Yes your right Goat dung is much the same as Rabbit and you will get a much higher volume from them, for a Time I myself was breeding Goats we had the pens with concrete floors and had a run/slope to them for hosing down, you can get slatted flooring but none of them work all that well and tend to sag although I did see some advertised there for Pigs they may be better? the good thing about penning them on concrete is it keeps their hooves trim. We had a couple of Boer goats a (meat variety of good size) to breed to the natives to increase their size, having horns they look dangerous but are actually quite docile, if you do not know these they are worth checking out. Some 20yrs ago the Philippine Government imported 250 head of these all males and passed them around to Farmers all over the country so they could upgrade their herds, but unfortunately most of these Stupid Feckers ate them, however you can still see a few of the offspring around usually they are mostly white with a brown head any that are left will be cross bred, mostly a local Goat will only have one youngster but if the female is given some supplementary feed a couple of weeks before breeding they will have twins.
In my time there in PH I'm not sure if I have seen any Worms even on Virgin ground that may have not been farmed for decades? even on our Lot it had lain untouched for at least 10yrs where we excavated for the septic tank the soil was really black and looked the perfect medium for growing in and to find Worms, but never yet did I see a Worm there? this has me wondering if they may be less prolific in tropical countries? I have a few Rabbits here in UK and had thrown their droppings in a heap which I spread out the other day, this had gotten really stinky but there was quite a few Brandling Worms present in it, these are a type that are present where there is Methane Gas such as in a stinky dung pile, now these are not normally present at my location and seem to appear out of nowhere?
Dave...that does bring up a point that I have actually been thinking a bit about; I haven't found worms on the farm but have dug them up in the wife's village as well as up in Mabinay when needed for fishing. We have ton's of worms around the house, but when we started construction the area was fish ponds and rice fields so very low...we were pumping water 24/7 just to put in the foundation for the perimeter wall/fence and then backfilled a meter + before starting the house foundation. Once we start bringing things in to amend the soil on the farm I have hopes that the worms will appear. Nature has a way of righting herself. Next time we are both in the PI at the same time I'd love to pick your brain a bit on raising rabbits. I'm very interested in raising some, but the wife thinks there is no market for them other than the pet trade. Thanks! Shawn
We don't plan to go too crazy with goat numbers, mostly as how much space they need vs how much bagged feed you need to keep them happy and healthy, but the wife loves goats and plans on having a small breeding stock and sell the kid's. I like goats more now that they are on the farm and not at the house; if I could just figure out how to move our kids... My wife has raised goats since she was young so I rely on her but will be learning as much as I can as well. Shawn
Better not inform too many people about selling your kids in favour of having some goats instead. I know them kiddo's can be a pain in the proverbial butt at times, but selling them seems a little drastic?
Too bad you deleted your post as I thought it was pretty good and think we have similar views on chemical fertilizers...I read it but had to run off before I had a chance to respond. Shawn
Hi Shawn, It is highly unlikely we will be together there at the same time as my future visits to there will only be for short term Holidays. I think your Wife may be correct when she says there is no market for them apart from the Pet trade, however we all know that most Filipinos do not look after their animals all that well and have little of any compassion for them so the selling them as Pets is not a good idea? Another problem I was to find keeping them there myself is; there is a Skin Mite that is very prevalent there, not hard to treat using ********** but this must be done on a regular basis if not it kills them in a very short time. Bearing in mind you have so many animals at the moment and just one Goat will produce as much dung as 10 Rabbits, do you really need them? of course they are great for eating, keeping just two Does and one Buck would produce enough to feed a Family of 4 for all year, killing and cleaning them is not for everyone? with the Goats any local Butcher will take them and give you a fair price to do all this. I have a half dozen Rabbits here in UK and keep them free range in a colony system, they are fun to watch (more interesting than Fish in a tank) with their antics jumping around and chasing each other, they are very sociable and I could not keep them singly in cages I think this is cruel to them and every bit as bad as keeping a dog in a cage. The Pet market for them is good here in UK keeping the right breed and they can be sold for P4000 each, 10 times what they sell for in PH, added to that there is a demand here for their droppings which sells for twice as much as the price of feed for them, at the moment I am using this all for myself in my own Garden. Any person there in PH wishing to Garden on a small scale and having a few Rabbits could produce enough manure to sustain a small vegetable Garden and I would recommend this to them and this is even better if they can Kill, Clean and Cook them. Keeping them in a colony in a small Grass area cuts the feed bill, they eat everything a Goat eats, Napier Grass, Banana leaves, Malunguy, Indigoferra I think it is called? pretty much an essential for Goats if you did not know this already? Keeping Rabbits is a fun thing to do, not expensive to buy or to feed, great for a small Garden, Children just love them, many people here in UK have them as house Pets, so many countries in Europe keep them on a commercial scale to sell for the table but this was never successful here in UK. Hope this fills in a few blanks for you? Cheers Dave
