Platform Based Housing System Improved Health and Reduced Mortality Percentage of Goats in Flood Prone Area of Coastal Odisha

Goat rearing under semi intensive farming conditions is characterized by high kid mortality and low weaning weight percentages. The root cause which needs to be addressed for various diseases and parasites leading to low body weight gain and kid mortality is improper housing practises. The welfare of Black Bengal goats as a source of sustainable livelihood is a burning issue since the beginning thus the researchers for so many years have tried to assess ideal housing system for these goats in context to their geographical climate to optimize their production and welfare, still the reports are scarce in this arena. The experimental platform based goat housing system was constructed for 20 farmers with an average flock size of 16 goats in flood ridden Dasmankula village of Marsaghai block Kendrapara district where various families adopted traditional practises of goat farming for sustainable livelihood. This is the first report from Odisha in context of housing pattern of Black Bengal goats where it was observed that a change in housing practise along with proper vaccination schedule led to significant decrease in mortality percentage of goats. The results showed that the body weight increased linearly as the age advanced and the body weight of adult goats at 10 months of age at platform based housing was 9.82 ± 0.74 and 9.12 ± 0.53 as compared to 8.78 ± 0.68 and 7.82 ± 0.42 in mud and slotted floor in males and females, respectively. The platform raised housing system was effective in decreasing gastrointestinal parasite load and thus early recovery from disease incidence as Contagious Echthyma (ORF). Mortality percentage of goat was significantly reduced after adopting the platform based housing system along with proper vaccination schedule due to establishment of better immune system which was directly proportional to decreased parasitic load in this experimental housing system. However, impact on change in body weight was not significant in kids but somewhat noticeable in case of adults which proved to be a great boon for the goat farmers of Dasmankula village.