How to start a goat milk farm

High demand for organic food has influenced the development of livestock farming in rural areas. Goat breeding as a business is of interest not only to novice entrepreneurs, but also to experienced breeders. Goat breeding is a labor-intensive activity, but with the right approach, the farm will generate high income, and the investment will pay off within a year and a half.

Features of goat farming

Goat farming as a business has several directions:

• Sale of meat;
• Sales of milk and dairy products;
• Trade in baby goats;
• Sales of goat wool.

Goat meat is not very popular among buyers, but is a valuable dietary product. It contains proteins, minerals, vitamins, and amino acids. Goat meat is consumed by adherents of a healthy lifestyle, people with weakened immune systems, and nursing women.

Goat wool is used as a raw material in factories for the production of clothing, yarn, and bedding. In addition, leather items and shoes are made from goat skins.

Breeding goats for milk is the most promising area of ​​this business. Dairy products are in high demand due to their beneficial properties. In addition, many buyers trust goods produced at home, so they choose rural products.

Raising goat kids for sale is considered a profitable activity in rural areas. This direction does not require purchasing expensive equipment or obtaining permission to produce food. The cost of a breeding goat on the market is several times higher than the cost of raising it.

Note! The first thing you need to do before opening a farm is to decide for what purpose the goats will be bred. If an entrepreneur has sufficient knowledge in the field of livestock farming, he will be able to organize a business producing several types of products at once.

Profitable goat milk business

In this business idea, we will tell you about the most basic points that an entrepreneur who wants to earn good income from goat milk should take into account.

Nowadays, goat milk is rapidly gaining popularity among food products. This amazing product in its nutritional qualities is significantly superior to cow's milk, to which we have become so accustomed over many years. The advantages of a business built on goat milk are obvious: high market price, low competition, relatively cheap farm organization.

Let's consider the main stages of formation, advantages and disadvantages of this type of entrepreneurial activity based on the level of a small business with the most minimal costs.

To begin with, you should understand that in this business, the profitability of the entire enterprise above 20% will be possible only with the simultaneous organization of both the production of the product itself and its retail trade. It is precisely because the goat milk production enterprise relies exclusively on wholesale sales instead of retail sales that leads to low income or even bankruptcy. Therefore, before starting a business, you should find a “point” of sales on the market, this could be: an online store, a dairy department in a grocery store, a trading platform at a city bazaar.

Constantly expanding his production, an entrepreneur may think about creating a business plan for cheese production. This type of activity will significantly increase income and expand the business.

Goat farm organization

A place to build a farm must be looked for away from the city in an ecologically clean place with a lot of green vegetation. It is necessary to rent a plot of land measuring at least 10 acres, with a small residential building (10 square meters will be enough), this building will serve as the farmer’s “residence”. The rest of the territory should be fenced off, and special pens for goats should be arranged on it. These same pens are constructed from cheap sawmill materials available at any hardware store. The walls should be insulated with foam plastic. The floor should be densely covered with hay. It is desirable to have running water and electricity on site. More information about goat pens can be found on the Internet, where all the drawings are provided.

Attention: In a small business, the construction and purchase of a farm should not exceed 50% of the cost of the entire investment.

During the construction of the farm (which usually takes no more than one week), we prepare all the necessary documents, such as: permission to carry out business activities (production, sales), and become subject to tax control under simplified conditions (depending on the country and region).

Recruitment

For the full operation of the smallest goat farm, only four people are needed: 2 farmers acting as shepherds, milkers and simply guards of the territory, 1 sales representative (who is also the product delivery person), and 1 “direct” seller for retail trade.

Buying goats

It is recommended to immediately purchase 35–40 animals, this is the minimum that will allow you to obtain 20% of the profitability of the entire enterprise, subject to detailed planning of production, delivery and sales. The first three years of work, all efforts must be spent on increasing the number of the herd through internal crossing. For every 25 females, one reproductive male is needed. You can read more about the herd in our other publication “Goat Breeding (Russian and Saanen Goats).”

Other aspects

Goats need vaccination, so the purchase of veterinary drugs will be required, and before active sales begin, it is necessary to regularly send milk samples for testing to the sanitary service. It is not at all necessary to purchase food for animals in large quantities; it is enough to just take the herd for a walk outside the farm. Only in winter will it be necessary to stock up on hay; for a herd of 40 heads, you will have to collect about 5 cubic meters of hay, which is not much. Clean, sterile containers are required, usually 10-liter plastic containers.

This is interesting! Want to know how to start a pita bread business? Read our article “Business plan for the production and sale of lavash.”

Financial questions

A goat produces milk only 7 months a year, but every year it has new offspring, which helps to increase the total population. On average, one goat produces from 0.6 to 1 liter of milk per day. The average price of goat milk (January 2014) fluctuates around 60-100 rubles per liter. As the experience of organizing several goat farms (Moscow region) shows, the full payback of this type of business with the most minimal investment is 1–2 years. What follows are years of stable and very profitable work. On some goat farms (100-130 heads) there is a profitability level of 50-60%, which speaks for itself. Goat milk is a very profitable enterprise if you approach it responsibly. It should be noted that investments to create such a business should not come from financial institutions with their high interest rates.

You should study the guidelines on the production of goat milk in more detail; these materials are freely available.

• Author: Dmitry
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Is it profitable to keep goats?

Among the large number of ideas for starting your own business in the field of livestock farming, many entrepreneurs are interested in

namely goat breeding. The attractiveness of this business is as follows:

• Goats are unpretentious animals. They reproduce well in their own backyard and do not require special nutrition;
• The cost of keeping a goat is minimal;
• The state provides support and subsidies to private farms;
• Low competition in the market;
• Almost waste-free production.

Like any other aspect of livestock farming, goat farming as a business has its disadvantages. The main ones include:

• The entrepreneur lacks the necessary knowledge about goat farming, which leads to numerous mistakes and closure of the farm;
• Difficulty in selling products. Retail chains prefer to work with large suppliers;
• Difficulties with purchasing young animals. Some popular goat breeds are not sold in Russia.

Before implementing the project, the entrepreneur must decide on priorities, study the basics of livestock farming and the sales market for the products. A correct and serious approach to organizing production will help avoid unjustified financial losses.

Another popular trend in livestock farming is raising bulls for meat. You can also provide smoking services for various products.

Siberian roe deer in the Kirov region

Photo by the author

In an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Sergei Donskoy, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation, draws attention to the fact that “Despite the enormous potential, the topic of exporting wild animal meat in Russia has not yet been developed at all. The capabilities and potential of our hunting lands will allow us to form a new economic sector in Russia in the future.” However, the development of this direction, which is necessary for the state and hunters, is currently being hampered due to a number of problems associated with the import, maintenance and reproduction of ungulates in enclosures, and legal issues with the registration of their breeding.

However, despite the existing difficulties, since the end of last year, the Department for the Protection and Use of Wildlife of the Kirov Region, together with hunting farms and the Federal State Institution Rostov State Experimental Hunting Farm, has been implementing an initiative for enclosure breeding of wild ungulates in the Kirov Region.

This is a new and promising business for hunting users in the region. It is also worth noting that the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources recommended developing measures for the possible replacement of wild boar with other species of ungulates. Having studied this issue, management specialists came to the conclusion that sika deer and red deer, as well as Siberian roe deer, would be promising species for the southern regions of our region.

Currently, the ASF situation in the Kirov region is alarming, but not critical. No cases of this disease have been reported. But if the situation changes and it is necessary to take measures to depopulate the wild boar, then, thanks to game breeding, our game users will still have opportunities for economic development.

If wild boar is bread and lard for the hunting user, then sika deer, red deer and roe deer will at least serve as bread. We also note that enclosure breeding of wild ungulates in hunting parks and farms is a very profitable activity for hunting users. World practice shows that enclosure breeding is much more profitable than keeping livestock. When breeding wild ungulates, such careful care and construction of farms are not required.

