Goat Rearing Practices of Ahir Community in High Rainfall Zones of South Gujarat

The Ahirs are non-nomadic and resourceful people of South Gujarat having ample traditional knowledge of goat keeping. The study was done to document existing goat management practices of Ahirs in Valsad and Navsari districts of South Gujarat by selecting 300 Ahir goat keepers by multi stage random sampling technique. The data regarding socio-economic status, feeding and housing management were collected by interview schedule and tabulated for statistical analysis. Results revealed that majority of the respondents (67.67%) were in middle age category with an average age of about 50 years. Majority of the respondents (94%) were marginal land holders with an average land holding of 0.68±0.03 hectare. Average flock size was 47.13±1.79 heads and about 68% of Ahir respondents reared large animals along with goats. Goats were reared by the practice of 2 to 8 hour daily browsing which required 1 to 10 km daily travelling, whereas browsing duration and travelling was significantly (p<0.01) affected by the seasons. Majority of the Ahirs were high adopters of cleanliness, site selection, ventilation and drainage in goat shed. However, low level of adoption was observed in provisions of feeding space, overhang length and slate gapping in goat shed. Majority of the respondents kept kids in separate enclosures (wada). Almost all the respondents sold kids at 6 to 9 months of age, on cash payment basis to butchers and not on the basis of body weight.