Thaba Goats Business Plan — Animal Health
The health programme covering vaccination, internal and external parasite control, and the veterinary disciplines that protect the herd.
Animal Health
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- Overview & contents
- i. Important Notice
- 1. Executive Summary
- 2. The South African Goat Market
- 3. Why the Informal Market Matters More Than the Abattoir
- 4. Seasonality
- 5. SWOT and Competitive Position
- 6. The Five-Stage Roadmap and Gates
- 7. The Funding Ladder
- 8. Herd and Reproduction
- 9. Kid Mortality: The Industry's Named Constraint
- 10. Grazing, Land and Water
- 11. Animal Health
- 12. Route to Market
- 13. People and Operations
- 14. Regulation and Compliance
- 15. Unit Economics
- 16. Capital Expenditure
- 17. Financial Projections
- 18. Break-Even and Sensitivity
- 19. Risk Management
- 20. Implementation Timeline
- 21. Returns and Net Asset Value
- 22. Key Performance Indicators
- 23. Key Assumptions
- 24. Conclusion
- A. Appendix A: Consolidated Financial Summary
- B. Appendix B: Stage Capital Schedules
- C. Appendix C: Debt Schedules
- D. Appendix D: Risk Register
- E. Appendix E: Funding Application Checklist
- F. Appendix F: Glossary
|
Programme |
Practice |
Timing |
Why |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internal parasite control |
Strategic dosing verified by faecal egg counts rather than blanket dosing on a calendar |
Timed to the rainy season |
Wireworm is roughly a fifth of kid losses; blanket dosing builds resistance |
|
Enterotoxaemia and pulpy kidney |
Vaccination of does pre-kidding and kids at weaning |
Annual, with the kidding cycle |
The cheapest intervention on the kid mortality list |
|
External parasites |
Dipping or pour-on treatment |
Seasonal |
Condition and hide value |
|
Foot care |
Routine inspection and trimming |
Quarterly |
Lameness reduces grazing and condition, which reduces conception |
|
Quarantine |
All incoming animals isolated for 21 days |
On every purchase |
Unofficial goat movement across borders carries real biosecurity risk |
|
Body condition scoring |
Does scored at mating, mid-pregnancy and weaning |
Three times a cycle |
Condition at mating is the largest single driver of kids weaned per doe |
|
Records |
Every treatment recorded by animal and by batch |
Daily |
Required by the Animal Improvement Act framework and by every funder from Stage 2 |
|
Veterinary relationship |
A named veterinarian retained from Stage 1 |
Ongoing |
Emerging farmers who have one lose fewer animals; the cost is trivial |
Veterinary, dosing and dipping costs R259 per goat sold at Year 5, 7.4 per cent of the total revenue per goat. That is a modest line against the losses it prevents, and it is the last line a farmer under cash pressure should cut. A dosing programme deferred in February to save R6 000 typically costs three times that in kids by May.
11.1 Buying animals safely
Namibia is the only recognised exporter of goats to South Africa. Goats moving unofficially from Botswana and Eswatini bring biosecurity risks, and an animal bought cheaply from an unknown source can introduce disease that costs the herd. This plan buys twelve bucks across five years and no does after Stage 1, which limits the exposure, but every one of those purchases is quarantined for 21 days and comes with a documented health history.