Wild ungulates are less susceptible to diseases. And in terms of meat quality, wild ungulates “win”; they have neither the hormones nor antibiotics that livestock receives. In the Kirov region, where agricultural lands are overgrown with forests, such a project could have great prospects. Raising wild animals, both in captive and semi-free conditions for hunting and meat, is an ideal direction for export. Of course, game breeding is not a matter of one day. But if we want to solve environmental problems and develop the hunting economy, this work must begin immediately.

And at the beginning of March, the first batch of Siberian roe deer from the Sverdlovsk region was brought to the region. Ten young roe deer arrived in our region, the animals arrived well, they are now in quarantine, and veterinary documents are being drawn up, after which they will be released into the enclosure prepared for them. In the future, we want to start breeding sika deer, red deer and other species of ungulates in the region.

I would like to note that before deciding to take such a responsible step, the management held consultations with specialists from leading farms for enclosure breeding of ungulates, both Russian and foreign. The result of these consultations was a trip by the head of the department to Slovakia, one of the leaders in the breeding of ungulates, where the delegation studied the state of affairs in this industry, held a number of meetings with experts in the field of game breeding and became familiar with useful experience in captive breeding of ungulates in this country.

Aviary breeding of wild ungulates in the Kirov region is a serious initiative designed for several years. And we hope that, despite the difficulties associated with this, it will be possible to develop the technology for their maintenance and reproduction in relation to the natural and climatic conditions of our region.

In conclusion, I would like to say that reindeer breeding is not only a source of high-quality commercial products. It can become one of the factors contributing to the development of tourism. It is possible that in the Kirov region it will be promising to organize ecological parks in which it will be possible to organize observation of these beautiful animals. Isn’t this one of the possible “highlights” of the Vyatka region in the field of tourism?

Victor Bushmenev May 25, 2014 at 00:00

Preparing to open a farm

How to start a goat farming business? At the first stage, you will need to choose a place to build a goat farm. If an entrepreneur plans to do business on a small scale, outbuildings on a personal plot are suitable as premises. In addition, it is necessary to have a place for walking animals and storing food.

Note! In order to build a modern complex, it is necessary to provide for all the features of animal breeding. A typical goat farm design will help to optimally place buildings on the site and properly equip the premises.

Premises requirements

To open a large farm, you will need to find a spacious premises, next to which there will be pasture areas. Electricity and water supply must be connected to the building. Without these communications, the entrepreneur will not be able to obtain permission to operate from Rospotrebnadzor.

The room for keeping goats should be dry, warm and clean. The area of ​​the goat's rue is calculated depending on the livestock. For one adult it is necessary to allocate from 2 to 4 sq.m. in the paddock. Accordingly, a small farm for 50 heads can be placed on an area of ​​at least 100 sq.m.

Goats do not tolerate cold well; this factor must be taken into account when building a farm. It is not recommended to fill the floor with concrete in a goat barn. Straw is used as bedding, which must be changed 2-3 times a month. The stall must have compartments for young animals, milking goats and a maternity room.

Basics of aviary breeding

Making a decision on the enclosure keeping of ungulates (deer, fallow deer, mouflons) requires a serious strategic calculation for the owner or director of the farm. An enclosure (we will use this term to refer to areas fenced off for keeping animals) requires large financial investments: the construction of a fence and special infrastructure, the creation of pastures and fodder fields, the purchase of agricultural equipment and, finally, the initial number of animals. The initial costs amount to millions of rubles, and the enclosure will bring tangible results only after a few years.

Breeding goals.

The size and required infrastructure of the enclosure depends on the goals.

1. Hunting, including trophy hunting, in an enclosure.

2. Release into own lands.

3. Sale of live animals.

4. Raising animals for commercial purposes (producing meat and antlers).

5. A complex of all these goals or their combination.

Depending on the purposes of breeding, places where animals are kept can be technologically divided into “enclosures” proper and more complex complexes - “farms of wild ungulates”.

Aviary

In the simplest and most common version of an enclosure (both in Europe and here), the same territory is used for breeding and shooting animals. These types of enclosures are created by fencing the perimeter of an acceptable area of ​​land and are the simplest to set up. The animals are provided with minimal care, but managing such a semi-wild herd to achieve a specific result is quite difficult.

Subsequently, the owners of the enclosure, as a rule, are faced with the need to catch part of the animals for various purposes, be it for sale or veterinary needs, etc. In small enclosures, adult males conflict and can cause serious injuries to each other, even leading to the death of animals, so raising elite trophies in such conditions is not an easy task. An excess of females in the enclosure, resulting from the predominant removal of males, necessitates their removal from the enclosure. Therefore, the structure of the enclosure should initially be thought out in such a way as to have several zones that allow a differentiated approach to the animals contained in them, depending on their purpose and plans for further use.

Such an enclosure system seems expensive and unnecessary at the initial stage, but in the future it can reduce costs and provide significant income by reducing losses and improving the quality of the resulting animals. The phased construction of areas of the enclosure complex, carried out over several years (as the livestock increases), allows us to avoid large one-time costs.

Farms of wild ungulates (deer farms, farms)

As a rule, they are created for the purpose of obtaining marketable products (meat and antlers), selling live animals, although growing elite trophies on a farm is much more efficient and faster.

In the West, there is a whole culture of consumption of delicious deer meat, starting with the fact that a restaurant visitor can know from which specific farm the meat was supplied, in what conditions it was raised and what the animal ate, and ending with a special technology for maturing the meat, without which the deer steak will not reach the desired softness and juiciness. Therefore, the production of venison represents a huge and as yet untapped market of interest to investors.

The leaders of reindeer farming - New Zealand and England over the past 30 years have actually turned deer farming into an agricultural industry using all the latest veterinary and livestock achievements.

The basis of reindeer farming is their grazing on pastures divided into paddocks. Rotating grazing paddocks during the summer is essential as deer are much more demanding of pasture quality than traditional farm animals.

Many years of experiment show that deer get along just fine without a forest if they are provided with good grass, a watering hole and a shelter from the sun in the summer, and hay or silage and shelter from the wind in the winter.

High quality pastures with young offspring of optimal height can only be ensured by constant changing of paddocks and mowing the grass in them, which imposes its own specifics on the design of farms.

The area of ​​the paddocks depends on many reasons, including the purpose of raising animals, the number of animals in the group, and the quality of pastures.

To design pens when building farms, it is important to determine how animals will winter and provide places for this. Traditional and simple is wintering in pasture paddocks. With this option, one should take into account trampling and excessive grazing of pastures, which significantly reduces their productivity in the next season and changes the composition of the vegetation cover. It is imperative to take into account the distance from the feed warehouse, the possibility of travel (hills, mud, snow), animal safety, and protection from the wind.

The best solution is to build small winter pens in convenient locations as close as possible to warehouses and technical bases. It is optimal to have a separate wintering pen for each group, since it is better for the groups to be permanent, with an established stable hierarchy and minimal competition between animals. Using the natural configuration of paddocks and existing forest plantations to protect, and in their absence, the construction of artificial protection, primarily from the wind. With appropriate protection and feeding, deer can withstand even very severe frosts.

A more advanced method is wintering under a roof (sheds, sheds, etc.), most often calves separated from their mothers winter this way, as they are the most sensitive and fastest growing (and therefore the most demanding of conditions).

The nature of the terrain also determines most of the decisions, and above all, the location of division into pens, the route of animal translocation corridors, the location of gates and places of capture.

The main element of the farm is a specially equipped pen for catching and carrying out all necessary veterinary procedures, equipped with a machine for restraining animals.

without a pen for catching , since conducting breeding work using only injectors for immobilization is extremely unproductive and expensive.

