Barbari Goat, Barbari Goat Farming, Barbari Goat Breed.

Barbari goat breed is one of the classified goat breeds in India mostly found in northern arid and moderate arid regions of Mathura, Agra, Etah Etawah of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Bihar in India, and also very popular in Pakistan. Barbari goat rearing also has the dual purpose of meat and milk but primarily its a meat-purpose breed. It’s a small, muscular, orbital bone structure domestic goat breed. In physical appearance, they look like deer with a medium compact body built with twisted small pointed upside ears, small horns, and bulging eyes. They look in color as white with black spots, brown with red spots, and very alert animals. They are very human-friendly and easy to rare in both hot and cold climates with limited resources, they can easily survive on both stall-feed and open-feed systems. 

Brief history and process of development in the subcontinent:

The Barbari or bari name originates from Berbera, a region in Somalia Africa. The Barbari goat breed has flourished in the subcontinent for centuries. Officially there is no record when and where barbari goats first came to India. It’s an assumption that in the medieval period, perhaps African and Arab traders brought this in the subcontinent.

Central Institute for Research on Goats (CIRG) Mathura India, All India Coordinated Research Project on Goat Improvement have established a Berbari Unit, especially for the development of the breed. 

Physical Characteristics of Berbari Goats Breed:

Berbari goat breeds have some unique characteristics, especially their medium size, compact, muscular body-built orbital bone structure, small twisted pointing upside ears, small pointed backside horn, bulging eyes, and white, brown or copper color with black or red spots that look like deer. The breed has early maturity features, generally, female goats start heating at the age of 9th month but the best age for breeding is 11 months. The gestation or pregnancy period lasts around 147 to 153 days, after the birth of first kids around 90 to 100 days of kids feeding goats start heating for mating again.

Barbari Goats Breed Basics Profile
1	Scientific Name	Capra Aegagrus Hircus
2	Names	Barbari, Bari, Wadi Bari, Thori Bari, Titri Bari, etc.
3	Size	Medium compact, Male 75cm Female 69 cm approx
4	Coat colors	White Coat with red and brown spots.
5	Kids size at birth	Depends on the number of kids averaging 1.7 to 2 kg.
6	Goat weight at the time of mating	Average 24 Kg
7	Buck weight at the time mating	Average 38 Kg
8	Goat weight at the time of maturity (2 years)	Average 40 Kg
9	buck weight at the time of maturity (2 years)	Average 55 Kg
10	Average goat age at the time of first kid.	14 to 15 month
11	Gestation/ Pregnancy period last.	147 to 152 Days
12	kidding interval	Average 8 Month
13	Average milk productivity.	1 to 2 Liters
14	Birth percentage Single kid	7%
15	Twine	76%
16	Triplets	15%
17	Quadruplets	2%
18	Number of kid crops in 2 Years	3

How to manage the feeding system of barbari goat:

It’s a universal assumption that goats are foodie animals, naturally barbari breed too, eat both green and dry fodder, are adaptable in nature and can survive on both stall feeding and open feeding system. Open feeding systems require a vast area of land for grazing, so it’s not suitable for every farmer to resort to an open feeding system.

Barber breeds by nature are very human-friendly and domestic animals, because of their size they also require less food in comparison to other breeds. They can very easily flourish on a stall-feed system with systematic management of feeding and watering. It’s an open truth the productivity of animals depends on a proper feeding system with needed nutrients, in different areas their food system may include both green and dry

Planted Fodder- Berseem, Pearl Millet, Maze, Wheat, Beans, Pease, etc.

Tree Leaves- Banyan, Peepal, Seesam, Mangos, Monkey Jack Fruit etc.

Green Grasses- Maximum soft green grosses edible to goats.

Dry Fodder- Straw, Silage, Hay etc.

Grains- Wheat, Maze, Pearl Millet, ChickPeas, Oat, Barley etc.

Farmers also can adopt industrially processed food supplements.

Care and management:

1. Ensure the proper housing system with good ventilation, dry the sitting and living spaces of animals.
2. Separate the living and eating spaces of kids and pregnant goats.
3. Special care for kids and pregnant gots.
4. Ensure the periodical vaccination and immunization of animals.
5. Separate living and eating arrangements for sick animals.
6. Eating and drinking arrangement of animals in intervals of 4 hours in a day.
7. Animal care and management must be done by permanent staff. 

Purpose of farming for Barbari Breed:

Barbari goat breed is a dual-purpose breed but generally, it’s a meat-oriented breed, because of their exotic looks and beauty and high productivity ratio, Barbari breed is very beneficial for farmers. In the meat industry, barbari breed meat has their own brand value, because of high demand farmers get high benefits in return and this breed also bears a low cost and high yield.

Advantages of farming Barbari Breed:

1. Barbari breeds are famous for low-cost maintenance of farming because of their size they need less food and less space to farm in comparison to other breeds.
2. Barbari are known for their high productivity ratio because of their early breeding maturity.
3. The Barbari breed has a record of kidding 2 or 3 kids normally.
4. They have 3 kidd crops every 2 years. 
5. Barbari are not famous for meat but also they have a high milk productivity ratio.

Summary:

Barbari goat breed is a dual purpose domestic animal with medium body size and exotic appearance. A low cost farming animal with a high productivity ratio. The adaptable and surviving capacity of this breed in both arid and moderate arid regions, placed this breed in the favorite farming breed. Their unique characteristics and demand in the market is beneficial for the farmers.

References: 

 

1. The ICAR-Central Institute for Research on Goats (CIRG) is a premier research institute located in Mathura, India.
2. Manoj Kumar Singh.

Central Institute for Research on Goats – Division of Genetics and Breeding.

Ph.D. in Animal Genetics and Breeding.