Goats!

It was a seasonably cold morning, a few weeks before Christmas 2011 and I am thawing my fingers as my oatmeal wirrs around in the microwave, still apprehensively unaware of my Peace Corps placement. It’s 9am at Sprout Creek Cheese Farm and the cows and goats are munching on their breakfast in the barn, their udders pleasantly relieved and our milk tank satisfyingly full.

Two tall black men crunch their way over frosted grass to the café entrance, their breath a translucent grey cloud preceding them and they look at my female coworkers and I curiously. In a strong Caribbean accent they ask if we have goat meat to sell. Confused and a tad horrified (as our dairy goats are our babies), we reply that we have dairy goats, which hardly have much meat, plus we only sell them in retirement as pets. The men shake their heads and say they are looking for a male goat to cook for Christmas dinner. No less horrified we respond that we use our bucks for breeding, we only have four of them anyway and they are not for sale. The men zipper back their jackets, resigned to continue their search.

We fell promptly into cheerful speculation, where does one get goat meat around here? How and where were they planning on butchering the thing? How could they possibly use all that meat? Were those men Jamaican? They must be cold…

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It is December 2013, three weeks until Christmas; my dairy farming days are long over, but my meat goat farming days have just begun.

As with most developing countries, goats can be found just about everywhere in Jamaica. From a taxi in Kingston I once witnessed a mating pair nonchalantly going at it on a (sort of) grassy median. There are city goats that live on a 50-50 diet of grass and garbage, and country goats, which are much more prized in the meat industry. Goats in my community sun themselves in the road, keep the yard cut and get into the garden. Some are tied simply with a rope to a tree, some are followers, some don’t mind people and others have never left the bush (it should be noted that “bush” implies “out in the woods” or “jungle” but also can refer to farmed land far from home). Goats are rarely sheltered or fenced in Jamaica unless the herd is large or the property is near the road/other properties.

Goat meat is the pride and joy of Jamaicans. They love it curried, brown stewed and of course, in soup. The proper term for goat soup is “mannish water” but I’ve also heard “goat head soup”. It is still unclear to me exactly what parts of the goat are in the soup: I’ve heard everything from the head to the testicles, and if Jamaican meat eating habits are any indication, I’m sure it’s both and everything in between. Due to my stubborn vegetarianism I don’t have much first hand experience.

Now, all male goats, or bucks (mistakenly called “rams” by 99% of Jamaicans), are notorious for their very strong, distinct musk which Jamaicans describe as “rank”, as in “bwoi dat rammy deh smell renk!” This is not said in a tone of disgust but appreciation: a good cup of mannish water should smell (and taste) vaguely rank and musky, just like the goat itself.

While female goats are also sold for meat, this is more likely to be a poor breeder and will be processed and packaged in parts, sold at a grocery store or butcher. Ram goats are most often sold around the holidays and at parties and they are butchered and prepped specifically for the event.The value is in the size of the goat, and his musk. A good, fit and mature native male goat can sell for upwards of $20,000 JD (~$200 US) and I know a few in my community who are valued closer to $30 or 35,000 JD.

Because goats are widely eaten, highly valued and very easy to feed when rain is falling, most families in my community have anywhere from 3 to 10. My supervisor probably wins the numbers game with a herd of 40 wandering her auntie’s property. Goats in my community are an insurance plan of sorts: just the other day my boyfriend commented that he might sell his 1 year old rammy because he needs the quick money. I talked him out of it since goats don’t reach full grown size for the first four years- he’ll sell for much more this time next year.

You may notice if you visit that all goats in Jamaica get to keep their horns! This is not a breed thing, it’s simply a matter of resources and purpose. Having horned animals living together in close quarters on a dairy farm is actually dangerous; burning horns off of a solitary goat in the backyard is a waste of money.

Native goats in Jamaica are a small, hardy goat with varying combinations of characteristics depending on how and when they were cross bred. They are highly efficient eaters, largely disease resistant and persistent breeders, but they are often small, which is a limiting factor in meat production.

This is where the farmers group Goat Breeding project will come into play. Since goat rearing is mostly a hobby in my community, the breeding process is not strongly emphasized, but if it were, even for a small backyard herd, the value of the goats would go up tremendously. As such, the CDC has set aside funding for the farmers group to buy a pedigree Boer buck and a few pedigree does (females) and run some workshops. The farmers in the group would be responsible for the daily care of these animals and in return they can use the buck to serve their does for free, or be eligible for one of the offspring. The community members can also breed their does to the pedigree buck for free, but must buy the offspring from the farmers group. Persons outside of the community can pay a service fee and breed their does to the ram or buy offspring as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Boer goat

In this way, we heighten the overall value of every goat in the community by cross breeding the hardy native goat with a large, persistent meat breed. This increases the backyard insurance plan significantly, and will teach people to take a proactive approach in maintaining their small herds to secure the highest value they can for their goats. Additionally, I plan to encourage best practices with workshops focused on breeding and feeding. While most farmers know the plants that goats like to eat, it’s important to point out the nutritional value of the forage, especially for does about to kid. While it’s not a common practice to plant out goat forage, I’d like to demonstrate this as a viable alternative to feeding bag feed during the dry time when grass doesn’t rebound as fast.

It should also be mentioned that there is not a single dairy goat farm in Jamaica.

I used to dislike goats due to their loud bawl and obstinate nature. I’ve also never been trampled by a horse or a cow, but I was trampled once by a herd of goats. Now I accept them as the most cost effective species of livestock on a small island, a valuable investment for people with little in their pockets, and ok, they are pretty cute.

Glossary

Persistent Breeder: A doe who gives birth to 2-3 kids every time

Kid: baby goat; kidding: the processes of giving birth to a baby goat

Buck: male goat (ram= male sheep, but Jamaicans use ram when referring to male goats)

Doe: female goat (ewe= female sheep, is also used interchangeably with doe)

Serve: To breed, the male serves the female

Forage: goats are “browsers” which means they will eat leaves, stems and even bark or twigs. Forage is food that the goat “finds”, anything that grows naturally without cultivation.