Fencing and mesh

Even 6-7 or more years ago, the fences of all enclosures were built from chain-link mesh with a mesh size of 100X100 mm or less, less often - from welded non-galvanized road mesh. The only advantage of the chain-link mesh was that its short rolls can be carried manually and installed in particularly hard-to-reach places - ravines, etc. The only advantage of the road network is its accessibility. There simply were no other materials.

But, the days of chain-link mesh are gone forever; now special fencing systems are used to fence enclosures, which are based on a galvanized steel mesh with a fixed knot, capable (often without repair!) of withstanding a tree falling onto the fence. The inventors of such a net are New Zealanders - the pioneers of modern farm reindeer husbandry.

The essence of the concept of “fencing system” is that the mesh along the entire perimeter is always in a tense state, which is achieved by using special fasteners to connect rolls of mesh (up to 100 m long) into a single whole, by fastening the wire to the posts without rigid fixation. All this requires special tools and technologies and forms elastic, durable fencing elements that work as a single unit for 200-400 m, resistant to impacts in any direction.

There are only 3 manufacturers of such mesh in Europe - TORNADO (England), NODIMOR (Portugal, FORTEMA (Spain). THIS NET IS NOT PRODUCED IN RUSSIA.

The height of a fence made of mesh with a fixed knot can be from 1.9 to 3 m. To keep deer, there is no need to bury the mesh in the ground.

Enclosure infrastructure facilities

Technological processes in the enclosure require the construction of special structures both for feeding the animals and for their removal (shooting, trapping) and the implementation of veterinary procedures.

1. Complex feeding areas.
2. Feeders for feeding hay.
3. Solonetz.
4. Towers for observing animals and shooting.
5. Watering holes.
6. Quarantine pen (quarantine).
7. Pedestrian paths.
8. Car roads.
9. Live trap.
10. Separator.

The infrastructure of enclosures is designed individually in relation to the goals and objectives of animal breeding and depends on the landscape and terrain.

Animals for enclosures.

1. Among deer, the most common species for keeping in hunting enclosures in our country, according to our experts, is the sika deer ( Cervus Nippon hortulorum). This is the most accessible and inexpensive type.
2. Maral (Siberian subspecies of red deer) is the second largest animal in hunting enclosures. This is due to the availability of primary purchase of animals from deer breeding farms.
3. The last 5 years have seen an explosion of interest in acquiring European red deer ( Cervus elaphus hippelaphus). It is this species that is traditionally cultivated in Europe, where it is the personification of the most valuable and prestigious trophy for a hunter. Once introduced to New Zealand, this species gave rise to the development of modern intensive reindeer farming and a culture of deer meat consumption.
4. Fallow deer ( Dama dama) - this medium-sized deer with characteristic spade-shaped antlers actively and confidently takes its place in the enclosures of the European part of Russia. Due to its small size, it is the most economical to maintain, and the meat has the highest gastronomic characteristics.
5. In the last 2 years, interest in keeping white-tailed deer has increased among individual owners. What drew attention to this species was the not entirely justified opinion about its hyper-fertility.
6. Mouflon ( Ovis musimon). This is the only representative of the genus of sheep living in Europe. Successfully kept in fenced areas. Not found in the wild in Russia, the most exotic inhabitant of our hunting enclosures.

Typically, mouflons are imported by farm owners who want to diversify the species composition of animals in enclosures and gain additional opportunities for trophy hunting. Traditionally, our hunters went to Europe to hunt mouflons, but we believe that in a few years worthy specimens of these rams will be raised in Russia.

1. Wild boar ( Sus scrofa).

Recently the most popular and easiest to breed, this hunting species is now going through hard times due to outbreaks of African swine fever, which has decimated the livestock of European Russia. The main feature of enclosure keeping wild boars is the need to deepen the fence by 30-50 cm due to its ability to undermine the fences, but at the same time not requiring a fence height of more than 180-200 cm. It is extremely undesirable to keep a boar in the same pen with deer, since, being an omnivorous animal , it poses a mortal danger to newborn fawns .

Shared content.

The following combinations may be most common: all deer can be kept in enclosures in different combinations; the only difficulty lies in the difficulty of identifying females and young animals of different species when shooting in an enclosure.

Mouflon can be kept together with any deer, but requires close attention from staff, since females and young mouflons cannot compete for food in feeding areas with deer; this problem is especially acute in winter.

Supply of wild ungulates (Who can buy deer from in Moscow?)

The main task that arises when creating an enclosure is the acquisition of animals.

If you only need a few animals, they are easy to find in Russia and delivered to the farm. Private enclosures offer almost all types of deer; just type the phrase “buy deer” into a search engine.

But, as a rule, domestic suppliers cannot provide the necessary selection either by gender or age of any large batch. The gender and age composition of groups of animals offered for sale within Russia almost always differs from the wishes of the customer, since the formation of batches of animals occurs based on the results of catching with live traps in enclosures, or immobilizing animals. At the same time, the selectivity of capture is extremely limited.

In addition, prices for Russian animals are often formed based on the wishes of the owners and may exceed the cost of imported animals.

When importing animals, DeerLand LLC has the opportunity to form batches by sex and age in accordance with agreements with the customer, which is due to the presence of its own quarantine in Europe and extensive partnerships with breeding farms for breeding European red deer, European fallow deer, and European mouflon. In addition, imported animals can undergo all prescribed veterinary quarantine procedures at the base of Dearland LLC in Russia.

What is needed to create an aviary?

If you are thinking about creating an aviary, expert advice will not be superfluous.

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Farm registration

The second step towards the implementation of a business idea will be the preparation of documents with the Federal Tax Service. When registering, you must present codes from the OKVED list suitable for conducting activities.

Expert opinion

Alexey Matveev

Expert of our site. An experienced specialist in various fields of agriculture, as well as organizing business processes.

Ask a Question

It is preferable to register a small goat farm as an individual entrepreneur. When opening a large enterprise, it is more profitable to register an LLC.

The farm will not be able to operate without permission from regulatory authorities. The entrepreneur must contact Rospotrebnadzor and obtain a certificate from the Sanitary and Epidemiological Service. In addition, you will need permission from the fire service and the environmental supervisory authority.

Equipment

In order to receive milk, the farm must be equipped with milking machines. If an entrepreneur plans to sell cream and sour cream, he needs to additionally purchase separators and mixers. The equipment can be either manual or electric. When purchasing equipment, preference should be given to foreign manufacturers. Feedback from farmers suggests that foreign devices are more reliable and durable than domestic ones.

The goat farm is equipped with refrigerated chambers for storing products, heaters and fans.

Goat farm business plan

An important part of any project is drawing up a business plan. It allows you to assess risks, analyze the sales market, and understand

Is it profitable or not to raise goats? According to experienced entrepreneurs, a goat farm with at least 100 heads is considered break-even. The farmer and his family members will be able to independently maintain the enterprise, while saving on personnel.

Large-scale production requires significant financial investments. In Russia, the beneficial properties of goat milk and meat were underestimated for a long time, so large complexes for 1000 heads were rare. However, the food embargo and government support for agriculture influenced the development of this area of ​​livestock farming. Investments in opening a plant with goat housing are at least 50 million rubles.

As an example, consider a family farm with 100 animals. The entrepreneur plans to sell milk, meat, young animals and goat hair.

Name	Cost, rub.
Rent of land and premises	500000
Purchase of livestock	1200000
Equipment	150000
Paperwork	15000
Vaccination	7000
Buying feed	60000
Transportation costs	45000
Total	1977000

Note! The first season is the most difficult. This is due to the fact that goats begin to produce milk at 10 months. Therefore, you will need to be patient and wait until the young animals grow up.

