Abstract:
The study was conducted in Enebse Sar Midir district of East Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia, with the main
objective of investigating the smallholder goat husbandry practices. For the study, data were collected by
interviewing 150 sample households who are selected purposively from three agro ecologies using semistructured
questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS (version 16). The survey result showed that
the major feed source and water sources for goats were natural pasture (48.7%) and river water (81.3%),
respectively. Goats are housed for protection from adverse climatic conditions and predators. The most
common type of goat house in the study area is the one which is constructed attached to the family house
sharing the common wall. Majority (80.7%) of farmers in the study area practice castration of goats for the
purpose of fattening and selling. The majority (54.5%) of farmers in the area used modern method (using
Burdizzo) of castration. The major reason for culling of goats in the area was reported to be old age
(48.9%). The overall mean age at first kidding and kidding interval was reported to be 12.2 ± 0.17and 7.39
± 0.09 months, respectively. Disease and parasites and feed shortage were reported to be the two major
constraints of goat production in the area. Even though the current productivity of goats in the area is
fairly good, full potential need to be exploited by improving husbandry practices, applying appropriate
disease prevention methods and applying strategic forage development and feeding practices.
