Strategies for Goat Feeding and Management during Drought

Abstract

Nowadays, climate change is becoming a serious problem threatening livestock production by affecting their environment, health, and feed sources. Many parts of the tropical countries, particularly the pastoralist area, experience extended periods of drought, leading to shortages of feed and water. During these periods, goats are incapable of meeting their nutrient requirement for maintenance and will begin to lose weight as body reserves are depleted, causing economic loss to the goats. In the extremely long dry season, animals die, with the youngest, weakest, and oldest dying first. As a result, drought management entails balancing pasture and water supply against forage and water demand. In most cases, no single strategy will suffice to address this issue. Each situation would need a different set of strategies Therefore, this chapter will come with some common options/ strategies that can be avail feed shortage during drought. Those strategies are purchase of feed from surplus location, adjustment of animal management, policy intervention, destocking, adjusting grazing strategies during drought, supplementation, maintenance feeding, reallocation of a given amount of feed in the herd, early weaning and creep feeding, lowering stocking rate, water sources and supplies, development and effective utilization of feed resources, and creation of feed banks.