Chapter 4: Perform goat routine management practices

Goat production is a vital agricultural activity in Kenya, contributing significantly to food security, income generation, and employment across diverse sectors. Effective management of goats requires accurate identification methods to monitor health, breeding, and ownership, which is essential for maintaining productive herds and preventing theft or loss. This chapter focuses on routine practices involved in goat management, starting with the methods used to identify goats in professional Kenyan settings such as county farms, agricultural cooperatives, and livestock markets.

4.1 Goat identification methods

Every goat in a herd needs a mark that tells it apart from the others. Without identification, the farmer cannot tell which doe kidded, which kid grew fastest, which animal was treated or vaccinated, which buck sired which kids, or which goat has been stolen or strayed into another herd. Identification links each animal to its breeding, health, feeding and production records, so it is the starting point of herd record keeping. A good mark is permanent, easy to read, safe for the animal, cheap to apply and difficult to remove. No single method has all these qualities, so many farms combine two methods, such as an ear tag for daily reading and a tattoo as a permanent back-up. Four methods are covered here: tattooing, ear-tagging, ear notching and microchips.

Tattooing

Tattooing marks a number or code permanently inside the ear using ink that is pushed into the skin by a set of needle-studded characters held in tattoo pliers. It is widely used on registered breeding goats because the mark cannot fall out or be easily removed.

1. Restrain the goat firmly, with an assistant holding the head.
2. Choose the correct letters and digits and assemble them in the pliers. Test them on paper first.
3. Clean the inside of the ear with a swab and disinfectant and remove wax and dirt.
4. Place the pliers on the clean inner skin between the ribs of the ear, avoiding the veins, and squeeze firmly.
5. Rub tattoo ink into the punctured skin with a clean brush or toothbrush.
6. Release the goat and check the ear for bleeding or infection over the next few days.

Tattoos are difficult to read in goats with dark or dirty ears, and cannot be read from a distance, so they are paired with a visible mark. Clean the tattoo pliers between animals to prevent the spread of disease.

Ear-tagging

An ear tag is a plastic or metal tag fixed through the ear with an applicator. It carries a number that is read at a glance, which makes it a practical method for daily work such as milking, treatment and weighing. Tags come in different sizes, and a smaller tag is chosen for kids.

1. Restrain the goat and clean the ear and the applicator with a disinfectant.
2. Load the tag into the applicator, with the numbered part on the correct side.
3. Choose a site in the middle part of the ear between the ribs and veins, away from the edge and the base, and avoid the cartilage ridges.
4. Close the applicator firmly in one movement so that the tag pushes through.
5. Check that the tag is secure but has room for the ear to grow and swell.
6. Record the tag number against the goat in the farm register and apply antiseptic to the ear.

Tags can be torn out by fences and feeders, and can cause infection if applied dirty or too tight. Check them regularly and replace any lost tag at once, noting the old number in the register.

Ear notching

Ear notching marks a goat by cutting small V-shaped or round notches in particular places on the edges of the ears with a notcher. Each position stands for a number, and the notches together give the goat's number. Example: a farm may decide that a notch in the lower edge of the right ear stands for 1 and a notch in the upper edge of the same ear stands for 3, so that the number is made by adding the values of the notches. The code is written in the farm register, and all workers use the same code.

Notching is cheap and permanent and needs no special tags, but it takes skill and causes pain and bleeding, so the instrument is disinfected and clean for each animal and the cuts are treated with antiseptic. Large herds find the code difficult to read quickly, and tears in the ear may be confused with notches.

Microchips

A microchip is a tiny electronic transponder, about the size of a grain of rice, enclosed in glass or housed in an ear tag or a bolus. It carries a unique number that is read with an electronic reader held near the animal and shown on the display. The chip is injected under the skin with a special applicator, usually by a trained person or a veterinarian.

• Advantages: the number cannot be seen, altered or removed easily, so it helps against theft and mix-ups, and reading by an electronic reader is fast and accurate.
• Data use: the number can be linked to a computer record that holds the goat's breeding, health and weight history.
• Limitations: the chips and the reader are expensive for a small farm, and a reader must be available each time the goat is identified.
• Care: the chip is placed at the recommended site, the reader is tested on a known animal and the number is recorded straight away in the register.

Choosing and combining methods

The farm's size, budget and purpose decide the method. A small dairy goat unit may use ear tags alone, while a breeding farm selling registered stock tattoos each animal and adds a tag or microchip. Whichever method is used:

• Identify kids at the time and age recommended for that method, so that the mark and the pedigree record match.
• Apply marks only with clean, disinfected instruments in dry conditions, and treat the site.
• Record each goat's number, breed, sex, date of birth and parents in the herd register.
• Inspect the marks at every handling and replace any that are lost or unreadable.

Chapter Summary

Effective goat production relies on proper routine management practices that begin with reliable identification methods to track individual animals. Castration techniques are essential for controlling breeding and improving meat quality. Regular hoof trimming promotes mobility and prevents infections. Vaccination programs protect goats from prevalent diseases, while isolation and quarantine measures help prevent the spread of illness within herds. Providing clean water ad-libitum is vital for maintaining health and productivity. Accurate and detailed records support informed decision-making and herd management. Shearing improves comfort and hygiene, and culling removes unproductive or unhealthy animals to enhance overall herd performance. Controlling internal and external parasites is critical to sustaining goat health and preventing economic losses.