Miniature cameroon goats

Cameroon goats are gaining popularity in private agriculture and are raised as livestock on farms and even in apartments. Small Cameras allow Cameroonian goats in a limited space.

Content
  1. About Cameroonian breed
  2. Exterior traits
  3. Benefits for breeding and productivity
  4. Content specificity

Камерунские козы

Cameroonian goats

About the Cameroonian breed

Dwarf Cameroonian goats initially became livestock in the Middle East and, thanks to whalers, began to spread by moving on whaling vessels. it was known about 10,000 years ago. Forage for miniature animals was not enough, they took up little space, tolerated long-term swimming easily. At the same time, for wandering sailors, they served as a source of fresh products – milk and meat.

Distribution geography Cameroonians include the territory from Sudan towards Liberia, confining to the south of Zaire.

Cameroonians are widespread among farmers living in humid forest tropics and forest-steppes, where goats are not grazed far from peasant houses.It is advantageous to keep dwarf goats on American, German, and Swedish private farms for the reason that these animals in the ratio of feed costs to milk and meat productivity are much more profitable than keeping cows.

Cameroonian goats came to Russia in the 90s, it began to be bred by agriculture in the Kaliningrad, Yaroslavl, Kursk and Novosibirsk regions.

These animals are considered to be long-livers; the Cameroonian goat lives in favorable and comfortable conditions up to 20 years.

Exterior traits

The description characteristic of the Cameroonian goat breed includes a set of exterior traits that distinguish these animals from the rest:

  • in their likeness large relatives of mini-goats have a beard and erect ears,
  • the small tail is upward,
  • the body is barrel-shaped, squat,
  • horns in goats in length are short, bent back.

In length, the compact Cameroonian dwarf goat grows to 0.65-0.7 meters. The mass of the goat is gained up to 13-15 kilograms, the goat weighs much more – up to 22-23 kilograms.

Cameroonians had the maximum possible weight of 35 kilograms.

The color of the wool coat of Cameroonians in most cases is red or black.In some representatives of the breed, spots or specks of white shades are found on the wool. Thick hair saves animals from a cold climate.

Advantages for breeding and productivity

Among the advantages, the owners of the goat breed note their equal adaptability to hot and cold climates, sufficiency in poor forage diet and adaptation to outstanding conditions of detention. In addition, Cameroonian goats are quite resistant to many diseases, having good health and immunity. Among the shortcomings of the breed, farmers say:

  • poor adaptability of the goats to cool and wet conditions,
  • the desire to stay in small herds, because they do not tolerate loneliness and are not ready to stay alone for a long time ,
  • timidity of animals.

When situations arise that cause fright, Cameroonian dwarf goats begin to show a stubborn character and can stand up for themselves.

In addition , as a minus in the breed of animals, some reviews of the owners note a tendency to allergic reactions.

Some owners of the Cameroonian goat mini-breed claim that they taught their pets to use toilet trays, explaining this by easy training in the training process.

The breed is not attributed to highly milking, since milk yield from them does not differ in high rates.The average milk production of Cameroonians does not exceed 1.5 liters per day. Only for rare representatives, this figure reaches 2.0 liters per day. The lactation period of goats lasts 5 months.

The fat content of milk from representatives reaches 5.2-5.3 percent. Cameroonian milk contains calcium, iron, phosphorus and potassium necessary for humans.

Cameroon meat can compete with dietary products made by chicken and rabbit. There is little fat in it, which is appreciated by nutritionists.

Cameroonian goat milk has a specific smell characteristic of the goat’s product, which is an advantage for raw materials used for cheese production.

Cameroon is one of the representatives who are considered to be multiple. Despite its small size, it is able to give offspring in the amount of two, and sometimes four kids. The number of annual lambing may be two. A newborn kid weighs approximately 0.35 kilograms, is characterized by muscular development, able to stand up just a few minutes after birth, and after 4-5 hours they can actively move.

Maturity dwarf Cameroonian goat is gaining up to seven months. age, but on the first mating, farmers bring them much later. Pregnancy lasts like a normal goat for 5 months.

Cameroon goat at the Natalina-Stepanova farm
One and a half naturalists: Cameroon goats
Cameroonian dwarf kids, sale

Content Specifics

Cameroonian goats are not uncommon in zoos. There they are kept as a decorative animal, about which you can watch a video with Cameroonian goats. In conditions of natural walking, miniature animals are able to climb low trees or rocks to a height of up to 10 meters. They do this in search of natural food.Therefore, for pasture walking during the breeding and keeping of the breed, marshlands and flood meadows will not work, but dry forests and steppes will be more preferable.

In central Russia, Cameroonians are often bred by means of aviary.

The room where the mini-breed will live must be dry and clean. Straw is used as bedding for animals.

Newborn kids move from the mother immediately after birth and are fed with milk, which lasts up to 2 weeks. When they reach a weekly age, the feed ration is replenished with dry hay. Young animals are fed 4 times a day. For the prevention of white muscle disease goats in the diet add salt at 4-6 grams per day. When they reach the age of 2 months, young animals begin to be fed normal food.

The feed volume of food consumed by Cameroonians is 5-6 times less than that of ordinary breeds.

The most important an aspect that should be considered when feeding mini-goats is to prevent overfeeding, as the breed lacks a sense of fullness and measure. The feed menu of adults consists of green grass and shrub branches, hay and vegetables. Winter food consists of potatoes and beets, mixed fodder with the addition of hay, carrots and Jerusalem artichoke.

You can buy Cameroonian goats at a price of 1.5 to 2.5 thousand rubles.

You can bookmark this page

Anna Evans

Author ✓ Farmer

View all posts by Anna Evans →