Raising Goats Without a Farm?

One of “my” goats under Rula Boer Farm’s Paiwi program

The idea of goat raising seemed impossible!! I live in the heart of the city where any type of animal raising activity is not viable. But that’s what I got myself into after all! Imagine currently having some 31 goats without owning any farmland? I was born in the city and live all my life here. Rural life is something I have always dreamed of. When I was small I used to love singing the children song “Bahay-Kubo”; living by imagining everything that are in it: the nipa hut, the vegetable garden…I used to draw mountains and trees, carabaos, dogs and cats, goats, rice planting and the like. Yes! I loved everything rural!!

Fast forward!! One early morning, I heard Mr. Dexter Villamin over the radio. He was talking about the “paiwi” program of DV Boer Farm International in a radio program that centers on agriculture. It is called Magsasaka TV. I got interested to know more about it, especially when it was stressed that it would help farmers. Paiwi is a Tagalog word which means “paalaga.” It literally and generally means looking after, or taking care of someone or something living, i.e. a people,  pets, animals, plants, etc.

Reading online and inquiring personally to know more about the paiwi program finally led me to Rula Boer Farm. I finally decided to invest and entrust my savings by partnering with them. I just needed to buy goats which they would have to look after for three years at the end of which, they would buy all 31 of them when the contract ceases. Before that however, RBF shall make four payouts. On April 1 of this year, I signed a partnership contract with Rula Boer Farm (RBF), founded, run and managed by Mr. Rupert Salas. Located in Baras, Rizal, it is an accredited subfarm of DV Boer International. The transaction were all done online and by phone. Until now, I haven’t seen in person any of those I transacted business with.

Anyway, below are some photos of goats that are under their care. Well, I would like to think that my paalaga goats are among them…

When sunny, goats are placed in an area where they can play, roam, eat and run around. This is their playground.

A worker takes photo of the goat ear tag while a co-worker holds its head.

I wonder if that doe above is mine as I have asked RBF to send me close shots of my goat’s ear tags to know how they look like. Below are some of the goats that were assigned to me showing their respective ear tags and numbers (RBF-0934-65) to easily distinguish one from the other. Ear tagging takes only a few seconds. It is akin and as fast as stapling action.

Goat tending undergoes the following major phases: 1) Within three months after signing of the contract, acquisition of does or female goats aged 8 months and above shall be done. 2) They will then be sent to a quarantine area where they shall be ear tagged, medically observed to see if they are free from colds, coughs, with pink eyes, or if they are free from any infectious diseases. The length of their stay shall depend on their condition.

The Quarantine Area. This is where the goat’s health will be observed, checked, and proper condition maintained before sending them to the goat house after a month or two.

3) Breeding then follows from 11th month onwards. If healthy, they are expected to breed and multiply. The time from mating to kidding is called the goat’s gestation period. This usually lasts for five months.

RBF is one of the nearly 100 DV Boer farm International sub farms that are found in almost all regions in the Philippines. I chose Rizal because it is closest to Manila. Below is the picture of the people that help make things happen for us paiwi partners.

Seated at the center is RBF founder Rupert Salas [7th from the left] and his wife [woman with a hat on her lap]. The lady in red boots is Ms. Arlene Dela Cruz who untiringly sent me photos and information about RBF.

Take a few seconds’ trip to Rula Boer Farm in Baras further by looking at the photo slideshow below:

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Magsasaka TV featured RBF in their 2nd Video Episode found in You tube video. The segment starts at 00:30 seconds.

I would like to thank Arlene Dela Cruz of RBF for sending me all the photos that I used in this post, especially the individual pictures of all my ear tagged goats. You may contact her for inquiries and details at Tel. #(02)3301539. After October 6 though, an additional digit #8 shall be added to 7-digit PLDT lines. To read more about RBF, here is the link to their website: https://www.rulaboerfarm.com/.

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