Rearing system, socio-economic status and common diseases frequency of goats in the Northern part of Bangladesh

Goat farming is one of the most efficient ways to assist Bangladesh's poorest people in escaping poverty and increasing incomes. Since the majority of rural poor people cannot afford to raise large ruminants, they have heavily depended on raising small ruminants, such as goats, to supplement their livelihoods. The objective of the study was to clarify the current socio-economic status with the various constraints faced by goat farmers, management practices, and the common disease frequency of goats in the Northern part of Bangladesh. Survey data were collected from a total of 398 goat farmers in different villages in the Panchagarh, Jamalpur, and Kurigram districts of Bangladesh. Survey data indicated that 57.0 % of women farmers are involved with goat rearing. The study found that 40.5 % of goat farmers had 1–5 years’ of experience in farming goats. The data showed that 36.9 % of farmer’s income was < 10,000 BDT per year (1 $USD= 96 BDT) while 52.5 % of goat farmers earned between 10,000 and 20,000 BDT per year and 10.6 % of farmers earn > 20,000 BDT per year. Most of the farmers (67.3 %) reared goats in the semi-intensive system, but few farmers (8.5 %) used an intensive rearing system and 24.1 % of farmers used a free-range system. The semi-intensive system was most prevalent, 50.8 % of farmers used constructed separate night shelters, and 59.8 % used goat houses made of corrugated steel sheets. The majority of farmers used earthen flooring (61.8 %), and 47.5 % used straw for beds. 34.2 % of farmers wholly pasture-fed their goats, 30.2 % of farmers supplied grass with concentrate, and 53.8 % of farmers practiced grazing time of 5–8 h. The majority (83.7 %) of farmers did not use vaccines, 67.3 % did not use anthelmintics, and 85.7 % of farmers treated their goats with native quack medicine. The research found that common diseases prevalent in the goat such as PPR (49.2 %), Diarrhea (55.3 %), Acidosis (38.7 %), Navel ill (29.6 %), Myiasis (27.4 %), Urolithiasis (26.9 %) and Wounds (34.2 %). The prevalence of diarrhea and acidosis in goat farms were shown to be a significant association with the type of house and rearing person (P < 0.05), respectively, by univariate association of farm practices and common diseases. In the study, all of the goat farmers were faced with different constraints, the main constraints were determined to be complaints from neighbors (Rank I), a lack of green fodder (Rank II), and a lack of purebred bucks (Rank III). It is concluded that the socio-economic situation was poor and that the farmers did not pay much attention to the rearing system and healthcare (including anthelmintics, vaccinations, and veterinary services). To increase income for farmers, they require knowledge of prolific goat breeds, breeding, rearing systems, feeding, health care, hygiene and sanitation, entrepreneurship, empowerment of women, business strategy, financial incentives, and knowledge of marketing. To acquire all this knowledge, the study strongly recommends better training of farmers, hands-on education, modern goat farming, and raising awareness through regular vaccination campaigns.