The Journey of a Kalahari Red Stud Farmer

Kalahari Red goats are quite the rare gem as their huge population is found in South Africa (country of origin), some in Australia, some are being developed in Brazil and a small population in Botswana

Chris Kootsene, the Kalahari red stud farmer also known as Chrizoo Kalahari Reds Stud on his Facebook page, decided to rear the breed and become one of the few pure Kalahari red breed- ers in Botswana. The breed is commonly known for the accelerated growth and its ideal for commercial meat production. He started farming at a young age by trying different avenues of agriculture including rearing pigeons.

The choice of breed for Kootsene was determined by the fact that Kalahari red goat is not abundant in the country as compared to the Boergoat breed.

“Choosing this breed was quite simple because they are good quality goats and it is the quality I want to sell to my customers,” he emphasized. He started in October 2018 with 4 ewes and  1 ram. Kootsene wanted to increase his goats, unfortunately the border between Botswana and South Africa was closed due to the outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease. The 5 goats multiplied in number and he was able to sell the offsprings.

Once the borders re-opened in July 2020 after the National Lockdown, Kootsene went to purchase more Kalahari reds in South Africa and also imported 1 buck in Namibia.

“I just wanted to experiment by mixing the bloodlines of the goats from different countries just to see the outcome,” he explained.

Currently, he has a total of 25 goats. However, breeding a stud can be expensive with additional costs such as show preparations, attending shows and marketing.

Characteristics of Kalahari red goats include:

• Red coloured coat (white or light shades of red are not desirable)
• Long floppy ears
• Loose skin on their necks
• Well-pigmented, smooth short haircoat
• Moderately sized, sloping horns above their ears
• Average weight of ram 115kg & ewes 75kg

Kootsene maintains a meticulous feeding sched- ule for the goats. In the morning all goats are fed pellets (Lubern & Lucerne- especially during the dry season). At 11am he releases the does to graze and returns them at 3pm to release the bucks.

“I practice this because I want to maintain good quality goats. At auction shows such things as the goats’ teeth are inspected to determine if the goats do not have underjaws or overbites,” he explained.

Kalahari red goats have a very low-labour intensity operation because of attributes such as they are especially sun, parasite and disease resistant livestock. These attributes allow for easy man- agement and reduced cost. Kootsene mentioned that he has not experienced disease infestation in his farm except for heartwater.

Furthermore, Kootsene explained that he has made a realization that the ewes have low energy especially giving birth during winter since it is a dry season.

“Kalahari reds can give multiple kids of 3 or 4 so it is crucial to provide sufficient feeds. If not given enough feeds, the ewe can die within 10 days prior to giving birth,” he said.

The kraal is kept clean to also prevent the spread of diseases. Kootsene’s goats are vaccinated with Multivax-P Plus and get dipped to prevent the infestation of ticks.

This year is Kootsene’s first auction show at the Botswana Boer Goat Breeders’ Society. He is sending 2 of his ewes and one of them is preg- nant. He said preparation for the auction sale is intense because only the high-quality goats are auctioned. Preparations for him have started as early as February just for this year’s show.

“I will start feeding them as early as February. It takes time for the goats to become in a body condition that is perfect for the show,” he added. Preparation of the goats’ coat is important as well.

“Brushing the goats daily will improve their ap- pearance which will result in a smooth shiny coat ready to impress at the auction show,” he said.

Kootsene also emphasized the importance for the whole breed to have a uniform colour. He said customers expect to purchase a Kalahari red goat that is red in colour without any blemishes. “As a farmer, I want my breed to have one uniform colour. There are times where some goats have a few streaks of white colour so I eliminate those because I only want them red,” he added. Lastly, Kootsene has noticed that since COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of Batswana are inter- ested in small stock farming. He advises them to obtain the knowledge of small stock farming by enrolling in courses and benchmarking from other farmers. He said it will better equip the farmers with the correct knowledge especially when purchasing stud breeds. FMB