Meat and Livestock Australia

Rangeland goat production inWestern NSW: Where are they now? 39 Husbandry Does are joined year round at a rate of about five per cent bucks. Tony believes that a two per cent joining rate would be sufficient but by increasing that to five per cent provides insurance against does being joined by rangeland bucks. Having bucks in year round not only minimises risk of does being joined by rangeland bucks, but also allows does to reproduce in a way that best matches the season. This notion of ‘letting goats be goats’ is something Tony sees as very important. All goats are tagged which has allows a good understanding of productive lifespan of does to be gained. Tony believes most of his does will reproduce until around nine years of age, but has had some reach 12 years. Young goats are not weaned or treated in any way due to being sold at a young age. The presence of rangeland goats is a constant challenge for Tony. He outlines that a rangeland buck joining a doe turns a potentially $50 kid into one worth only $15. Tony does not report any predation from wild dogs, sighting eagles as a far greater source of loss. Breeding When Tony first began focusing on meat goats during the mid 1990’s, he identified the carcass attributes of Boer goats as something of value. In the early years he trialed both white and red bodied Boers. It was when a mixed mob of goats was bought from Condobolin that Tony first began to realise the benefits of the red bodied goats over the traditional white bodied, red headed Boers. In the first litter of kids from this mixed mob it was clear that those born to reds displayed higher survivability and performed better in his environment. Traditional Boer bucks also failed to breed successfully with rangeland does. Additional to differences in adaptation, Tony has observed that white bodied Boers tend to produce a fattier carcass then the reds. This is something he sees as undesirable. In the earlier years of Tony’s move into goats he regularly entered goats in shows where they were judged on their physical characteristics. However he ceased doing so as his focus on Red Boers grew. This was due to the opinion that the characteristics being judged did not align well with those that are commercially important. Tony feels this has played a role in white bodied Boers displaying poor survivability in a commercial, rangeland setting. This is a result of being largely bred for show ring success, with a lack of commercial focus in selection decisions. From 2000 onwards, Tony focused his breeding on Red Boer goats. He sourced bucks from the Armidale district over a three year period and even implemented an Artificial Insemination (AI) program in 2003. Despite the substantial change in environment, bucks from Armidale adapted well to the rangelands. Tony recommends introducing purchased bucks as young as possible, as they appear to adapt far better. While the AI program allowed genetic gain to be fast tracked it is not something Tony would do again. This is due to the intensive nature of the work. Within herd selection at Wallangarra focusses on weight gain and carcass yield. Tony explains that these are the traits you get paid for. When considering the ability to sell goats at a young age to create room for the next flush of kids, weight gain is increasingly important. Other characteristics that Tony selects for are length, height, structure, short red coat and good temperament. By using Red Boer’s, Tony believes he has raised average carcass yield from around 40 per cent in rangeland goats to almost 50 per cent. Red Boer bucks bred by Tony, approximately five months old Horned composite does