Meat and Livestock Australia

Rangeland goat production inWestern NSW: Where are they now? 17 Livestock Goat numbers on Orana were standing at around 2,700 doe’s in late 2017, following a reduction from 3,500 before the decline in season. These breeding numbers result in an annual turn off of 8,000 to 9,000 head, equating to an impressive annual weaning rate of around 300 per cent (previous case study indicated 170 per cent, however this figure was clarified to be per kidding, not per annum). John believes this is achieved through a combination of goats’ high fertility, high fecundity, young maturity and strong survivability. Young does have been observed to have kids of their own before they reach one year old, with does able to kid three times in two years and multiple births common. It is this reproductive capacity, combined with hardiness, that John believes positions goats well in the face of increasing climate variability. Does are culled on structural soundness and productivity rather than whole age groups. Most are usually sold at around six years old. Husbandry Does are continuously joined as John believes they seem to be able to pick the season best in order to have a flush of kids when feed is available. Bucks are joined at approximately six per cent, however John has been slowly reducing bucks to this figure without yet seeing any impact on kidding rates. Kids are weaned in June-July and December-January at about five months old and all are drenched (oral). John has witnessed a noticeable difference following weaning between kids that have and haven’t been drenched, persuading him to make this a routine practice. Worm tests are not carried out to inform drenching decisions, but John does change practices in response to season and timing of weaning. For example, if goats are being weaned in spring following a wet winter he will opt to drench, but if weaning is being carried out in late summer after a dry season, he will not drench. All males are left entire and females are tagged. Wild dogs are not present close to Orana, but tracks have been seen on Huntingfield. If dog predation became apparent John would begin regularly baiting and seriously consider establishing a total exclusion fence on his boundary. The boundary fence being constructed on Huntingfield would only require an apron to be clipped on the bottom of the hinge-joint to create a multi-species exclusion fence. Breeding All goats are classed at weaning based on visual assessment methods similar to those used on cattle. These include confirmation, temperament, structure and milking ability. Bucks to be kept for the breeding herd are retained at the point of sale. In 2003, Boer bucks were first introduced to the Orana breeding herd to increase weight gain, dressing percentage and carcass quality. There were initial difficulties with the Boer’s in joining success and survivability. However John persevered with the breed and focused on joining first cross bucks with larger numbers of rangeland does rather than pure Boers. Through cross-breeding, he was able to establish a level of Boer influence across his herd. John believes the Boer influence increased weight gain, allowing animals to reach 20 kg cwt by around nine months rather than 11, and also increased dressing percentage by about five per cent. John’s composite goats dress at 44 to 46 per cent, with one mob recently averaging 48 per cent. Polled bucks bred by John Vagg