Let's calculate the income that 1 goat brings:

• 700 liters of milk per year, at a price of 150 rubles per 1 liter;
• 50 kg of meat, the average cost of 1 kg on the market is 200 rubles;
• 500 grams of wool - 400 rubles per 1 kg;
• 2 kids per year – 20,000 rubles.

When drawing up a business plan, you should take into account the monthly costs of maintaining the farm. One goat brings up to 100,000 rubles in income if the farm has permanent sales channels and continuously sells its products. Payback for a properly organized business occurs on average in 1.5 years.

Reproduction of roe deer

Roe

- the most prolific species of the deer family. Adult females give birth to two roe deer annually, feeding them with milk until almost 6-8 months of age and leaving them only when they are preparing to become mothers again. Young animals, not yet 1.5 years old, begin breeding and at the age of 2 years bring their first offspring, usually consisting of one roe deer. It is no longer uncommon for old females to give birth to three or even four cubs.

Observations at the zoo have established that European roe deer have two rutting periods: the main one in August and the additional one in December-January. In the second period

those females who, for some reason, have not undergone fertilization, mate. In such roe deer, the gestation period is reduced to 5 months and they give birth to offspring at the usual time. The male roe deer is capable of fertilization from May to January. It is likely that the same is true for Siberian roe deer.

Having found a female in heat by smell, the goat drives the calves away from her. Roe deer during the period

Rutting animals do not form strong pairs, but they do not have such harems as wapiti.
In female roe deer, estrus goes through quite quickly, within 4 - 5 days. After it stops, the males leave the female and rush in search of another. The female
searches for the calves she left behind and stays with them until the next year’s offspring appear. Usually the most active and strong males, the so-called dominant ones, cover most of the females. This situation is violated in areas with low numbers of roe deer or where females predominate in the populations.

After the mating season ends, some males remain with the female and are joined by calves. Such groups of roe deer of three to four individuals are often found throughout the winter.

The timing of roe deer entering into reproduction, as well as the number of young animals in their offspring, depend on the conditions of existence, and mainly on the usefulness and abundance of food. Under favorable conditions, females give birth to two roe deer annually, although in the first birth they usually give birth to one.

In reserves where the population density of ungulates is high and there is a lack of food, most female roe deer begin to breed in the third year of life and more often give birth to one calf. The annual growth of the herd in reserves usually does not exceed 20%; there are 1.3 calves per breeding female. In areas open to hunting, food is more plentiful and the growth of the herd is higher.

Fertility rates are approximately the same for roe deer in Eastern Siberia. Adult females shot by hunters in October - November had an average of 1.7 embryos (based on the corpora lutea of ​​pregnancy in the ovaries).

In Yakutia, the highest fertility is observed among roe deer. Of the seven examined uteruses with embryos, 6 had twins, and one had 3 embryos. 17 females with young animals had 32 calves, or almost 1.9 calves per female.

Roe deer calves appear with the onset of summer, when there is enough succulent food for the mother. Roe milk is very nutritious, it contains a lot of proteins, fats, sugar and other elements necessary for a growing body. The calves' weight increases rapidly.

One-day-old European roe deer weigh on average 1225 g; 5 - 8-day - 1567 g, 2-week - 2450, and 3-week already more than 3 kg.

The development of calves largely depends on weather conditions, as well as on the number of calves. Milk feeding continues for a long time, and if the roe deer has only one calf

, then it receives more nutrition and grows faster. Therefore, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish a 5-month-old calf from a 1.5-year-old individual by size. There are also roe deer that are lagging behind in their development and whose weight is almost 2 times lower than average. Usually such animals die in the first winter of their life.

Calves meet their first wintering when they are already quite old, and in normal years their death rate is approximately the same as that of adult animals. But the situation is different in severe, snowy winters. Then roe deer most often die, especially those that are stunted for some reason.

To properly manage hunting, it is necessary to know the dynamics of the roe deer herd. To calculate it, you need to have data on average fecundity, the time of first entry into reproduction and the percentage of adult females in the general herd. Using these data, you can find out the annual replenishment of the herd through breeding. The decline in livestock numbers is more difficult to determine, since only age composition data can be used. In addition, population dynamics can be determined empirically by regularly taking into account the population in some control area. But in the latter case, big errors may creep in due to the moving in and eviction of some animals.

Goat farming: profitability

The beneficial properties of goat's milk are undeniable, so this product is used not only in nutrition, but also in cosmetology and medicine. But in addition to milk, you can get meat, wool and fat from the livestock. Full-fledged offspring are a guarantee of a successful business, and in this case, mixing breeds is not recommended.

The most popular breeds for raising goats are:

• alpine;
• Nubian;
• dairy Saanen;
• British;
• Russian;
• Gorkovskaya;
• Mingrelian

When creating a business plan, you need to follow the following aspects:

• breeding goats with subsequent sale of dairy products;
• breeding healthy offspring for the purpose of sale.

Where to start in your chosen business? First you need to obtain reliable information about the level of demand for a certain type of product. And also scrupulously assess the scale of production of competitors. There is a pleasant point in this business: the demand for products is always high, and the competition is small.

In rural areas, you can not only breed animals or engage in poultry farming, for example, raising ostriches, but also organize rural tourism.

Sample business plan for a goat farm

When calculating for 100 heads of goat mini-farm, you will need an amount for:

1. Purchase or repair of a finished farm – 1,000,000 rubles.
2. Purchase of young livestock for raising full-fledged offspring - 1,000,000 rubles.
3. Milking room – RUB 800,000.
4. Purchase of equipment, installation and purchase of tools – 200,000 rubles.
5. Tanker for selling milk – 500,000 rubles.
6. Purchase of feed – 50,000 rubles.
7. Business registration (other expenses) – RUB 100,000.

Also, the financial business plan provides for not only one-time expenses, but also permanent ones. These include:

1. Payment of utility bills.
2. Deduction of wages to employees.
3. Payment of monthly land taxes.
4. Feed costs.
5. Insurance deductions.
6. Other expenses.

According to preliminary estimates, a goat farm of 100 heads will produce approximately 1,000 liters of milk every month. Selling even at the lowest price will allow you to receive a stable income.

Taking into account unforeseen expenses and all kinds of losses, revenue can be in the range of 500,000 rubles. With such indicators, business profitability will reach the level of 48%. And this says that after 1.5 years of stable operation of the farm, business at home pays off. It is not difficult to draw up a business plan for 50 heads, systematically dividing all expenses by half.

Not far from Zhitomir, in the village of Turovets, Zhitomir region, there is a farm where real boars are raised. Farmer Vladimir Tikhonchuk has a very interesting line of business: he breeds wild boars. His farm is the only one of its kind in the Zhytomyr region. This is not a pigsty at all, but several fenced-off areas of young self-sowing forest.

The wild boars live there in their usual conditions: they wander through the thicket, rummage in the ground in search of tasty treats, and swim in the swamps. The difference between their existence and the completely wild one is that people feed them with fragrant anchovy and corn.

— Why did you choose such a very strange business for yourself? — I ask the farmer.

“Really strange,” he agrees. - But I'm a hunter. But the fact is that now almost all hunting grounds are in private hands. There is practically nowhere to go with a gun and a dog. And in 2008, it seems, a law was passed allowing farmers to keep wild animals in enclosures. Thus, I have the right to breed him, train hunting dogs on him, and finally shoot him. Young huskies are brought to me so that they can smell the animal. At the same time, the owner of the dog immediately sees: if the dog does not show interest in the wild boar, then keeping it as a hunting dog and training it is pointless.

Five years ago, Vladimir Tikhonchuk bought two breeders and six young females, and today the farmer has about 50 head of wild boars, including suckling piglets.

