Savera Farms made its debut in the animal husbandry department by purchasing 20 female and 1 male sheep from Tirumangalam market (approx 20 km from Madurai) last week.
We reached Tirumangalam market at 8 am and the place was a total chaos. The first impression I got at the entrance gate was that there were thousands of people in there and no animals. Puzzled, I followed the vet who accompanied us and went further in. After a short walk into the compound, we saw the animals we were seeking. There were primarily goats and sheep in all shades of white, black and brown.
We went around the market and looked at animals from various farmers/brokers. Apparently, the animals are not sold by weight but rather on face value. After getting an idea on what the prevailing rates are, we went on a small shopping spree to procure our first herd from various sellers. Negotiations, theatrics and some more negotiation followed. Finally, we were able to procure them for an average price of Rs 3000 per female and Rs 5000 per male.
The animals we bought are Ramnad white cross variety and are considered suitable for this part of the state. These animals will primary be our grazer and 'weed-control' herd, so lineage of the animals is not of prime importance at this time.
We also saw the promotional scheme by TN animal husbandry department where the government pays for 4 goats @ Rs 2500 per animal to economically disadvantaged/ widowed women. The beneficiary has the choice to select the animals from the market and anything above Rs 10,000 is borne by the buyer.
The procurement process was a great learning experience. It can be overwhelming given the chaos etc but a couple of hours into it, one tends to feel a little more comfortable. In everyone's interest, I would highly recommend others to share their experiences as well.
We reached Tirumangalam market at 8 am and the place was a total chaos. The first impression I got at the entrance gate was that there were thousands of people in there and no animals. Puzzled, I followed the vet who accompanied us and went further in. After a short walk into the compound, we saw the animals we were seeking. There were primarily goats and sheep in all shades of white, black and brown.
First glance...Dude, where are the animals ?
We are family..
Osmanabadis from Andhra.
I need a home..
We went around the market and looked at animals from various farmers/brokers. Apparently, the animals are not sold by weight but rather on face value. After getting an idea on what the prevailing rates are, we went on a small shopping spree to procure our first herd from various sellers. Negotiations, theatrics and some more negotiation followed. Finally, we were able to procure them for an average price of Rs 3000 per female and Rs 5000 per male.
The animals we bought are Ramnad white cross variety and are considered suitable for this part of the state. These animals will primary be our grazer and 'weed-control' herd, so lineage of the animals is not of prime importance at this time.
We also saw the promotional scheme by TN animal husbandry department where the government pays for 4 goats @ Rs 2500 per animal to economically disadvantaged/ widowed women. The beneficiary has the choice to select the animals from the market and anything above Rs 10,000 is borne by the buyer.
Animal husbandry dept officials handing out the animals to a beneficiary
It took us about 3 hours to complete the procurement process.
Loading in process..
All loaded up, ready to go...
The procurement process was a great learning experience. It can be overwhelming given the chaos etc but a couple of hours into it, one tends to feel a little more comfortable. In everyone's interest, I would highly recommend others to share their experiences as well.
Congratulation on the starting of Animal Husbandry project.
ReplyDeletehello
ReplyDeleteThis is ibrahim .i am the one of your blogs reader . coming to the point you said 20 + 1 total 21 . what will you do with only 21 . I thought that your starting Commercial Goat Farming . Is it a commercial one or not
To get practical knowledge on it you are doing this .
We are gaining experience with this batch. Scaling up is not an issue if you have the necessary resources. The shed has a capacity for 300 animals and enough land has been earmarked for fodder cultivation when we increase our herd.
Deletehi
Deleteyou said that the shed has the capacity of 300 animals.
where dose it located i mean in your farm field or some other place. you did't posted any post regarding shed.
i am eagerly waiting to see those posts.
asusally you will post how much dose it cost to build the shed.
how much space it occupies. i am waiting for those posts.
thanks & regards
ibrahim.
i have forgotten to say thanks regarding your blogs.
