Dairy Goat KPI's

Milk production per doe and even per hectare is very difficult to compare between farms. Per goat figures can easily be distorted by the timing of calculating the herd size, along with lactation lengths (particularly extended v seasonal) and the level of supplementary feeding.  The per hectare rate is also an unreliable measure between farms as it is easy for goat systems to purchase in extra forage rather than producing the majority of it on their base farms. 

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Under typical circumstances, the average farm produces 90-100 m/s per doe. Top performers are achieving results of up to 130 m/s per doe.

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Good milking does should be able to produce 1.2 – 1.6x their body weight in total solids (McLean, Sept 2013).  Doeling growth rates have a direct impact on production rates in their first lactation and subsequent seasons. Doelings that can be grown to 85-90% of their mature weight at the time of kidding are able to put more energy into production as less is required for growth.  High producing farms have doelings entering the production system weighing 50 – 60 kg live weight.  It is believed that for every additional kg of body weight a doeling has at her first kidding, there will be an associated gain of 2 kg/MS for the year. Aiming for an additional 5 kg body weight  by mating kids 1 month after the main herd can result in a production increase of up to 10 kg/MS.  Reducing competition and bullying by older does is also important for maximising the production of first kidders.  Where it is logistically possible, separate out the first kidders plus any smaller does and run these as a separate mob. 

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