Trianti Djoharjani
A survey covering 55 goat farmers was conducted to describe and understand the production systems and to identify the constraints to milk production of dual purpose Etawah goats in East Java. It was found that goat keeping was considered as the secondary occupation although for many it was an important source of income. Most farmers kept goats as a saving account; goats were sold when cash was needed. Therefore high growth rate of kids and high prolificacy was an important objective of goat keeping. Dual purpose Etawah was preferred to Kacang goats as the sale prices were higher. Although 72% of farmers knew that Etawah goats could produce surplus milk for human consumption, only 28% of them milked their goat regularly, as they felt the growth of the kids might be affected. The average flock size was 8.7 of which about 3 goats were above 3 years old. They were kept in elevated pens with slatted floors. Feeds consisted mainly of a mixture of shrubs, leaves, green forage and other leguminous trees. Crop residues, waste product from soybean tofu, rice bran and sometimes molasses were also fed to the goats. The crude protein varied from 15 to 25% on a dry matter basis indicating that protein was not a limiting factor in the production systems. The average yearly production was 2.7 kids per doe. When milk was sold the price for goats milk was higher than cows milk.
University of Brawijaya, Faculty of Animal Husbandry, Jl. Veteran, Malang 65145, East Java, Indonesia
