Chapters 10.15

10.15 -Raised platforms for goats

Natasha Garces Sanchez ,University of Guelph, Canada

Suggested citation for this chapter.

Sanchez,NG. (2022) Raised platforms for goats, The Encyclopedia for Small Scale Farmers. Editor, M.N. Raizada, University of Guelph, Canada. http://www.farmpedia.org

Introduction

In Africa, goats are ingrained in almost every culture especially within communities that are not able to care or keep large livestock (Mataveia et al., 2021). In animal production, goats offer an advantage as they provide relatively high productivity in harsh environments, use inexpensive feed resources, have a short reproductive cycle, and have higher prolificacy compared to cows (Mataveia et al., 2021). Within Africa, the goat population has increased in the last 5 years, and now represents 41% of the world’s herd which is around 423 million goats; 35 millions of these goats are in southern Africa (Mataveia et al., 2021). In developing countries, goats are the most important livestock species as they provide, meat, hides, fibre, and can be milked for home consumption (Mataveia et al., 2021). They also have socio-economic purposes such as for festive, religious, and ceremonial occasions (Mataveia et al., 2021). They also have an economic role of providing cash-flow and are an accessible source of credit for immediate social and financial obligations, earning them the nickname of “village bank” (Mataveia et al., 2021).

Sheep and goats are the preferred livestock for smallholders in dry areas as they are able to convert poor quality pasture into good quality protein for human consumption (Mataveia et al., 2021). Their small size allows families to consume their entire carcass within a few days without risk of deterioration, since in developing countries, some villages do not have refrigeration (Mataveia et al., 2021). However one of the main issues is the lack of veterinary care. Dr. Tlotlo Kgasi who is the president of the South African Veterinary Council, has addressed the issue of veterinary professionals in the countries (Coleman 2022). It is noted that internationally the norm is between 200-400 veterinarians per million of a country’s population whereas South Africa has only 60 – 70 veterinarians per million people (Coleman 2022), which is likely more than some other developing nations. Due to this, smallholders must take simple pro-active approaches including raised platforms for sheep and goats which is the topic of this chapter. A raised platform improves productivity, benefits in raising goat kids and prevents transmission of certain diseases.

Improved productivity

Housing and facilities are vital components in successful goat management (Chopra et al., 2023). Well-designed housing for goat and sheep significantly impacts both their welfare and productivity, as it provides a comfortable and secure environment (Chopra et al., 2023). Other beneficial outcomes with this housing is that allows them to exhibit natural behaviour, minimize stress, and overall well-being. This also contributes to optimal growth, reproduction, milk production and meat quality (Chopra et al., 2023).

In order for farmers to achieve successful goat management, there are a couple crucial factors that need to be considered. First, space allocation is crucial to prevent overcrowding and enable natural behaviours. Ventilation is another critical aspect in successful goat management (Chopra et al., 2023). Proper ventilation ensures good air exchange, regulates temperature, reduces the risk of respiratory issues as high humidity and poor air quality can lead to respiratory disease and growth of harmful bacteria (Chopra et al., 2023). The last crucial components concern the flooring material and design. Goats and sheep do not thrive in shallow pools, marshy or swampy grounds as they can contract parasitic infections (Chopra et al., 2023). In tropical and subtropical environments, there are several additional advantages of raised platforms (Figure 1): it eliminates the need for bedding; less labour is required for maintenance; and it facilitates easy collection of manure for crop fertilization (Chopra et al., 20230). Comfort, promoting hoof health and being easy to clean and maintain, are factors to be considered when designing floors (Chopra et al., 2023).

Figure 1. This is how an elevated goat housing could look like. With the floor elevation, farmers can go under and collect manure and overall provide hygienic living condition for their goats. With this particular housing, you can note that it was done with natural wood using material that the farmers already had around their property, further reducing material cost. Photo by Peter Hobbs Cornell University

In particular, slatted elevated floors (Figure 2) are known for their hygiene benefits, as they reduce the occurrence of diseases as described below. Figure 1 shows one method of creating a goat or sheep housing with elevated slatted flooring. In this method poles are anchored and tree trunks are used to secure the housing. When installing slatted floors, they should be raised between 1 to 1.5 meters above ground level to facilitate cleaning. To ensure that fecal matter passes through while simultaneously ensuring secure footing for the animal, the slats should be placed 1.4 to 1.6 cm apart (Chopra et al., 20230). However, an important factor to consider is the cost, ease of installation and safety when selecting flooring material (Chopra et al., 2023). While there are materials cheaper than wood such as bamboo, they may not provide the level of stability for goat/sheep feet like commercial wood and can only hold the weight of a small number of goats (Chopra et al., 2023). This is due to the fact that commercial wood is preferred for its strength and durability (Chopra et al., 2023).

