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COLLECTION: GOAT HANDBOOK
ORIGIN: United States
DATE INCLUDED: June 1992
Extension Goat Handbook
This material was contributed from
collections at the National Agricultural Library.
However, users should direct all inquires about the
contents to authors or originating agencies.
DOCN 000000021
NO B-15
GOAT MANURE
R. E. McDowell; Cornell U., Ithaca, NY
G. F. W. Haenlein; U. of Delaware, Newark.
Management and Housing
1 For gardening, goat manure can be a real asset.
In their naturally dry, pelleted state, goat feces
are easily handled, stored or directly applied on
vegetables, trees, and flower gardens, as mulch, organic
matter, fertilizer, or just to increase the water
holding capacity of the soil; and goat feces do not
normally attract flies or breed maggots. A daily raking
or sweeping of the goat yard keeps the goats clean
and free from parasites; and the garden will soon
show its appreciation.
2 Few research data are available
on the value of goat feces or manure. Of course, it
depends on the level of feeding. Thus, high producing,
well fed dairy goats should produce more and better
feces than other goats. In general, 2.0 to 6.00f live
weight of goat in fresh feces weight can be expected.
Depending on feed and water intake, the fresh feces
voided per day might weigh between 30, and as much
as 1000f the daily dry matter consumed. Dry matter
content of goat feces is be tween 50 and 60ormally;
the color depends on the type of feed. Hard feed kernels,
like barley and corn may appear in goat feces, especially
at high levels of feeding, but generally they are
masticated and ruminated much finer and more completely
than by calves or cows.
3 Goat feces contain not only feed
residues but endogenous substances from the goat's
intestinal tract too. Swedish research established
that goats excrete daily, regardless of feed type,
a minimum of 34g protein, 8g fat and 13g carbohydrates
for each kg (2.2 lb) feed dry matter eaten. This would
mean that a 150 lb goat milking a gallon of milk a
day, and been given 7 lbs of feed dry matter daily;
this goat would lose 7/2.2 x 34 = 108g protein daily
in her feces, not even accounting for her milk production
and her own maintenance needs. This 108g endogenous
protein loss also translates into a 3.4minimum protein
content in the 7 lb daily feed dry matter to avoid
a negative protein balance for this goat. In comparison,
a daily goat ration with a 14 protein content supplies
just 445g protein, of which a certain percentage is
always undigestible and a loss to the goat too. This
percentage increases when the crude fiber content
of the feed increases.
4 Goat manure i.e. feces plus bedding
and wasted feed, fresh or usually composted in pens
or outside piles can average 10 lb per day for the
above example goat or more, depending on bedding amount,
urine drainage or fermentation losses. This can amount
to around 1-1/2 ton of manure per goat per year or
more with a possible composition of 31 dry matter;
1.3itrogen, 1.50001:0000hosphorus (P205), 0.46952:DE9Eotassium
and 2.4 fertilizer asset per goat of at least 1/2
ton dry matter with 15 lb nitrogen, 17 lb phosphorus,
5 lb potassium and 27 lb lime.
5 For large herds or flocks, disposal
of goat manure could have problems, but in some parts
of the world animal wastes serve numerous useful purposes.
In fact, animals are frequently kept beyond their
period of usefulness for the production of milk or
work so that they can provide dung. Approximately
40 percent of the farmers of the world depend wholly
or in part on animal wastes to enhance soil fertility.
Generally, manures do not increase short-term crop
yields to the extent of equivalent amounts of nutrients
supplied in refined chemical form. The differences
in yields are, however, with long-term usage. Small
farmers who till land by hand or with chisel type
plows prefer manures over chemical fertilizer because
manure enhances the aggregate crumb structure and
soil permeability which aids in cultivation. Marginal
micronutrient deficiencies, which may occur after
repeated cropping with chemical fertilizers, can be
prevented with supplementary applications of manure.
6 The value of manures for soil fertility
can be markedly influenced by handling procedures.
At least 50 percent of the nitrogen and 60 to 70 percent
of the potassium are found in the urine. Frequently,
manure has a low fertility value due to failure to
incorporate the urine, or the nitrogen is lost through
leaching. Eighteen to 20 Mcal of energy inputs are
required to produce one kg of nitrogen fertilizer.
