A Review on Husbandry Practice and Constraints of Goat in Ethiopia

Goats are an integral part of the livestock sub sector in Ethiopia. Rearing of the Goats plays a crucial role in lives of the agrarian and some pastoral communities. husbandry practice/management of the goats include but not limited to housing, herding, feeding, watering and castration. The basic requirement of good goat housing is that it should alter or modify the environment for the benefit of goats and protect them from the vagaries of nature, predation and theft. A good understanding of the community’s herding practices is crucial to bring sustainable improvement to the smallholder’s flock through community-based strategies. Feed resource of goats in Ethiopia varies from natural shrubs and bushes, to conserved hay and crop residues. The variations in feed resources are observed across the seasons as well as the production systems where they are raised. This may be because type and quantity of feed resources in any area depends on environmental conditions and other associated factors. Drinking water is an absolute requirement for goats and an absence of a sufficient supply of water can be a critically limiting factor in animal/goat physiology and productivity. Insufficient water supply causes physiological disturbances and thereby the overall digestibility of the feed consumed. Castration is the blocking of buck’s sperm from testicles to avoid sperm in their ejaculation, which is one of the most important farm activities to prevent unwanted pregnancies in the flock, control aggression, and improve the quality of meat. Goat production in Ethiopia is constrained by several biotic and abiotic causes. Generally, the major constraints facing goat production throughout the country are mostly similar except their importance which varies across different areas.