Mortality Rate

Conception rate, kidding rate tu semua senang nak capai industry average. Conception rate up to 100% is almost as common as twin birth in goats. Kidding rate sampai 400% pun tak mustahil untuk dicapai. Aku agak sceptical bila ada orang cakap boleh capai sampai 400%, tapi bila dah alami sendiri, I am a believer now. Tapi let's not get our hope too high. 175% for the whole herd is good enough for small to intermediate scale operation.

Yang masalah sikit ialah mortality rate. Ada operation yang amik cut off period semasa weaning. Ada yang amik masa umur 6 bulan, ada juga yang amik masa umur anak kambing dah setahun. Ladang aku, amik kira mortality rate semasa umur 6 bulan. Kenapa 6 bulan? Entah..aku pun tak ada reason yang kuat. Tetapi pada masa umur 6 bulan kebanyakan anak kambing dah mula weaned off dan survive dengan 100% meragut. Pada umur 6 bulan threshold bagi coccidiosis, gastrointestinal parasite and other risks of infection dah lepas. Kalau aku amik kira masa umur kambing setahun maka mortality rate is expected to be higher(accidental death mostly-jatuh kolam, hilang).

Acceptable industry level? I have no idea, but in order to be profitable, an operation needs to have a mortality rate of 5% or lower. The figure is derived from a journal from the Internet. Seems legit. But again it depends on the operation type. 5% is acceptable for a fully intensive,closed style system. For a more liberal operation such as semi intensive where input is lower, the acceptable mortality rate should be between 10% to 15%. The higher rate of tolerance is due to lower input required to raise the kids to certain age. Tapi aku punya masalah sekarang, mortality rate untuk kid crop bagi musim hujan dah burst through the ceiling. Around 20%. This is due mostly to the inclement weather. Tapi seperti yang aku kata dulu, this is a challenging period. I have already expected the increase in mortality rate in kids. Hoping for the best.