Osmanabadi Goats

History

Historically this breed is known to have existed on our Deccan Plateau since decades. It is believed that there is not only extensive literature available in our Veterinary Universities of Southern India but also on Internet. The name Osmanabadi goat is derived from their distribution area Osmanabad in Maharashtra, which is located at a distance of 271 Km from Hyderabad. These Goats are reared mainly in 3 southern states of India and are one of the largest contributors to meat production in southern India as their meat is very tasty when compared with local breeds. PerformanceOsmanabadi breed shows a very efficient reproductive performance and resistance against diseases not only in well managed semi stall feeding system but also in severe drought conditions. The age at the first kidding is around 15 months with the lactation length of around 130 days. The dressing percentage varies from 50- 55 %. In favorable conditions the does will breed twice a year, twinning is common and the milk yield ranged form 700 gm to 1500 gm.  In the end the leather of osmanabadi goat is fairly of good quality and its meat is preferred by majority of the rural and urban population in southern India.
DistributionThe breed is spread over the greater part of the central peninsular region, comprising the semi-arid areas of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. It covers the Major part of Southern Maharashtra (especially Osmanabad, Beed, Sholapur, Latur, Parbani and Ahmed Nagar Districts) Western Andra Pradesh and North Eastern Karnataka.
CharacteristicsOsmanabadi Goats are mostly medium size animals usually black in color, but in some areas of Maharashtra and Western Andra Pradesh brown or spotted ones can also be seen. Mostly the males (89.5%) are horned and the females may be horned or polled. The ears are medium long with a length of around 18.0 cm and the tail is thin, with a length of around 16.6 cm.                                                    Adult Males          Adult FemalesBody weight (Kg)                       40.6                           30.6Body length (Cm)                       69.12                         67.51Height at withers (Cm)              77.87                         74.79Chest girth (Cm)                        72.06                         72.04
MortalityMortality among kids younger than 3 months and from the age 3 to 6 months is around 8.4 % and 4.8%. The mortality is 6% for the kids aged 6 to 12 months and 3.7% for among adults. If the vaccinations against enterotoxaemia, haemorrhagic septicaemia and PPR, Deworming and spraying against Ecto Parasites are carried out regularly heavy economic losses to the farmers can be avoided.

Breeding SeasonsThe major breeding season of Osmanabadi does is from May to July, followed by August to October and a small number of does also breed from October to March.