BREEDING EXCELLENCE
A journey of experience, knowledge and wisdom.
OUR STUD
Balanced research, practical experience and lessons wisely learned on our journey have shaped the vision and philosophy of our stud. Today, our aim is to encourage, help develop, and maintain exceptional herd genetics across Botswana. It is this commitment to excellence and careful selection of offspring which has allowed us to produce some of the finest Boer Goats in our nation.
In Setswana there is a saying: ‘Podi e bogadi bo gaufi’ which means: ‘it is easier to maximise your return on investment with goats when compared to others like cattle.’ We have taken this to heart and aim to alleviate poverty across Botswana by providing our farmers with high quality genetic Boer Goats at competitive prices. These farmers can in turn, breed their own stock to sell into the market.
OUR GOATS
Our breeding stock traces back to highly respected, registered goat herds in South Africa. By purchasing quality frozen semen and performing Artificial Insemination (AI), our goats have grown from strength to strength, thanks to stringent herd and farm management & principles.
Botswana farming conditions carry their own unique difficulties and we needed to adapt our farming practices to suit these conditions. As a land locked country, feeds are extremely expensive, making continuous feeding difficult. As a results, we have conditioned our animals to adapt quickly to achieve excellent results.
HERD WELFARE
At Shabo-Tang stud, the welfare of our animals is of primary importance. This means that they are continually protected from any pain, injury or disease via both prevention and/or rapid diagnosis & treatment. We allow them the freedom to express normal behaviour by providing sufficient space, proper facilities and appropriate social interaction amongst the herd. This prevents them from experiencing, fear, anxiety, distress and mental suffering. All of our goats are properly fed and the use of performance enhancing hormones is strictly forbidden.
OUR DREAM
‘Our dream began with a Tswana buck named George. As time passed we purchased 20 registered Boer Goat does and 2 bucks. We learnt, made mistakes, and benchmarked against other successful local farmers. Today, we’re living our dream!’
DOES
Breeding does for stud requires knowledge, diligent record-keeping and patience. Careful phenotype selection, feeding, healthcare, comfort and wellbeing will result in quality genetic offspring. All of our does undergo mandatory testing and inspection by industry experts to ensure they conform to all relevant requirements (e.g.: head, neck, forequarter, barrel, legs, skin, udder).
The following traits define our does:
Reproduction fertility – our does are capable of giving birth to two or more kids (up to four per doe in a breeding season). This is the best birthing rate for both production and profitability.
The udder of a lactating doe should be well developed and attached in order to allow the lamb easy nursing. Does that birth triplets or more may need assistance.
Historically, all of our does have an exceptional mothering ability which has resulted in low labour cost and reduced monitoring of kids during lambing.
Our does management during breeding and off-season has resulted in consistently healthy, fit and happy females.
Wherever possible, abortions are discouraged as these have a negative impact on ewe production and well-being. We therefore have specific measures in place to lower the risk of abortion.
BUCKS
All of our breeding bucks are carefully selected by highly qualified Boer Goat inspectors from both Botswana and the Republic of South Africa to assure the highest levels of genetic quality.
Our bucks are selected based on the following traits:
Head – strong head with large, brown eyes and tamed look. The forehead prominently curved linking up with the curve of nose and horns. It is important that the horns curve backward to avoid injuries during mating.
Neck and forequarters – the neck length should be moderate in proportion to the length of the body. The front legs should be of medium length, strong and in proportion to the depth of the body.
Barrel – should be long and deep broad. The back fairly straight and not pinched behind the shoulders.
Hindquarters – should have fully fleshed thighs and buttocks. The rump should not slope too much but be broad and long .
Legs should be strong and well placed to allow easy mating during breeding period. Bucks with thin legs are undesirable.
Skin and covering – loose thick supple skin with sufficient chest and neck skin folds. Short smooth glossy hair.
Sexual organs – high libido with two reasonable large, well-formed, healthy and equal sized testes in one scrotum. Fertility tests plays a critical role.
Colouring – we have adopted the RSA standard of grading stud animals vs commercial flock. Since our focus is on stud animals we cull bucks with patches as these are undesirable for stud goats.
FACILITIES AND BREEDING
We have stringent health and cleanliness checks across all farm facilities and kraals to ensure the well-being of our goats. This includes protection from the elements and predators, assistance during kidding, appropriate nutrition and clean drinking water.
Careful and correct selection of parent goats has a remarkable influence on raising average productivity and on the genetic make-up of producing genetically excellent offspring.
It is also important to have clear and definitive breeding objectives. At Shabo-Tang Stud our focus is to breed Boers Goats with exceptional genetics that are capable of surviving the harsh African climate. We don’t breed for quantity, we breed for quality. We therefore continually research against our management plan to ensure our desired phenotypes and genotypes are delivered provide us with the best offspring possible.
Our state-of-the-art breeding facility is currently under construction and will offer the following upon completion:
A research unit with a small lab
Specially designed handling facility to reduce animal stress
Isolation sick pens
Kidding facility
THE VALUE OF RESPECT
We take care of our goats and in return they take care of us.
BREEDING POLICY
Our breeding policy helps us in our vision to produce exceptional goats and outstanding meat. This policy is based on the following principles:
REPRODUCTION
Net reproduction rate – based on fertility and fecundity trait. Our selected does are able to give birth to two or more kids (up to four per ewe in a breeding season). Any doe that cannot reproduced is culled to prevent wastage.
Milk production – based on quantity of milk of a lactating doe. Our does should be able to produce enough milk for the kids. Any doe that does not produce enough milk is culled.
Mothering abilities – the ability of the doe to take care of her kid/s with little to no assistance. This plays a massive role in ensuring less mortality in our kids.
PRODUCTION
Growth capacity – weaning weight and post-weight. The ability of kids to gain weight before weaning and after weaning determines genetics quality.
Hardiness and adaptability – ability to perform under different natural pastures and climatic conditions. Feeds are very expensive.
Conformation – Goats body conformation plays a major role in our stud. The goats should not be too thin or too fat and at the same time not too short or too tall.
Record keeping – helps us to improve genetics through appropriate pairing to prevent inbreeding.
Our stringent management plan assists in improving our goat genetics and helps us set our objectives before the breeding season begins. It also helps greatly with the evaluation of our progress.