Fuel costs to produce nitrogen have already aroused
new interest in research on storage and handling of
manures. Predictions for the future are that animal
wastes will again be viewed more favorably as a useful
resource. Predictions for the future are that animal
wastes will again be viewed more favorably as a useful
resource.
7 Fuel The energy in ruminant manures
is rather high (dry cow dung 4.58 to 4.72 kcal per
gram) and can be used as efficiently as energy from
coal or oil if appropriate equipment is used. In some
cases, dry dung cakes are preferred over plant residues
because of uniformity of heat. India annually uses
60 to 80 million tons of dry buffalo, cattle, sheep
and goat dung for fuel. In the central plains area
where there is no firewood, per-capita use is as much
as one ton per year. In two instances, the sale of
dung cakes to urban centers provided up to 60 percent
of the total cash income per rural family. The expected
return per animal per day from the sale of dung cakes
is 1.03 rupees or $0.12. India would need to expend
over US $3 billion per year, exclusive of distribution
costs, for coal and oil to replace dung.
8 Pastoral herders, especially nomads,
largely depend on cattle, sheep, or goat manure as
fuel for cooking, heating and light. Estimates are
that over 200 million tons of manure are used per
year as fuel in developing countries. Supplies of
firewood or charcoal - traditionally the chief sources
of fuel in central Africa fringing the Sahara, the
Andes region of Latin America, the highlands of Central
America and the Caribbean islands - have become scarce
or non-existent. In many areas nearly 20 percent of
the total family labor is expended to gather wood
or crop residues for fuel, and the time spent is increasing.
Expenditures by salaried workers for firewood or crop
residues have risen from 15 to 25 percent of income.
In Africa and the Americas, animal manures have not
been used extensively as fuel, but usage will probably
increase rapidly in the near future. Over the long
run, methane gas from animal wastes will likely make
the greatest contribution.
9 Methane Gas During the 1930's and
40's, digesters were used rather extensively in central
and northern Europe for producing methane gas, but
production declined to nearly zero when oil became
cheap during the 1950's. Currently there is vast interest
in digesters to meet fuel needs. In 1975, South Korea
had 29,000 bio-gas plants and planned to build another
50,000. India has about 20,000 plants, two-thirds
of which were built since the energy crisis, and plans
to build 100,000 more within the next 5 years. Taiwan
has a large number of plants and there are some in
Bangladesh and Nepal.
10 The US could obtain nearly 1.0
percent of its energy by 1985 from renewable resources,
and this could increase to 25 percent by 2020 AD.
Of this, methane production is capable of producing
about 5 percent by 1985 and 25 percent in 2020. Canada
has a similar capability.
11 Fecal material produced by ruminants,
particularly buffalo, cattle, sheep and goats, is
an ideal substrate for anaerobic fermentation because
it is already buffered and contains large populations
of methanogenic bacteria. Methane from manure has
a value of 5 kcal per cubic meter which is 71 percent
of the energy value of natural gas. It works well
for household use but is difficult to handle in mobile
power. Processing manure through bio-gas plants has
the added advantages of better preservation of fertilizer
in some areas where dung is burned.
12 A major handicap for methane production
is capital cost for small units. Several countries
have extensive research programs underway to reduce
construction costs. Even so, the use of bio-gas plants
is not likely to approach anywhere near the level
projected, unless prices of fossil fuels rise to extremely
high levels. For the US, it is estimated that manure
from 40 cows will be needed to supply fuel, including
electricity, for an average farm family, but will
not replace fossil fuel to operate tractors, trucks
or automobiles. The average Indian village could potentially
accrue high benefits from the use of digesters, but
acceptance will be low because it will deprive individuals
of one, if not their major, source of income. In spite
of limitations, anaerobic fermentation technology
will undoubtedly play a significant role in waste
management. For developed countries, units will be
employed on large farms or in conjunction with feedlots
where the cost of production will be in line with
other fuels.
13 Adopted from Winrock Report, September
1977, ''Ruminant Products, More than Meat and Milk,''
17-19; Winrock International Livestock Research and
Training Center, Morrilton, Arkansas.
GOAT MANURE
COLLECTION;GOAT HANDBOOK
ORIGIN;United States
DATE_INCLUDED;June 1992
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