— What is your business, that is, how do you turn these cute pigs into money? Do you sell boar meat to expensive restaurants?

— I am receiving offers from restaurateurs; next year, if farrowing is good, and if no one “helps” with shooting my wild boars, I will try to start making money from this. And now... Unless we train huskies, but it’s not a lot of money, and I sell the surplus corn grown for feed. But this, of course, does not cover the losses. So far I’m just investing: growing food, building enclosures. I also want to get badgers and build a pheasant farm. Pheasant hunting in a corn field is a true hunter's paradise.

— What is the beauty of wild boar meat?

- In his wildness. It is tougher than that of a domestic pig, and you need to know how to cook it. It must be soaked in wine or beer and stewed for a long time with onions, garlic, and spices. I also had to try the meat of badger, beaver, and roe deer, but wild boar meat is the most delicious and beaver is also okay.

— How do you get along with the local population?

- Fine. But with poachers - not so much. Three sows and two gilts have already been killed. The police came and worked. After this, the raids stopped. Bye.

— Why are the hunting grounds of Ukraine incredibly poor compared to neighboring Poland or, for example, Slovakia?

“It’s like this with us: he saw a roe deer and knocks it down, he doesn’t look to see if it’s a female, a male, or even a baby.” As a result, there is no one to reproduce. This is not hunting, but barbarism. At the other extreme, many forests were turned over to hunting grounds. Their owners protect and increase the number of animals, but a simple hunter has nowhere to go. For them, people like me will breed animals, and at the same time preserve the livestock and restore its diversity.

- What animals are there in these forests?

“There are roe deer, and wild boars, and badgers, and moose come in.” But many, many moose are shot here - experienced hunters know their migration routes.

— Are there animals that compete with hunters and just people for food and territory?

- Foxes. There are a lot of them divorced. They destroy young animals. And the beavers got it too. They build their dams all around. My enclosures are already flooding. You dismantle their dam, and by morning it is back in place, even stronger than before. If under the USSR they had been able to build so quickly and efficiently, we would now have the most prosperous country in the world. Wolves only run in by chance...

As it turned out, Vladimir Tikhonchuk spends his income not only on wild boars. He also has a veteran football club “AMIKO”, which won silver in the Ukrainian Championship this past year. In general, apparently, Vladimir Mikhailovich is not one of those who languishes over gold. He quickly finds a use for every hryvnia he earns. This doesn’t make him richer, but he manages to make his life full, meaningful and necessary.

Victor Bakalchuk, Echo newspaper

Breeding and keeping heads

For beginning entrepreneurs, raising and keeping goats in their own backyard is not an easy task. If you have never encountered

farming, then you should study special literature on methods of growing, feeding and maintaining fertile offspring. Having secured all the necessary knowledge, only then can you begin the breeding itself.

Goats are herbivores. For them, green pasture is a haven for rapid growth and weight gain. Therefore, the farm area must be spacious enough for them to walk.

Also, we should not forget that goats are afraid of frost, but at the same time quickly adapt to warmth. The premises for housing animals must be dry and insulated on the inside. It needs to be equipped with a water supply, sewerage and heating appliances.

Animal feed can be stored in a separate room. According to environmental standards, the milk processing workshop must be kept clean and tidy.

It is recommended to cover the stall floor with clean straw bedding. Feeders and drinking bowls are equipped with all amenities and unobstructed access to them.

Expert opinion

Alexey Matveev

Expert of our site. An experienced specialist in various fields of agriculture, as well as organizing business processes.

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More milk yield can be obtained under conditions where animals are grazed every day in the fresh air. In the summer, it is better to equip the livestock in special pens so that they are not kept tied.

February

There is no direct law regulating relations in the field of farm (aviary) breeding of game animals. These relations are vaguely spelled out in the Federal Laws “On Wildlife” (1995), “On Hunting and on the Conservation of Hunting Resources and on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation” (2009), Forestry, Land and Tax Codes. The specialists of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, who were responsible for the hunting industry, unfortunately, did not bother to prepare the necessary by-laws for the Federal Law “On Animal World” for more than two decades, which significantly slowed down the development of game breeding. This type of business activity was and continues to be regulated by many departmental regulations and instructions. With the entry into force of the Forestry Code, the problems worsened: incessant attempts by officials to introduce exorbitant payments are strangling this business in the bud. For example, by order of the Federal Forestry Agency dated October 25, 2005 No. 285, the annual rates of forest taxes for the use of forest fund areas for the maintenance and breeding of wildlife in semi-free conditions were established for the Leningrad region in the amount of 50,000 rubles, for the Moscow region - 100,000 rubles per one hectare. Accordingly, for a plot of 100 hectares the farmer had to pay 5,000,000 and 10,000,000, and for a plot of 1000 hectares - 50,000,000 and 100,000,000 rubles (!). The new law “On Hunting...” turned out to be, in the words of one of the ministers, “clumsy” and created even more problems for farmers. Article 49 of this law “Maintenance and breeding of hunting resources in semi-free conditions and artificially created habitat” states:

1. The maintenance and breeding of hunting resources in semi-free conditions and artificially created habitats is carried out for the purpose of placing hunting resources in their habitat or for the purpose of their sale in accordance with civil legislation.

2. The maintenance and breeding of hunting resources in semi-free conditions and artificially created habitats is carried out by legal entities and individual entrepreneurs registered in the Russian Federation in accordance with the Federal Law “On State Registration of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs”, on the basis of hunting agreements and with permits for the maintenance and breeding of hunting resources in semi-free conditions and artificially created habitats, which are issued for the duration of hunting agreements.

3. The permit form for the maintenance and breeding of hunting resources in semi-free conditions and in an artificially created habitat is a document of strict accountability, has a registration series and number.

4. The permit for the maintenance and breeding of hunting resources in semi-free conditions and an artificially created habitat shall indicate information about the legal entity or individual entrepreneur to whom it was issued, the types and purposes of activities related to the maintenance and breeding of hunting resources in semi-free conditions and artificially created habitat, conditions for maintaining and breeding hunting resources in semi-free conditions and artificially created habitats, conditions for delivering hunting resources to the customer or placing them in the habitat, the procedure for placing hunting resources in the habitat.

5. An application for permission to maintain and breed hunting resources in semi-free conditions and in an artificially created habitat and the documents attached to it are considered within ten days from the date of their submission. Based on the results of this review, a decision is made to issue such a permit or to refuse to issue it. The grounds and procedure for making a decision to refuse to issue a permit for the maintenance and breeding of hunting resources in semi-free conditions and in an artificially created habitat are established in accordance with parts 8 and 9 of this article.

6. A permit for the maintenance and breeding of hunting resources in semi-free conditions and an artificially created habitat is valid from the moment of its registration in the state register of permits for the maintenance and breeding of hunting resources in semi-free conditions and an artificially created habitat.

7. A permit issued to a legal entity or individual entrepreneur for the maintenance and breeding of hunting resources in semi-free conditions and in an artificially created habitat is canceled in the case of:

1) the person’s non-compliance with the requirements of parts 1 and 2 of this article;

2) this person submits an application to cancel such permission;

3) liquidation of a legal entity or death of an individual entrepreneur.

8. The decision to cancel a permit for the maintenance and breeding of hunting resources in semi-free conditions and in an artificially created habitat shall indicate the circumstances that served as the basis for its adoption, with obligatory reference to the relevant provisions of Part 7 of this article. Within one working day from the date of the decision to cancel such a permit, a copy of this decision is sent to the person whose permit was canceled in accordance with this decision.

9. A permit for the maintenance and breeding of hunting resources in semi-free conditions and an artificially created habitat is recognized as canceled from the date of entry of information about its cancellation in the state register of permits for the maintenance and breeding of hunting resources in semi-free conditions and an artificially created habitat.

