Most of the Goats in the world exist in the developing countries where they are important in the meat industry. In Europe, Goats are mostly kept for milk production although the interest for meat is growing. Goats have a thin carcass with only small amounts of intramuscular fat, which gives a lean meat. This thin subcutaneous fat cover can cause cold shortening when chilling the carcass. By using electrical stimulation cold shortening can be prevented.

AbstractOne opinion among people who are experienced in hand rearing newborn mammals is that Goat milk is more suitable than cow milk if the young needs a milk replacer. The purpose of this literature review was to find out if there is scientific evidence that Goat milk is a better milk replacer for piglets, rat pups and foals than cow milk. The milk is essential for the newborn animal, as its only source of nutrition until it has learned how to eat solid food. In this literature review, the composition of Goat milk and cow milk is compared with the nutrient requirements after birth in piglets, rat pups and foals. The nutrient requirements and the milk composition are partly determined by the newborn mammals activity level and suckling frequency, which also is described.

Ribs from sheep, Goat and pig are rarely assessed  to species due to the fact that they are very similar in their morphology and size. The ribs are instead considered unidentifiable although it is possible to see what kind of bone it is. If these ribs would be identified to species not only would species assessment degree of archaeological source material   increase, the relationship between meat-rich and meat poor regions would change.To find out whether there are morphologically measurable differences between sheep, Goat and pig ribs, three measurement points on each rib has been defined and measured. At each measurement point two measurements were measured, one medial-lateral measurement and one cranial-caudal measurement. The ratio between the medial- lateral measurement and the cranial-caudal measurement was calculated for each point.

AbstractHerbivores can be classified into either hiders or followers depending on their postpartum behaviour. The two behaviour types affect the spatial relationship between the mother and her infant. Goats are seen as hiders, although the environment plays a central role when it comes to the behaviour. Therefore, in the first part of this study the aim was to investigate how the Goat kids? spatial relationship changed in the transition from indoor housing to pasture.

The difficullty to distinguish between sheep and Goats is a well-known problem in archaeology and osteology. Distinguishing sheep and Goats in archaeological animal remains takes time and time is often limited for osteologists. Because of this difficulty osteologists and archaeozoologists often use the term sheep/Goat or ?ovicaprids? in their analytical reports. But even if the term sheep/Goat comprise both species, this is often not the case when archaeologists and osteologists interpret and present archaeological findings.

Aspen (Populus tremula L.) and Goat willow (Salix caprea L.) are two important tree species in the aspect of nature conservation. Due to the elimination of forest fires, a former negative attitude towards deciduous trees in forestry and a strong herbivore pressure, these tree species have been negatively affected during the last fifty years. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the occurrence of aspen and Goat willow could be related to either human impact or to site properties, such as ground moisture and vegetation type. A side study included an inventory of a number of cyanobacterial tree lichens on aspen and Goat willow in order to try to relate the occurrence of these lichens species to stand history and stand properties. The study was performed in Hamra State Forest in northern Dalarna. Nature reserves were compared with stands in managed areas.

The aim of the study was to install a biogas system consisting of three tubular polyethylene biogas digesters at a rural household in Malawi and to evaluate the constructed biogas system with regards to relevant system parameters. The purpose was to evaluate if the technology is a possible solution to reduce deforestation and support Malawi in climate change mitigation and adaptation. The study was carried out in the southern part of Malawi in cooperation with the University of Malawi. Locally available materials were used to construct and install the system. Three different feed materials, cow, Goat and a mix of cow and Goat manure, were used in order to determine which one was best suited to utilise as a digester substrate. After the installation, measurements of temperature, pH, biogas production, biogas composition and system functionality were made. The results of the study show that a biogas system with tubular polyethylene biogas digesters can be successfully installed at a rural household and that the most suitable feed material is a mix of cow and Goat manure.

