24 Jul 2022

Mr Ealotse Reikeletseng, a business man and civil engineer by profession, says boer goat stud breeding is a worthy undertaking.

In an interview recently, Mr Reikeletseng of RIMA boer goat breeding farm in Tshimoyapula, said he started his breeding venture with boer bull dogs and  he had over 16 bulls in 2019. 

He said the bull dogs were highly marketable with customers coming from all over the country.

The Serowe-native, however, diverted to boar goats in 2020 since the dogs were expensive to maintain.

Mr Reikeletseng, who is a member of the Botswana Boer Goat Breeders Society, said he sometimes exchanged his bull dogs for goats. 

He  decided to specialise in boer goat due to its meat qualities.

He said, due to selective breeding and improvement, the boer goat had a fast growth rate and excellent carcass quality, sufficient milk production as well as having capability for multiple births.

Mr Reikeletseng said his goats were bred according to South Africa boer goat breeding standards.

They are inspected on an annual basis and tagged by the Botswana Boer Goat Breeders Society in conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture.

He started buying stud and commercial goats mainly from Eddy Boer Goats in Letlhakane and some from Dirk Louw in Namibia.

His farm sells goats at annual auctions as a member of the Future Genetics group of breeders, which had their first annual auction in Kgagodi early this month. 

Mr Reikeletseng said they also sold to individual breeders.

The farm has 70 goats, 40 of which are breeding females. 

He said business was doing well and he was hopeful for growth, adding that he wished more people would take interest in breeding. ends