10. A person who has been denied a permit to maintain and breed hunting resources in semi-free conditions and in an artificially created habitat, or whose permit has been revoked, has the right to appeal the relevant decision in court.

11. The procedure for submitting an application for a permit to maintain and breed hunting resources in semi-free conditions and artificially created habitats, a list of documents submitted simultaneously with it, the procedure for making decisions on issuing such a permit or refusing to issue it, the procedure for canceling such a permit, maintaining a state register of permits for the maintenance and breeding of hunting resources in semi-free conditions and artificially created habitats, the form of such a permit is established by the authorized federal executive body. According to this law, an official (mainly a hunter), as we see, not only authorizes the maintenance and breeding of “hunting resources” in semi-free conditions and artificially created habitats, but also determines the conditions for their maintenance, breeding, delivery to the customer, the conditions and procedure for placement in the environment a habitat. It is commendable, but such concern for a farmer is like a “bone in the throat”: the conditions may be such that it is better to immediately abandon the business, and if they are not met, the permit may be revoked. And, as many years of practice have shown, a farmer, with rare exceptions, can obtain permission, even with all the documents correctly executed, only after officials take a considerable tribute from him in “green”, “wooden” or “greyhound puppies” in the form of jeeps , preferential hunting at any time, etc.

Having studied the law, the farmer begins to “puzzle” over why he needs to enter into a hunting agreement and obtain permission to keep and breed animals in enclosures (in captivity) from a specially authorized government body (hunting official), and a rural farmer and reindeer herder grazing their herds in the hunting grounds and, often, slaughtering their cattle with hunting weapons is not necessary; Why does the official consider his property – legally acquired wild animals and their offspring obtained in captivity – to be a “hunting resource”? And why is he controlled and, in part, disposed of by a hunting official, if, according to the law “On Animal World” (Article 3), relations in the field of protection and use of agricultural and other domesticated animals, as well as wild animals kept in captivity, are regulated by others federal laws and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation, and the actions of the Federal Law “On Hunting...” do not apply to relations related to the use and protection of wild animals kept in captivity (Article 4, paragraph 3).

And the question immediately arises: what is semi-free breeding of animals and “artificially created habitat”? In the basic Federal Laws “On Fauna” and “On Hunting...” these concepts are not defined. And if they are not defined, then everyone interprets them in their own way. The origin of the term “semi-free breeding of animals” is clearly agricultural. Domestic animals spend part of their time in barns, farms and pens, and part of their time in the wild. Herds of deer and sika deer on reindeer state farms and elk on moose farms are grazed or can be grazed outside the paddocks, just like domestic animals, i.e. kept semi-freely. In zoos, zoogardens, menageries and nurseries, animals are kept and bred in order to preserve the gene pool and increase the number of animals without grazing in the wild (in captivity). In hunting parks, animals are also kept and bred in order to increase the number of animals without free grazing, i.e. captive. This is where the animals are used inside the enclosure. The term “artificially created habitat” also apparently has nothing to do with enclosures: animals are kept and bred in their natural habitat, limited by a fence. It follows from this that enclosure keeping and breeding of game animals is not covered by the Federal Law “On Hunting...”. Not only I think so, but also the famous hunting lawyer V.B. Slobodenyuk (see: Safari. 2006. No. 4).

To import animals into enclosures, you also need to obtain permission from federal or territorial hunting authorities. There are no fewer bureaucratic obstacles along this path than when obtaining permission to organize a hunting park. As an example, I will cite the problems that the Moscow Regional Society of Hunters and Fishermen encountered when obtaining permission to import Siberian roe deer and red deer into enclosures from the Hunting Department of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation.

The hunting society was denied on the basis of the conclusion of the State Institution “Tsentrokhotkontrol” (No. 168/01-1-06 dated 06/13/2002). I quote the reasons for the refusal, which shocked the experts: “With the semi-free keeping of the Siberian roe deer, the escape of animals and their deliberate hybridization with the European roe deer is possible, which contradicts the law “On Animal World” and the Convention “Conservation of Biodiversity”, therefore the resettlement of the Siberian roe deer and its semi-free keeping is outside the limits We consider its historical area illegal. The resettlement of European red deer north of the border of the species’ natural habitat (Bryansk-Samara region) has long been recognized as unprofitable <…> releasing deer in small batches did not give positive results <…> and is inappropriate.”

For some reason, Tsentrokhotkontrol scientists moved the Moscow region outside the historical range of the Siberian roe deer, and in one fell swoop moved the northern border of the distribution of red deer hundreds of kilometers to the south. Moreover, deer were not allowed to be imported, “concerned” ... about the profitability of the activities of the MOOIR. With the motive “possible escape of animals and their deliberate hybridization,” I note that all zoo activities should be banned, since animals can potentially escape from their enclosures, and they do, including large predators, including lions. It is surprising that Tsentrokhotkontrol scientists and hunting officials have not yet responded in any way to the breeding of foreign ostriches in Russia, which may well escape from farms and appear in hunting grounds. But suddenly they can cover up for someone? Disorder!

Having received such a shocking refusal, the Moscow Society of Hunters and Fishers turns to the Institute of Ecology and Evolution. A.N. Severtsov of the Russian Academy of Sciences for clarification regarding the boundaries of the historical range of roe deer. The institute reported that “... the Siberian roe deer in post-glacial times inhabited the Russian Plain up to the Dnieper. <…> The Moscow region is completely included in the historical range of the Siberian roe deer. Consequently, its resettlement here in no way contradicts the Federal Law “On Fauna” and the international “Convention on Biological Diversity” and cannot serve as an “illegal” action, which, apparently due to a misunderstanding or due to ignorance of the history of the species’ range, Tsentrokhotkontrol reports.

After another appeal to the Hunting Department of the Ministry of Agriculture of the MOOiR, they again received a refusal (letter No. 12-02-19/183 dated 02/07/2003) with the same motivation and with additional explanations that the Siberian roe deer is prone to migration (in an enclosure?) and that the evidence base for its introduction into the hunting grounds (in the open-air cage?) of the Moscow region “in the context of a general decrease in the number of ungulates and increased anthropogenic pressure” is insufficient. The last phrase sounds like an outright mockery of an organization trying to increase the number of ungulates through farm breeding. The Ministry of Education and Science again appeals to a leading academic institute, which again explains that (I quote especially for farmers!): “there are no objective scientific or international legal grounds for prohibiting the import of Siberian roe deer and its breeding in enclosures and in the wild in the Moscow and Tver regions, since The Moscow region is included in the historical range of this species (see monographs “European and Siberian Roe Deer”, 1992 and “Olenyi”, 1999). The resettlement of animals within their historical ranges in no way contradicts the international Convention on Biological Diversity, according to which Parties must only prevent the “introduction of alien species that threaten ecosystems, habitats or species (Article 8h). Moreover, keeping wild animals in captivity and semi-captivity is important for the conservation of biodiversity and is widely practiced throughout the world. In conditions of a general decline in the number of ungulates in Russia, increased anthropogenic pressure, a protracted crisis in hunting and inept population management, breeding Siberian roe deer and other species in enclosures is extremely necessary and as a guarantee of the preservation of their gene pool. The reintroduction of the Siberian roe deer in the Moscow region cannot change the “established ecosystem”, since this species already lives here along with the European roe deer as a result of the activities of the Main Hunting Department of the RSFSR (Hunting Department of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation). In the second half of the twentieth century. hunting organizations brought and released about 1.5 thousand of these closely related animals in the Moscow and Tver regions, the descendants of which have survived to this day. All releases of European and Siberian roe deer (in the same areas) took place with the permission, under the control and with the direct participation of the Russian Federation Hunting Department. From the point of view of hunting, the Siberian roe deer is much more promising for breeding in snowy areas of the Moscow region than the European one. The Kurgan population, as established by the Institute’s specialists, is sedentary and not prone to migration.”

