Australia's Largest Goat Research Project - What We Know So Far

Researchers leading the largest goat industry research project ever undertaken in Australia are a step closer to answering the question: what reproductive performance should I expect from my does?

Interim findings from the five-year, $3.7 million Kids+ project show that, as expected, there are numerous management factors that influence the number of kids weaned.

Louw Hoffman, Professor of Meat Science in the Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences within the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) at the University of Queensland, is leading the project.

Professor Hoffman said that one of the main management strategies that seems to be delivering results is to shorten the joining season to six weeks.

"This gives each doe the opportunity to cycle twice; any does that are then not pregnant are culled, thereby removing any sub-fertile does from the herd," Professor Hoffman said.

"Other reasons for culling include weak teats/udders, and age. A shorter joining period also allows for a better management of the herd as a whole, enabling easier and more accurate pregnancy scanning, a tighter age and more uniform kids at weaning and marketing.

"As shown in the Table 1 below, producers with a fixed joining period had between 88–98% of the does joined pregnant.

"The 79.8% does pregnant (Producer 3) was from a rangeland herd that were joined all year round, and does that were wet were counted as being pregnant. A low number of does that were wet were also found to be pregnant.

"The past year has generally been a good year for goat producers with sufficient rains which could have been the reason for the high number of multiples.

"Most of the producers in the Kids+ program have reported that their does have started kidding. There were a number of late gestation abortions reported, although the causes of this have not been determined. Some losses to crows, wedge-tailed eagles and pigs have also been noted."

The project has collected more than 15,430 individual goat record to date, from across extensive, intensive and semi-intensive systems.

Table 1

Infrastructure tips

Professor Hoffman said the Kids+ research team also identified some key infrastructure design features for large-scale commercial goat producers to help reduce stress when working with goats in yards.

"We have found a few commonalities that can be addressed to accommodate goat behaviour and improve the welfare of both livestock and handlers, and one of them is the need to have a shorter raceway," Professor Hoffman said.

"For sheep, you can have long, wide raceways, but for goats, the raceways need to be shorter and narrower to prevent goats from packing together and smothering each other at either end of the raceways.

"Depending on the size of the herds you're handling, yard pens must be big enough, and it's best to minimise corners, to again prevent the goats piling together.

"Shade and good water sources are essential. Not only is the water obviously necessary for the goats, but it will also dampen the dust. If there is too much dust swirling around in the yards, you risk missing important signs such as pregnant status of young does, because you can't see their udders, bad udders or feet – all indicators to cull.

"Establishing holding paddocks around the yards that are about 40–80ha that you can muster quickly, and have your animals standover, is essential.

"They all need water and easy access from the yards into each paddock, without the goats all having to file through one paddock to get to the next one.

"A lot of producers have established exclusion fencing and divided up properties into paddocks, which is great. However, establishing a raceway, about 100m wide, makes it easier to muster goats into the raceway and move them to the yards, rather than through an open paddock.

"I know it has its financial implications, but it does make a difference on stress and ease of handling," Professor Hoffman said.