Figure 2. How a platform comprised of individual sections looks. Note the small gaps in between the wooden slats. This design could be useful for farmers who just want to add slatted floors to goat housing that was previously built. If the platform is low to the ground, the floor would need to be removed for cleaning (e.g. manure collection) which is more labour intensive (Caldwell 2019).

Figure 2 shows the second method which is a deck-like elevated flooring. Figure 3 shows how the base should form a square about 120 cm on each side with one board placed along the middle for more support (Caldwell 2019). When creating the slats, starting on one edge, overlap the first board 1.3 cm (1/2 inch) at each end, and 2.5 cm (1 inch) along the long edge (Caldwell 2019). Then secure in place with two screws and place two screws on the center support (Caldwell 2019). Use a 1.3 cm spacer to place the next board and secue it in place and continue until the base is down (Caldwell 2019). This method is like an added feature if a famer cannot raise the whole goat house but instead upgrade it.

Figure 3. This shows the process of how to make a platform section. The left image shows how to use a ½ inch (1.3 cm) spacer (vertical stick) while adding the horizontal planks. The right side images shows the completed platform.

Benefits of raised platforms for goat kids

One of the main benefits to having a raised platform is reduced intake of Coccidia parasites. Little is known about the pathogenicity of each species of Coccidia, however they are considered to be host specific and do not transfer across animal species (Andrews 2022). The ones that inffect the lower part of the gut such as the intestine are the most harmful (Andrews 2022). Most goat kids are infected and tend to gain some immunity (Andrews 2022). Although goat kids are exposed to this infection, constant reinfection from poor living conditions can lead to severe diseases (Andrews 2022). However, kids who live on raised platforms can show little to no reinfection, due to the elevated floors which prevent parasite uptake from the soil (Ramachandran et al., 2017). This was seen in comparison with the conventional soil floor (Ramachandran et al., 2017). Therefore, the traditional soil floor not only required more cleaning labour but attracted parasitic infections (Ramachandran et al., 2017). With the elevated flooring, after the kids were dewormed, there was no reinfection whereas the soil flooring promoted reinfection as they were reintroduced to the parasite living in the soil (Ramachandran et al., 2017).

Prevent transmission of certain diseases

The traditional soil floor is the most common flooring system, but it requires more labour for cleaning and facilitates parasitic infections that lead to gasto-intestinal parasitism (Ramachandran et al., 2017). First, as already introduced in the last section, Coccidiosis is a parasitic disease in goats with worldwide distribution that leads to economic losses (Kheirandish et al., 2014). This economical loss is due to high mortality, morbidity, poor growth and treatment costs (Kheirandish et al., 2014). This disease is very serious in 4-6 month old goat kids and in areas where goats are kept in overcrowded houses with stressor factors (Kheirandish et al., 2014). The oocysts are passed through feces-oral transmission (Kheirandish et al., 2014). Second, goats and sheep are susceptible to anthrax by ingesting spores through grazing highly contaminated soil. Once infected, it typically takes 3-7 days to detect; symptoms include staggering, trembling, difficulty in breathing, convulsions, and death (Alhaji Bukar et al., 2023). Third, foot rot infection can be prevented by minimizing wet conditions where mud and manure accumulate (Pezzanite & Neary, 2009).