Swedish Goats are mainly held for cheese production and therefore, both milk quality and composition are of great importance for dairymen. Today, only few data exists on milk composition from Swedish dairy Goats and the casein content is still unknown. One way to reduce the work load for Goat farmers and increase animal welfare can be to keep Goats and kids together for longer periods. The aims of this study were to investigate how milk yield and composition were affected when kids suckled their dams during 8 weeks, and to measure the casein content on farm level by a mid-infrared spectroscopy method, previously calibrated for Goat milk. Lactating Goats were kept in two different MIX- systems where the dams are both suckled and milked.

This master thesis was conducted in order to investigate the effects of the browsing species Yeheb on animal tissues in Swedish landrace Goats and to make a literature review in order to increase the knowledge of the importance of this plant for livestock production in Somalia. The evergreen Yeheb bush is a very important feeding source for grazing and browsing animals in Somalia during the dry period. Yeheb contains cordeauxiaquinone that stains the bones of the animals red/pink, which has been an increasing problem when exporting meat to foreign countries. In an experiment, two Goats were fed dry and fresh leaves from the Yeheb bush for one and two months, respectively. The Goats did not feed the intended amount of dry leaves, since the supply and palatability was not as high as estimated.

Lao People?s Democratic Republic (PDR) is a country where the majority of the population works within the sector agriculture in one way or another. The number of Goats are increasing and the animals can be an important income source for families. However, during the dry season, lack of feed is a great problem for the farmers. Fodder trees have shown great potential as dry season feeding, due to that the trees often hold green and fresh leaves a long time into the season, compared to grass that dry out quickly.

This bachelor-level thesis in historical osteology deals with several aspects of the life-cycle of an RomanIron Age farm in southern Scania. Excavated in the 1980's by Lars Larsson, the farm was located near aplace called Långåker in the Dybäck area, on a cape which stretched out into a minor bog. Our work concerns why the Iron Age people settled the area, how well fragmented bone survives in a bog, what they produced at the farm and how life on the farm finally ended. From the roughly 10 % of the total number of fragments we where able to identify we can conclude, that he species that are present of the farm areusual Iron Age species (dog, sheep/Goat, cattle and swine). We also have a relitivly large number of wildanimals in our material (2%).

The castle Vivesholm is located about two miles north of Klintehamn on the west side of Gotland. The castle was built around year 1395 and burned down in the end of the 14thcentury. Around the 17th and the 18th century the castle was re-used. However, the emphasis on its use is during the middle ages.This paper aims at getting an insight in the animal husbandry at Vivesholm by analyzing the osteological material. The analysis revealed that bones from sheep/Goat were more common than bones from cattle.

By examine cremated remains from graves dated to late Iron Age I wanted to find out what sorts of animals were placed in the graves. But also to see if the animal sacrifices had any connection to the Old Norse religion. The osteological material that were analysed were from both cremated humans and animals and had been dated to Viking Age. The material is from burial ground 59 at Laxare, Boge parish on Gotland. In addition to the human remains, the material contains bones from horse, cattle, sheep/Goat, pig, dog, cat, bear, birds and fish.

The main part of the Goats in the world is located in developing countries, whereas active breeding programs are mainly restricted to Northern America and Europe. Goat milk can be processed to several products and Goat cheese is the main product. An organized breeding program is carried out in France and Norway but is not present in Sweden. Important selection traits for milk producing Goats include milk, protein and fat yield along with protein and fat content. Functional traits have been more important the past years and they have large economic importance for the farmers.

Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) is a disease of major socioeconomic impact. It is an acute and highly contagious viral disease of small ruminants caused by the agent Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus (PPRV), a Morbillivirus closely related to Rinderpest virus (RPV) which was declared eradicated from the world in 2011. PPR has a high morbidity and mortality rate and is characterised by high fever, nasal and ocular discharge, pneumonia, necrosis and ulceration of the mucous membranes and inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract causing severe diarrhoea. The role of wildlife in the epidemiology of the disease is still unclear. The disease is currently affecting sheep and Goat in 70 countries worldwide and this year (2014) FAO has announced a program to eradicate the virus by 2030. In Tanzania, the disease was first reported in 2008 and has since then spread to different parts of the country.