DeleteReally it is too helpful to beginners like me . Thanks once again.
keep moving on... good luck...
ibrahim
Info on the shed will be posted soon..
DeleteDear Kaustubh,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations for your first herd of sheep and thanks for providing an insight in procuring Sheep. 3000 per Animal is a very good price. are these females young at age? if 1-2 years old then you got yourself a very good deal.
The herd of black goats in the picture are 'Osmanabadi'. The breed is originally from Latur/Osmanabad, Maharashtra. Tough animals, they survive in extreme climatic conditions. I recommend this breed for your commercial goatery project. please go through this website for more information. http://www.osmanabadigoat.com/
Goodluck,
Mohammed Muneeb
Hyderabad
Thanks for the info. Apparently, this breed is pretty popular for meat purpose in this area.
DeleteSheep we bought are about 1 year old..
Hi,
ReplyDeleteCongrats!!! on procurement of first batch. Based on details here I don't think you bought them with commercial aspect, but only to De-weeding.
Though not experienced gone through most of the blogs on sheep farming, the requirement of your current flock is 100kgs for now. Interested to know measurements of fodder, or how you forecast the need the fodder, how do you actually measure if the grown crop is sufficient. Can you let us know the investment of fodder cultivation on One acre and the outcome.
When Goat multiplication is biggest advantage of Goat farming, what is specific reason for buying sheep?
There was a comment by Shukur Babu which I do not see it here..You need 1 acre for 25 - 30 animals.
ReplyDeleteYes, sheep is primarily for deweeding. We will be getting the goats in a few weeks from now.
Thanks for reply remembering my questions, the major difficulty in our area is finding trustworthy Shepherds, I mean those who can go for grazing along with animals and come back with out any stories of losing. I hope you could find someone, or else it might be too tough task to feed them all within farm. Are there any plans of fodder storage as silage, I want know the realistic consumption of each animal especially Goat, as I believe this makes a lot of difference if they do not get habituated to such feed.
DeletePlease do share the construction cost of Shed in detail as you did with fencing part, I hope you have seen those pages being shared in some other blogs, also what are the terms with Vet to visit the farm, how much do you pay him once you get the goats. Hope you are aware that there is subsidy for Insurance 50% and deworming is done twice by AP govt schemes free of cost. you might want to check same in TN.
DeleteOur labor is being used to navigate the herd into melia plots and away from mango and moringa plots. We have no plans of silage..I thought that was a requirement in cold countries where cultivating fodder in winters is impossible, hence the storage.
DeletePost on the shed will posted soon.
I have not availed the services of a vet yet, but we are planning to engage the local govt vet soon. Deworming (free medicine), initial injections and oral applications (against cold and infection) was administered by self and staff. Will check on subsidy for insurance. Thanks for the info.
Congrats ! I am sure it would have been fun choosing your Sheep. Also loved the way you explained the whole process . I have been following your blog for the last couple of months and quite motivating for people like me who are waiting for a plunge in to Agri sector from IT
ReplyDeleteIt was a great learning experience indeed. Do subscribe to the blog if you have not already for updates on our activities and developments. Best of luck on your agri related endeavors.
ReplyDeleteCan you please post the economics of sheep? I am thinking of just buying 10 to 20 sheeps (male) and let them graze in my farm to get rid of those weeds.
ReplyDeleteDon't think the whole process of number multiplication (breeding etc) works because of my long distance management. Not sure how much I can trust the local folks.
If i buy the young males and let them graze for 6 months, what will be economics of selling it for meat purpose assuming that it gained sufficient weight for meat.. Thanks
I am not sure yet, what would be the weight gain after 6 months ? As mentioned before, minimal investment has been made on the sheep. Apart from medication, we do not plan on spending any money on feed etc..
DeleteMake sure they graze where there are tall trees. Sheep, contrary to popular belief, will climb up and grab the greens - my personal experience in the last 1 month.