Critical analysis

One of the factors that is preventing the adoption of raised platforms on small scale farms is the cost of materials. Although bamboo is cheaper than wood, it provides less secure footing. However, farmers can still use bamboo, but the platforms may need frequent fixing. Depending on the size of the platform building and the amount of help, the addition of elevated slatted platforms should require 2 to 4 hours of labour to build it. The cost of material is based on what type of wood would be used and what is locally available. Another crucial factor that prevents adoption of raised platforms is a lack of knowledge. Unfortunately, there is a barrier between technology and rural African farmers, in part due to limited internet access (Kistler et al., 2022). Less than 30% of adults in rural areas have access to the internet, with the maximum speed being 2G or 3G (Kistler et al., 2022). Because of this, farmers in rural areas do not have access to knowledge, and thus do not acquire and use new technologies or techniques such as raised platforms (Kistler et al., 2022). Another factor preventing adoption of raised platforms is that farmers are resistant to changing their traditional style of farming. The main reason is the lack of awareness of the improved productivity provided by raised platforms; this can be overcome by interventions undertaken locally and nationally (Kistler et al., 2022).

Practical resources to get started

In this section I have provided useful links and videos for agriculturists interested in improving their goat and sheep housing for optimal productivity and reducing cleaning labour:

The first link provided is a manual for goat keeping: Useful management practices for smallholders. This manual goes over housing, feeding, health, diseases and parasites and more: https://www.echocommunity.org/en/resources/40c87948-932d-4355-859d-9b1ab63710aa

The second link is an article on how to build raised floor sections, with slatted flooring for goats. This could be useful to farmers who just want to add slatted floors in their pre-existing goat housing. This type of method however will be more labour intensive for cleaning as the platforms would have to be removed. https://gianacliscaldwell.com/2019/03/28/diy-goat-decks/

The following video compares elevated slatted, dirt and concrete floors and their feces, urine and overall hygiene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbZdG_XE-tk

The next video shows how to make a raised platform for sheep and goats using bamboo. Again, bamboo can only be used for small numbers of goats for optimum sturdiness: https://www.accessagriculture.org/making-raised-platform-sheep-and-goats

The last video shows how to construct a raised goat house for approximately 200 goats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQlxMgjnQoA

References

1. Alhaji Bukar, B., & Musa Mabu, I. (2023). Common Diseases of Goats, Treatment and Preventive Measures. IntechOpen, 1001377. doi: 10.5772/intechopen.1001377.

2. Andre Mataveia, G., Visser, C., & Sitoe, A. (2021). Smallholder Goat Production in Southern Africa: A Review. IntechOpen, 97792. doi: 10.5772/intechopen.97792

3. Andrews, A. (2022). Coccidiosis of goats - digestive system. Merck Vet Manual. Retrieved from https://www.merckvetmanual.com/digestive-system/coccidiosis/coccidiosis-of-goats

4. Caldwell, G. (2019). DIY- Goat Decks. Retrieved from https://gianacliscaldwell.com/2019/03/28/diy-goat-decks/

5. Chopra, D., Misra, A. K., Chharang, D., Singh, B., & Jareda, P. (2023). CHAPTER–13 Goat Housing and Facilities: Enhancing Welfare and Productivity through Design Considerations. Indian Journal of livestock and Veterinary Research Special Issue ON, 3(1),105.

6. Coleman, A. (2022, May 8). Concern about livestock vet shortage in South Africa. Farmer’s Weekly. https://www.farmersweekly.co.za/agri-news/south-africa/concern-about-livestock-vet-shortage-in-south-africa/

7. Kistler, H. C., Wheeler, T., Ma, Y., & Dougherty, S. M. (2022). Overcoming the barriers to technology adoption on African Farms. Brookings Institute. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/techstream/overcoming-the-barriers-to-technology-adoption-on-african-farms/

8. Kheirandish, R., Nourollahi-Fard, S. R., & Yadegari, Z. (2014). Prevalence and pathology of coccidiosis in goats in southeastern Iran. Journal of Parasitic Diseases (1), 27–31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12639-012-0186-0.

9. Pezzanite, L., & Neary, M. (2009). Footrot in sheep and goats - Purdue University. Animal Sciences. https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/AS/AS-596-footrot.pdf.

10. Ramachandran, N., Singh, S.P., Tripathi, M.K., Paul, S., Bhusan, S., &Jindal, S. K. (2017). Intake, growth performance and worm load in goat kids maintained on conventional soiled or raised wooden slatted floor. The Indian Journal of Animal Sciences, 87(3), 356–360. https://doi.org/10.56093/ijans.v87i3.68877.