Farming Sheep/Goats/Fishery

Attractive economics of Sheep or Goat farming – full or part time

Attractive Economics of Sheep or Goat Farming - Full or Part-Time Business

Sheep or Goat Farming has been a great source of income and life line for rural communities in ancient and modern India. Attractive Economics of Sheep and or Farming – Full or Part-Time Business. Many developed countries have a distinct sheep breed for the purpose of meat and wool. But it’s not like that in India. Traditional farmers are more concerned about the quantity than the quality of the meat. Sheep are like an Anytime Money Machine because they sell their sheep whenever they need money.

Meet the old sheep is fibrous, hard and tastes less. So bring a lower price per kg. The younger sheep (at the age of 2 teeth) have a tasty, tender mutton. Systematic categorization of mutton quality has not yet been practised in India. Farmers get a good profit when the sheep are 12 to 14 months old.

Most of the sheep are brought and sold on the traditional local livestock market. Many times the vendors buy the sheep from the farmer in the village or farm shed and sell it to the mutton shops. Sheep breed, age, clothed meat percentage and consumer choice decide the price. In India, organised markets have yet to be developed for better access and price.

There are barely a few slaughterhouses for sheep compared to chicken and beef stores. The import of mutton in India is negligible. The most preferred states of Mutton are Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. There is therefore more demand and price for sheep’s meat. In all other states, goat meat has the first preference over sheep.

Dressed mutton is between 40% and 50% in the country. Before breeding, stalls fed domestic sheep can yield up to 60 to 65 per cent of dressed meat. The reason is less energy loss and less intestinal parts. An aged sheep-tree that has been used for breeding for years, and a lamb-tree produces a lower percentage of mutton in quantity and quality, even though the body size is large.

Also Read: Dairy farming ever ending business opportunity

Sheep meat is in great demand in all the states mentioned above. Well grown and defect less rams get the best price, especially during the Islamic festival season. Live sheep get half the price of meat. This means that if the price of a mutton is Rs. 600 per kilogramme, live sheep will cost Rs. 300 per kilogramme. Stall fed domestic sheep gain 40 to 50 kilogrammes of body weight by 10 to 12 months. It sells for Rs. 6,000 to 8,000 at least.

The cost of production of 1 kilogramme of silage shall be 1 rupee. Every sheep needs to feed 2 kilogrammes of silage per day (depends on geographical area and rearing methods). Therefore, the cost of the feed is 2 ropes per day. If 50 grammes of food is fed, it costs 50 paisa per day. Other costs, such as labour wages, electricity, medicines, feed additives, etc., will collectively cost 1 rupee per day per sheep. The total cost of rearing stall-fed sheep is Rs.4 per day per sheep. That’s 1500 ropes per sheep per year.

Stall fed one-year-old sheep fetches at least Rs. 6,000 to 8,000. Thus, the well-managed stall feeding of sheep generates attractive income. Approximately 8 to 10 people can handle 1,000 sheep under a stall-fed silage system. The labour requirement in this farm is lower than in the dairy farm.

Labor availability is a shortfall and the main problem of agriculture in the recent past. Natural disasters, such as floods, droughts, fluctuations in market prices, etc., have worsened the farming system. But this should not lead us to forgo the promising profession of job-seeking.

Also Read: Women farmers backbone of Indian Agril Economy and crucial making it self-reliant

What we need is a better alternative source of income that can provide a secure and stable income. Although dairy farming is good, milk handling twice a day and shed management is difficult for many of us with a single hand. Since the initial investment is also more likely to attract less desire. Ovine and goat farming can therefore be a good option and a promising opportunity. It has an enormous potential to develop a business like the poultry industry.


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