After such a detailed explanation, showing, in fact, the blatant unprofessionalism and arbitrariness of officials of the Hunting Department and scientists of the subordinate Tsentrokhotkontrol, after another long pause with the answer and going through the authorities, permission to import Siberian roe deer and red deer was received, but it took 1, 5 years. Officials are also trying to prevent the import and breeding of fallow deer, European mouflon, white-tailed deer, bison and other species “alien” to the domestic fauna, under the pretext of “possible flight of animals and their deliberate hybridization” and other pretexts. Let me remind them that in the royal menageries and the famous Askania-Nova, dozens of species of ungulates, including foreign ones, were kept and bred in enclosures for two hundred years and were even specially crossed with each other. However, it is not visible that hybrid herds are roaming around Russia and Ukraine, with the exception of Fr. Biryuchiy and several hunting farms, into which the Askanian hybrid deer was specially released by an organization similar to the Hunting Department. On the other hand, caring about the preservation and purity of the gene pool of ungulates even in enclosures, the Hunting Department of the Russian Federation (now part of the Ministry of Natural Resources) for some reason does not consider the introduction into the nature of the European part of Russia of the Ussuri sika deer, which displaces native species of ungulates, hybridizes with red deer and causes more significant damage to the forest than other ungulates. The deer are also settled here. As a result of mass artificial resettlement, the boar gene pool in most of Russia has become completely mixed, and the same thing happened with the pheasant. The Moscow region white hare has Yakut roots. The American mink and Canadian beaver have replaced their European relatives, and the raccoon dog, imported from the Far East, causes colossal damage to small game. Any bans on the importation, keeping and breeding of animals in fenced areas (in captivity, semi-free conditions and artificial habitats) are outright arbitrariness of officials and lawlessness, usually carried out under the guise of maintaining the rule of law and obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity. They use this convention as a “horror story” quite often. I have the impression that our hunting leaders are either not familiar with the contents of this document, in which the breeding of animals in captivity and semi-free conditions is encouraged, or they are using it unlawfully and quite consciously due to the lack of legal literacy of wildlife users. Both of these do them no credit!

Many farmers receive a response to letters of request for permission to bring game into enclosures only after several months, often negative and verbal, or not at all. This is already an established practice of ignoring requests, and it seems that officials are not going to change it. Partly they can be understood: under the existing legislation, there is no clarity on any issue related to enclosure breeding of game, and if there is no clarity, then problems may arise, so it is better not to respond to such requests at all. However, after long walks through the corridors of power, farmers still receive permission. Guess how much it costs them to resolve this “insoluble problem” with the importation of animals?

Some aviary owners, after talking with prohibition officials and studying Art. 18 “Hunting for the purpose of maintaining and breeding game resources in semi-free conditions or an artificially created habitat” of the law “On Hunting...”, they have stopped going through the pains and are importing animals without permits or bribes, but with veterinary certificates. By agreement with the hunting management, they buy licenses for shooting wild ungulates and use them to catch animals. It is even easier to import animals from other game farms: a call or letter via the Internet, a veterinary certificate, transportation and animals on site. And what’s surprising is that animals brought in without the permission of a hunting official reproduce no worse than those allowed into the enclosure, and their quality has not deteriorated.

The use of purchased animals is also problematic. There are no direct legislative prohibitions on the year-round production of animals (hunting “resources”) in open-air cages, but, as practice shows, the most zealous employees of state hunting and environmental authorities and the prosecutor’s office under all sorts of pretexts (with references to the laws “On Animal World” and “On Hunting”) ...”, the International Convention on Biological Diversity, departmental instructions, the ban on shooting in buildings, the ban on being on land with a gun outside the hunting season, etc.) are trying to prevent farmers from enjoying the results of their labor. And even Article 40 of the Law of the Russian Federation “On Wildlife”, which states that users of wildlife have the right “to use, without permission, objects of the animal world acquired for resettlement on a designated territory, in the manner established by this Federal Law, if these objects animal world are kept in semi-free conditions,” did not stop them. According to paragraph 1 of Art. 49 of the Federal Law “On Hunting...” the maintenance and breeding of hunting resources in semi-free conditions and artificially created habitats is carried out “for the purpose of placing hunting resources in their habitat or for the purpose of their sale in accordance with civil legislation.” Such a recording can only be deciphered by those deputies who formulated this paragraph of the article. The farmer and other citizens immediately have a question: with this formulation, is it possible to hunt animals in enclosures or not? The official says evasively: this problem can be solved in principle, but... you have to pay for everything.

Since game animals are kept in captivity in enclosures, their use obviously does not fall under the scope of either the Federal Law “On Hunting...” or the standard and regional rules for the “harvesting” of animals. Consequently, prohibitions on tools, projectiles and methods of removing individuals (methods of “hunting”) in the territories of enclosures also do not apply. Counter-argument of the hunting official: captive animals are a hunting resource that is kept and bred in an “artificially created habitat”, and, therefore, the use of the resource falls under the Federal Law “On Hunting...”, standard and regional rules for obtaining animals. Ultimately, in all enclosures and under current federal laws, departmental rules and instructions, animals are hunted year-round. The only question is the size of the “bribe” for controllers.

The roots of opposition to the development of hunting farming are partly economic. For the hunting official, the farmer becomes a territorial and economic competitor. When the territory is secured and a fence is built, the hunting grounds are alienated, which are now completely “owned” by the official himself. Moreover, a farmer, having purchased game animals for a fee, essentially becomes their owner (and the animals themselves are a means of production) and, like any owner, wants to use them at his own discretion and at any time, actually remaining outside control and outside the field of activity an official who cannot allow this to happen. The socialist principle of “keep out” and “control” is still alive today. The officials and deputies whom we support with our taxes have not yet realized that they should not work for themselves, but for the benefit of the whole society. Hence, or more due to thoughtlessness, the absurd legislation and the same departmental instructions. But at the same time, there is nothing more useful for an official than an unclear law or by-law, made “for himself” and opening up the broadest opportunities for corruption.

Is it currently possible for a hunting farmer to legally escape the excessive “guardianship” of a hunting official? It is possible if, if necessary, he can prove that he keeps and breeds animals not in semi-free conditions, but in captivity, and also if he keeps and breeds game pheasant, sika deer and deer brought from other farms. Domesticated forms of these species are officially recognized as farm animals, registered in the State Register of Animal Breeds Approved for Use, and can therefore be bred and used without permission. Moreover, according to Section A “Agriculture, Hunting and Forestry” of the All-Russian Classifier of Economic Activities OK 029-2001, adopted and put into effect on 01.01.03 by Decree of the State Standard of the Russian Federation dated 06.11.01 No. 454-st, subgroup 01.25.4 “Reindeer breeding” and subgroup 01.25.9 “Raising other animals not included in other groups” belong to subclass 01.2 “Animal husbandry”. At the same time, breeding animals also involves keeping them (Gagarin, 2008). This category also includes hybrids of bison with bison and livestock, hybrids of wild boar with domestic pigs and other hybrid forms, although hunting officials, armed with the law “On Hunting...”, have a different opinion: hybrids of bison with bison and livestock are classified as “hunting resources”, and for the hybridization of animals classified as hunting resources, permission must also be obtained. In any case, documents confirming the domestic or hybrid origin of animals are very useful in the courts, which, under our legislation, only a rare farmer manages to avoid.

Let's return once again to paragraph 1 of Art. 49 of the Federal Law “On Hunting...”, which states that the maintenance and breeding of hunting resources in semi-free conditions and artificially created habitats is carried out “for the purpose of placing hunting resources in their habitat.” Apparently, the deputies, the authors of this article of the law, wanted to convey to us that they allow the release of “hunting resources” from enclosures into hunting grounds. But at the same time, they forgot to indicate whether the farmer can use them outside the enclosure, and if so, under what conditions?

