AGF OBAMA 1902 Purebred Anglo Nubian Buck

AGF Obama 1902 Island born Anglo Nubian Buck

Island Born Saanen Doe

The Saanen  will  kid  once  a  year  while  the Anglo Nubians  will  kid  three  times  in   two years.  The Anglo Nubian will have a shorter milking  period and less milk than  what the Saanen will  produce  but  will produce more kids.

The Saanen suffers from bad publicity in the Philippines because of the failure of government with the initial batch of Saanen imported from the United States in 1998 under the PL 480 program. That is why we have to work harder in our advocacy to show that the Saanen dairy goat is the breed to go for goat dairying. AGF’s success in milking their Saanen an average of above 2 liters per day for 300 days is starting to open the eyes of goat raisers and policy makers in government

As awareness grows about the availability of goat’s milk in the supermarkets, a lot of doctors are starting to prescribe it as an alternative medicine for their patients suffering from cancer, lactose intolerance and constipation.

As AGF gains more experience in marketing and dairy goat farming they are becoming more confident in making the statement, Dairy Goat Farming in tropical Philippines is a Profitable and Sustainable Business undertaking.

AGF Ricky Saanen Buck

AGF Louca Darwyn Anglo Nubian Buck

AGF pursued their dairy breed improvement program and identified two imported herdsires from Australia, AGF Darwyn and AGF Ricky.  They have been continuously giving progenies that make AGF proud to be the breeder.

The Mitra Line Breed Improvement Program is anchored by AGF Louca Darwyn. AGF Darwyn has improved the Mitra Line in all aspects, making it one of the top money makers in their breeder sales.

AGF Ricky, a Saanen purebred buck, is one of the biggest bucks we have ever seen. He represents the ideal buck for the Dairy Breed Improvement Program. His progenies are showing his size, length and height. AGF awaits how his progenies will perform in terms of milk volumes and how long they can be milked. Initial results are very positive and indicate they will do more than 2 liters per day.

The experience gained these past years makes AGF conclude that using a Saanen buck to breed a doe with Anglo Nubian blood is a very good crossing. The kids born would be predominantly white in color and bigger in size than the doe in most cases. The higher the Anglo Nubian blood of the doe, the better the progenies. The heterotic effect of the crossing is seen in the progenies. AGF has come up with their own combination which they proudly call Alaminos Mitra Saanen (AMS) cross

You will be amazed with the improvement in the features of the kids they produce when they mature. They  are  predominantly  white  in   color   and  bigger  in  size  than  their  mother. Kidding was normal in most cases because the  body   structure   of   the Saanen   was  just  right. Its smaller head leads to trouble free kidding of the native doe.

Proper selection of the females for replacement breeders would go a long way in improving the native stock. The kids from the crossing of the Saanen buck with the native doe have adapted very well to the farm condition in Alaminos.

The biggest benefit in using a Saanen buck would be the improvement of size of the udder of the upgraded native Saanen doe, which would translate to more milk produced. This also means more nutrients for the kids for growth. The possibility of excess milk for human consumption will present itself. Further research have to be done to find out the exact volume of milk an upgraded native Saanen doe is capable of producing and for how long.

Imagine how the 15 million Filipinos involved in goat raising in the countryside would benefit in a government program to upgrade the native herd with a Saanen buck. The prospect of producing both milk and meat from a single goat adds a new dimension in goat raising. It is our stand that if the farmer in the countryside is given access to a Saanen buck by government to upgrade his native goats, things will start to happen in terms of improved livelihood opportunities created.

Using a Saanen buck to upgrade the native herd holds a lot of promise in improving the milking ability of the upgraded native herd. It could prove to be the single biggest factor in improving the profitability of goat raising in the country.

White color KIds When Saanen Bucks is Used

Dominanrt color White Kids with Saanen Buck in Upgrading Program

Production of Commercial Dairy Goats

September 18,2008

By AGF

This August, 2008, Alaminos Goat Farm (AGF) started its program to locally breed and produce a Philippine commercial dairy goat. Anglo Nubian does from our Mitra line of goats are crossed with our purebreed Saanen bucks. After three years, the program aims to achieve the following:

·     Give raisers the option to choose to produce milk or meat

·     Document the feeding program of AGF for dairy goats     

In selecting an Anglo Nubian does as the female line, the consensus of local raisers that the Anglo Nubians are better adapted to the hot, humid and wet weather of the Philippines was taken into consideration. The creamier milk from Anglo Nubian was also considered . In choosing the Saanen Buck in the program, the high milk production of the parent line  and 300 days milking period was taken into consideration plus the physical features.

Selection Criteria for female upgraded Anglo Nubian Does:

·       History of good mothering ability

·       Good size udder

·       Capable of raising 2 healthy kids

·       Size,  height and good general appearance

·       At least 1.5 kilos of milk per day

Close observation and monitoring of results in terms of milk yields and adaptability in every stages of the breeding program. The idea is to determine at what stage and combination would produce better milk yields and performance.

At any stage of the program if the goat raiser decides to produce a meat goat he can introduce a purebred Boer buck in the program. The breeding program will take advantage of heterosis or hybrid vigor. AGF will coordinate with PCARRD, Dr. Edwin Villar and Dr. Synan Baguio on the technical side of heterosis and the breed standard for a Philippine commercial dairy goat.

The culmination of this program would be an elite herd of at least 50 heads of breeder dairy goats with 100 heads as the maximum for better control and monitoring. Success of the program will result to a research paper to be entitled Production and Breed Standard of a Philippine Commercial Dairy Goat. We envision it to present an analysis of the performance of a commercial dairy goat suited to the extreme tropical condition of the Philippines capable to produce 2 litres of milk per day for 305 days.

See what we are doing by visiting us at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFBwuUXQPnU