogueira et al, 2015). According to Brice et al (2012) little is known about goat production systems and productivity of rangeland goat meat enterprises in Australia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For this reason, a study was designed to survey farmers' knowledge and practices on the herd management, which includes timing of the breeding season, kidding, weaning, culling and selection, animal health, nutrition and genotypes utilised by meat goat producing enterprises within Queensland and New South Wales. A companion paper to this publication has discussed the management of pastures, stocking rates and markets of meat goat producing enterprises (Nogueira et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A survey of the meat goat industry in Queensland and New South Wales. 2. Herd management, reproductive performance and animal health

et al. 2016

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Abstract. An interview based questionnaire survey was conducted on 31 goat properties in New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland (QLD) in 2013. This study has gathered information on goat herd management, reproductive performance and animal health, and has identified constraints that may limit goat productivity. Producers from high rainfall regions reported having full blood Boer goats for stud breeding. In contrast, producers from pastoral regions had rangeland goats and Boer-cross goats. Overall, 87% of the producers identified a natural breeding season in goats and 61% separated kids from their mothers at weaning. The weaning age varied between 3.0 to 6.0 months. A total of 52% of producers castrated male kids. Only 10% of producers used ultrasound to conduct pregnancy diagnosis on their goats. The reported pregnancy rate was 60% for the Pastoral regions and 94% for the High rain fall regions. The average prolificacy was 1.4 kids/doe and the kidding interval was 12 months. Overall, 68% of producers fed their goat herd with supplements, with the exception that most producers from western NSW and southwestern QLD did not use supplements. Producers considered gastrointestinal parasites (61%) and body lice (48%) as the main diseases associated with their goat herds, although only 52% mentioned drenching the animals with anthelmintics. In general, properties in the pastoral regions showed low pregnancy and kidding rates, early age at first mating, 2 high mortality rates, poor performance of Boer bucks and lower weights and weight gain than properties in the high rainfall regions. The survey has highlighted areas that require further study to validate the observations of producers, for instance, factors that may be limiting the fertility of Boer goats in rangeland environments, the incidence of diseases, the use of Kidplan ® and management strategies to improve goat productivity.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%