RAISE SMALL RUMINANTS
o Select healthy breeders and suitable cages
o Feed small ruminants
o Manage breeding of small ruminants
o Manage does/ewes and their progenies
-Ruminants from Latin word “ruminare”, “to chew over
gain”
-Ruminants are mammals that are able to acquire nutrients
from plant-based feed by fermenting it in a specialized
stomach prior to digestion, principally through bacterial
actions.
ADVANTAGES OF RAISING SMALL RUMINANTS
o Goats require smaller capital investment than
cattle
o Goats multiply faster than cattle or carabao.
Before goat is three years old, she can give birth to
as many as five kids
o Although a goat is small, she can produce as much
four liters of milk everyday if she is pure-bred and
is given a ration to meet all of nutritional
requirements
o Goats require less feds than cows and carabao.
About ten native goats can be feed on the
feedstuffs sufficient for one cow. And about 6-7
purebred dairy goats can be fed on the feedstuff
sufficient for one dairy cow
o Goat are usually docile and can be raised by
anyone. Where cows or carabao may be too large
for women or children to handle, the goats is just
right size of animals for them to raise.
o Goats are friendly and intelligent
o Goats are clean animals they do not thrive in filthy
places also they do not eat rotten or spoiled feeds
o A few can be tethered along farm fences and
boundaries or along roads and can be even be
confined in pins and given yard clippings and
branches or tree and shrubs. A herd can be raised
easily on open lands
o Under orchards and coconut plantation , goats are
good clippers of weeds
o Goats provide manure for fishponds, farms and
gardens
o Farmer’s , in some cases , can use goats
“insurance” against the failure of their crops
o A family milk goat can provide just the right
amount of milk for the farm family at very
economic price
SYSTEM OF RAISING SMALL RUMINANTS
1. Zero grazing (cut and carry)
2. Grazing system
3. GOAT- SALT Integration System (SALT 2)
TERMINOLOGIES
GOAT (Capra hircus)
o Female goat is called DOE or NANNY
o Male goat is called a BUCK or BILLY
o Baby goat is called KID
SHEEP (Ovis aries)
o Male sheep is called RAMS
o Female sheep is called EWE
o Immature sheep called LAMBS
o Mature sheep weigh about 35 to 180 kg
o Matures at about 1-year of age, and many breed
when they reach
LO1: SELECT HEALTHY BREEDERS AND SUITABLE CAGES
DESIRABLE CHARACTERISTICS FOR SMALL RUMINANTS
o Good teeth
o Good legs and feet
o Good and shiny skin and hair
o Normal reproductive parts
BREEDS OF SHEEPS
1. Meat Sheep Breeds (Cheviot, Dorset, Hampshire,
Montadale, etc.)
2. Long Wool Sheep Breeds (Border Leicester, Coopworth,
Cotswold, Lincoln, etc.)
3. Fine Wool Sheep Breeds (Americano Como, Booroola
Merino, Deboullet, Delaine-Merino, etc.)
4. Dual Purpose Breeds (Miniature Brecknock, Columbia,
Corriedale, Panama, etc.)
5. Hair Sheep Breeds (American Blackbelly, Barbados
Blackbelly , California Red, Dorper, etc.)
6. Minor Sheep Breeds (Black Welsh Mountain , Blueface
Leicester, Californai Variegated Mutant , Icelandic, etc.)
SELECTION CRITERIA (GOAT)
DOES
 Should be purchased from a locality or area with
similar climatic conditions
 Native or graded does should not be less than 25kg
 Udder should be palpated for size, detection of
lumps, and other abnormalities
 Teats should be uniform at length and large
enough for easy milking
 It must have a good appetite , possessing alert
eyes, and well formed pupils , and
 Do not buy breeders from markets
BUCKS
 One year old breeder or buck that have
successfully mated once is desirable
 Acquired buck should be accompanied by pedigree
records
  It must have a good producing line based from
farm records
 Buck must have come from doe with high twinning
rate
 Buck must be active and ready to breed in-heat
doe
 Replace buck , preferably, every three years
SELECTING HE SITE/LOCATION FOR SMALL RUMINANT
(PAES)
 The location shall conform to the land use plan of
the area
 The site shall be accessible to service roads, water
supply and electric lines
 The site shall be well drained and allows for free
air circulation
 The building shall be constructed in an east-west
orientation and the structure for marketable
animals shall be located near the service road
 The site shall be located where the prevailing
winds will not carry odors to the farm house
TYPES OF HOUSING (PAES)
 SHED TYPE- animals can move freely in or out of
the housing area and into the paddock or feeding
area. Feeding and watering through, mineral
feeders and grain bunks are located on concrete
pads at the center or along the side of the shed
 Pen-barn type
a. Stall barns- each animal is
confined in a stall. Stalls are
provided with individual feeding
and watering through
 Pen-barn type