Given the existing laws and total poaching, most farmers do not even think about releasing animals into the wild. Some, however, sometimes release them “at gunpoint” secretly or by verbal agreement with the local hunting chief, and, of course, not for free. Another important issue is the urgency of the permit for keeping and breeding animals in enclosures. According to the Law “On Hunting...” it is issued for the duration of hunting agreements (see Article 49, paragraph 2). This period also, of course, depends on the favor of the official or on the amount given to him. The permit will expire sooner or later. If they don’t renew, the business is over; and again bribes.

However, that's not all. A hunting farmer, like any businessman, is visited by dozens of inspectors. And everyone wants something and, as a rule, does not leave empty-handed.

In recent decades, I have advised more than a hundred potential game farmers on the organization of aviary farming. Most of them never realized their dream, mainly due to bureaucratic obstacles. In this situation, is it worth building a farmer’s “vegetable garden”? It's not all doom and gloom. Dozens of hunting farms have already been created in Russia, and they operate even in conditions of legal and bureaucratic chaos. Laws and departmental rules and instructions, even the most absurd ones, cannot be violated, but, as we know, they can be challenged or circumvented in our state. How to do this is partly shown above, but it’s better to ask those who have already organized hunting parks and farms. And they will certainly tell you about who needs to be “given” and how much.

I am far from thinking that the majority of Russian officials are bribe-takers or staunch opponents of captive breeding of game animals. Among them, of course, there are many decent people, and I know many of them personally. Some sincerely and selflessly help farmers, thanks to them. But, for now, alas, the basis of farmers’ well-being is good “commercial” or personal relationships with “permits” and “controllers.” The fight against corruption, including by changing laws, is one of the most important areas of government activity, proclaimed by the President of the Russian Federation. Deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, as far as I know, intend to make adjustments to the Federal Law “On Hunting...”. I would very much like the corruption of Article 49 of this law not to fall out of their sight.

In my opinion, in the field of captive animal breeding, it is necessary to legislatively abolish the licensing system as the basis for corruption and bureaucratic arbitrariness, and switch to a notification system. The corrupt procedure for obtaining permission from a specially authorized (hunting) body to import animals into enclosures, of course, also needs to be eliminated. The only document a farmer needs is a veterinary certificate confirming the health of the livestock purchased and transported. The hunting official must control the farmer only at one stage of his economic activity - when releasing, if necessary, captive animals into the hunting grounds. Ownership of farm property (an enclosure with animals and structures located in it) must be independent of the whim of the official and indefinite. It is necessary to legally classify the keeping, breeding and use of game animals legally removed from the wild or imported from other farms as domestic animal breeding with all the ensuing consequences, including the provision of preferential loans, admission to participation in government programs aimed at the development of farm agriculture, etc. Let me add to this that our Belarusian colleagues have already taken a serious step towards the development of farm hunting by adopting new Rules for hunting and hunting in November 2010. These rules, unfortunately, are not indisputable; the state licensing system still dominates (specific to Belarus), but they relatively clearly stipulate the procedure for organizing an enclosure, keeping, breeding and using wild animals, which can be hunted inside the enclosure all year round, including including a bow and crossbow.

The Belarusian regulatory act should not be copied - the Russian hunting farmer (and hunting users too) must be freed, first of all, from the bureaucratic “shackles” and given economic freedom. Some of the “permits” and “controllers” will, of course, lose their jobs, but they may well learn the profession of a farmer. And then corruption will disappear, there will be plenty of game, the “royal hunt” will become accessible to all hunters, and the state will significantly strengthen food security. There's no harm in dreaming!

However, after many years of “battles” with hunting and other officials, the conviction is increasingly growing in me that in our state it is not the laws that need to be changed, but by legal means it is necessary to change... the authorities, which, obviously, are unable to radically change the situation in the fields of biological environmental management and nature conservation and improve the lives of the vast majority of Russian citizens.

Feeding the animals

The amount of milk yield and the taste of milk directly depend on the animal’s diet. Therefore, they need to be provided with adequate nutrition with a vitamin complex.

In winter, goats receive dried hay, branches of young trees and bushes as food. Compound feed should be included in the daily menu. A healthy pet needs up to 2 kg of hay per day, so in the summer, take care to prepare it in large quantities.

In summer, the cost of keeping a goat in terms of food is low, because its main food is lush green grass, fresh branches of young trees and their leaves.

In any season, to strengthen the immune system, animals' bodies require vitamin supplements. We should not forget about mineral complexes for the prevention of diseases in livestock.

We recommend several more interesting business ideas for rural areas: mink breeding and chinchilla farming to obtain valuable fur.

Home Farm Maintenance

One person will not be able to breed and maintain a goat farm. Even to raise goats for milk, not to mention other related products, you will need helpers. In addition to care, cleaning of premises, feeding of animals, and supply of products for sale are required.

As farm workers you need:

• milking operators – 2 people;
• general workers – 2 people;
• accountant – 1 person;
• veterinarian – 1 person;
• supplier (seller) of products – 2 people.

In order to save money, the services of an accountant and veterinarian can be used periodically. An agreement should be concluded with them.

Please note: per 1000 heads, more service personnel will be needed, because this fact is due to an increase in production volume.

Opening a mini-farm: is it profitable to keep goats?

Goat dairy products are rich in vitamins, calcium and protein. Milk is also an excellent folk healer for serious diseases (asthma, tuberculosis and bronchitis). Chronic coughs are successfully treated with goat fat.

For cosmetic purposes, the animal product is used to make creams, masks and mousses for the body and face. Cleopatra's rejuvenating baths are proof of this, and have been used by beauty connoisseurs for many decades.

And if a future entrepreneur thinks about whether it is profitable or not to start such production, then there is always an advantage in the direction of business profitability. Goat milk can be sold, delivered to specialized collection points, or milk can be processed to make products (sour cream, cream, cheese).

All these listed goods are sold at a higher cost, so there will certainly be a profit from their sale.

How to register your business

Starting a business in agriculture requires legal registration.

1. Choose a legal form of business. For a beginning entrepreneur, as an option, individual entrepreneur (individual entrepreneurship) is a convenient form.
2. The OKVED code of the selected activity (goat breeding) is provided to the statistics authority.
3. Extract of OGRN certificate (state number).
4. Application from a farmer to purchase (lease) a plot of land.
5. Certificate of permission to sell products from the SES (Sanitary and Epidemiological Service).
6. Certificate of permission from the fire service to operate the premises.
7. Extract from the permit from the environmental service.
8. Registering your own business.

It will take about 3 months to collect all the necessary documents. To reduce your time, seek help from a competent lawyer.

Staff

The number of workers directly depends on the size of the livestock. To care for 50 individuals, a staff of 5-6 people will be enough. The business owner can take on some responsibilities, especially if he has experience in agriculture.

Hired workers will:

• take care of goats;
• monitor the condition of the goat barn and other premises;
• maintain cleanliness on the farm;
• prepare milk for transportation and subsequent sale.

Don't forget that a goat farm will also need a veterinarian and shepherds during the summer. The doctor does not necessarily have to be constantly at the workplace, especially if the herd is small, but should always be available if necessary. It is recommended to enter into contracts with a visiting accountant and veterinarian.

Working on a farm is not difficult, even to operate machines it will be enough to take a short course, so there is no need to hire highly qualified specialists for the goat business.

It will take 2 or 3 laborers to clean the goat house and feed the animals. Another 2 people will be involved in milking the animals. In the future, the staff can be increased by hiring specialists who will be involved in concluding contracts for the sale of products, supply logistics, etc.