It is one thing to have a natural penchant for something, and another to be doing something for economic gain. It is, however, possible for one's passion to be economically beneficial. Such is my case with sustainable animal husbandry. I just love having these animals around, tending to them, and watching them flourish under my care. At the same time, I realized that this can give me some economic benefits when they proliferate or grow beyond a level I can take care of.
I've been limited by the nature of my job, which happens to take a good chunk of my time. Recently, however, I've been relieved a bit as a result of employing an assistant. I managed to start my animal husbandry passion by raising broiler chickens, just a few at a time. The first set did extremely well. They were ready for harvest in about 8 to 10 weeks. My love for them doesn't overshadow the fact that they serve as food for us humans.
We consumed a couple of them and gave the rest out as gifts to friends and neighbours. Then, I obtained another set of chicks, and the cycle continued. The only difference is that, at some point, I discovered that I could sell them and regain some of the money spent on raising them, instead of giving everything out as gifts. This is where it got more interesting for me.
I suffered a setback when, during a particular cycle, an unknown disease affected the chicks and killed all of them—one after the other. Since then, I've not restocked. Let's say I just took a break simply because I felt the failure was due to inadequate attention. Then I diversified into goat rearing, which I think won't require as much dedication as poultry. This is where Jane and Johanna come in.
Jane is the male goat, while Johanna is the female goat. I purchased them from about over a hundred kilometers away from home. Prior to that, I constructed a small shed in the backyard to serve as their home, where they can roam and graze around the premises of my house. Since it is a gated compound without concrete flooring, I thought everything was perfect.
I bought cassava peels from the same market I bought the goats from. This would serve as their primary food, while grazing and other leftover foods in the house would be their secondary food sources. So far, it has been working out fine, except on a couple of occasions when they escaped from the compound.
The first time, I was in the office when I got a call that the goats were no longer in the compound. Was the gate opened? No. So how did they escape? There were several hypotheses, but the strongest and most logical among them was that someone jumped into our compound to steal the goats, especially when considering that both didn't just disappear at once, but some hours apart.
Since it was just a hypothesis, I secretly prayed that it was wrong and that they were somewhere within the community. I walked around a large area within the community looking for any sign. I even went as far as asking people around if they had seen two black goats wandering around. All my inquiries came back negative. I was about to give up when I got a call that someone had helped sight them in a remote part of our community.
My joy had no bounds. To cut a long story short, I retrieved them and brought them back to my compound, carefully tethering them to a pole. At the same time, I uncovered the openings that facilitated their escape and blocked them. Two days later, a visitor left our gate open, and they escaped again, this time with ropes around their necks.
Retrieving them was easier this time due to the presence of ropes on their necks. They are already becoming part and parcel of our household now. My kids are falling in love with them, and they are also becoming more friendly. Yesterday, I took them out for grazing within the community. We encountered a cattle herd that was also grazing.
In the coming days, I hope to get a qualified vet who will carry out regular check-ups on their health.
