About Goat-Farming-in-the-Philippines. One good reason for some farmers to raise goats is to beat rising fertiliser costs and some farmers on Mindanao Island in the southern Philippines have done just that. It is very true to say that goat dung is a good source of fertiliser, and in some developed countries that is more valuable than the milk that goats produce. Goat-Farming-in-the-Philippines
Mindanao has a large Muslim population and goat meat is considered to be Halal food so goats are a viable meat source. One newspaper report that I read said that one farmer has around 300 goats which provide dung fertilizer for his four farms near Davao City. The farmer plants rice, and also grows pomelo, coconuts, durian and other fruit on his 30 hectares. One farmer states that he is making a 30% saving on commercial fertilizer.
Goats are also viable in mixed framing ventures as they eat grass, legumes and beans, and it’s often cut and carry feed to them as they love fruit tree leaves and branches. This means no waste when pruning fruit trees and the stripped branches are perfect for firewood. It doesn’t mention use of rice based byproducts or those from copra etc which are also relatively cheap and plentiful. The statistics from the Mindanao Economic Development Council, say they produced 29,800 metric tonnes of goat meat in 2006 and it’s a growing industry
There are many clever people doing research into goat nutrition and interesting ones include use of farm by products such as sugar cane, rice bran, copra meal and others including sugar cane by products. If you are a goat breeder talk to your local rice farmers and trade services, your goats will eat his rice stubble after harvest and he will get 1 kg per goat of free fertilizer. If you have a small amount of land look at planting mulberry trees, they are highly nutritious to goats and you may be able to make money in cooperation with silk producers and fruit producers.
Did you know that animals in particular goats also can thrive well on Rice Bran, Cotton Seeds Meal, Vegetable Cake, Copra Meal, Copra Cake, Copra Expeller, Tapioca Residue and Tapioca Meal Pellets and Palm Kernel Meal? In Australia I have been adding copra meal to my goats rations for a long time and it’s a very good source of protein. The Philippines exports all of these products to Australia, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, UAE and New Zealand and Philippine goat producers should take advantage of any local sources. You can experiment with a mixture of rice hay, rice bran, and also copra meal in addition to other feed.
Rice bran is a very rich source of the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids and antioxidant nutrients. Rice Bran has high protein content and are extensively used as a cattle and poultry feed and it works also well for goats. Defatted rice bran pellet is made from good quality of rice, and is clean and easy to feed and has Protein 16.96% Starch 28.91% and Fat 3% max. De Oiled Rice Bran has around Protein 13% to 14% Fibre 18% Sand & Silica 8% to 10% and Moisture 10%. Goat-Farming-in-the-Philippines
Copra Meal (Copra Cake, Copra Expeller, Copra Meal pellets) are also very good high protein feed additives. Meal is produced from the coconut, and copra is the dried section of the meaty inner lining of the coconut fruit. The ripe coconuts are split and laid in the sun to dry to reduce moisture. Copra expeller is made up of pressing residues that come during the oil extraction from the copra . As it has a high protein content, copra expeller becomes a valuable concentrated feed additive for mixed livestock feed. The Oil Content: 10% min, Crude Protein 20-21%, Starch 1.3% Max, Dry Matter 90% Max, Moisture: 10% max, Fibre: 13% max, Protein: 18% min, Silica: 2. 5% max.
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