Ganjam goat is one among the twenty-two recognized goat breeds of India. It is found in the southern parts of the Ganjam district of Orissa and bordering region of Andhra Pradesh.
Description and Performance : Ganjam goats are tall leggy with distinct ground clearance, medium in size and mostly used for meat purpose. The predominant coat colours are brown and black; ears are drooping, pendulous and medium in size. Head is short, compact and slightly convex. Horns are flat, twisted, directed upward and backward and curved both clock-wise and anti clock-wise. Beard is common in adult males. The hairs on coat are short however, long in the neck and rear thigh region. Wattles are present in both the sexes but are more common in females. The tail is short and twisted upward. The flock size varies from 50 to 200. No housing of any type is ever provided for the goats, even in nights throughout the year and flocks are herded in jungles. The farmers select true to breed males from a high milk yielding doe.
Ganjam Goat Breeding males are kept in the ratio of 1:30 or 1:40.
The average body weight of Ganjam Goat adults is 41.5 kg for males and 37.6 kg for females.
The body respective weight at birth, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of age is 2.70, 7.16, 9.33, 13.07 and 18.35 kg in males; and 2.55, 6.15, 8.41, 11.76 and 16.64 kg in females. The average milk yield of these goats is 350 ml/d with total milk production of 75 litres in 160 days of lactation period.
The average age at first kidding, weight at first kidding and kidding interval are 618.88 days, 22.97kg and 304.15days, respectively. Farmers do not practice any kind of prophylaxis and use indigenous self-made drugs in case of sickness. Pneumonia, contagious ecthyma, PPR, goat Pox, FMD and dermatitis were encountered in these goat flocks.
The mortality in Ganjam Goat kids is about 10–15% and in adults it is less than 5%.