b. CONFINED HOUSING- group pens
of animals with the same sizes
should be constructed and
provided with an ample area for
exercise. Feeding through should
be fenced off with bamboo or
wooden slats providing ample
space that will enable the
animals from stepping or
trampling the grasses. Watering
devices should be placed in an
area where spilled water will not
mess up the pen
SPACE REQUIREMENT (PAES)
 A fenced loafing area of 150 m2/50 head shall be
provided adjacent to the animal housing
STRUCTURAL REQUIREMENT (PAES)
FLOOR
a. A. For slatted floor, the slats should be 70 mm -
100 mm wide, 25 mm- 30 mm thick and should be
laid with slot space of 10 mm-25mm. For goats,
staircase type and elevated type of slatted
flooring should be constructed. The minimum
step width shall be 800 mm and the vertical
distance between steps shall be 300 mm.
b. If the slatted floor is made of galvanized welded
mesh, the diameter of the wire shall be 5 mm and
the mesh spacing shall be 20 mm
c. The slatted floor shall be atleast 1 m above the
ground. The floor underneath the slatted floor
that slopes towards the drainage.The concrete
floor shall have a minimum slope of 4%
d. For concrete floor, it shall be skid resistant and
well drained .The floor slope should be 2%-4%
ROOF
a. Adequate roofing shall be provided against rain
and intense heat from the sun
b. For the shed type housing , the roof shall slope
towards the back of the shed. The height of the
rear eave shall be atleast 1.5 m
c. For adequate ventilation, roof slope shall not be
less than 25%. If roofing is made of indigenous
materials, the minimum roof slope shall be 58%
WALL
a. Adequate walling shall be provided against rain
b. A clearance of 150 mm – 300 mm between floor to
wall and wall to beam should be provided to
create an adequate circulation of air and to lower
draft.
FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENT
PENS FOR PEN BARN TYPE HOUSING
a. Height of pen wall and gate shall vary according to
breed but shall not be less than 1.2 m.
b. Pen wall and gates should be made of cyclone
wire, metal bars or wooden slats. For metal bars
and wooden slats, slot size should be 50 mm – 100
mm.
c. If the wall is galvanized welded or woven mesh ,
the maximum mesh dimension shall be 100 mm x
 100 mm and the post shall be made up of a. Milking area shall be separated from where the
galvanized steel (70 mm in diameter) goats are kept and it shall be provided with milking
d. Fittings and internal surfaces of all buildings and stall
equipment to which the animals have access shall
LIGHTING AND ELECTRICAL INSTALLATION
not have sharp edges or projections
e. Surfaces shall not be treated with paints or wood a. the housing shall be provided with lighting intensity
preservatives that may cause illness or death of 200 lux
f. A brooder box shall be provided for newly born
kids/lambs .One side shall be open and box b. all electrical installations shall be inaccessible to all
dimension should be 500 mm x 450 mm x 350 mm. animals and it shall be conform to Philippine Electrical
Code
PEN FACILITIES
FIELD FENCING
A. Feeding through and hay racks
A. the height of the fence shall be at least 1.5 m
1. Feeding troughs should be trapezoidal or semi-
cylindrical. The feeding through depth should be B. Post shall be spaced not more than 4 m apart and
180 mm- 250 mm with a width of 300 mm and it shall be embedded at least 300 mm into the ground
shall be raised of the ground at least 150 mm to
C. If woven wire is used as fencing materials, the
keep the animals out
maximum spacing between horizontal lines should be
2. Hay racks shall have diagonal or vertical slats with
150 mm. However, the spacing between the horizontal
a minimum spacing of 130 mm. Hay racks shall be
lines can be made as the fence gets taller
properly positioned and designed to avoid the risk
of injury
3. Recommended linear feeding space.

ANIMAL WEIGHT FEEDING

SPACE
Linear
mm/animal
DOE/EWE 35 350
DOE/EWE 50 400
DOE/EWE 70 450
KID/LAMB 250
BUCK/RAM 500

B. Water facility

1. Water troughs should be preferably

concrete
2. In an open tank drinking system, 300 mm of
space is required for each 15-25 head. In an
automatic watering system, 1 bowl or
nipple shall be provided for every 50 head
3. Watering devices shall be placed in an area
where spilled water is easily drained
4. 8.2.2.4 for free range, apron around the
waterers shall be paved or packed with
gravel at least 750 mm width

BREEDING FACILITIES (optional)

a. A separate kidding or lambing pen with minimum

dimension of 1 m x 1.5 m shall be provided
b. For every ten does or ewe, one kidding or lambing
pen shall be provided
c. Buck/ram shall be housed separated from milking
herd and downwind from the milking herd

MILKING AREA (optional)