Choose a breed that is already at home in your area, that suits the way you will feed it, and that buyers near you ask for. A famous breed brought from far away often grows slower and falls sick more in a new climate. This chapter shows how to decide, and compares the goat and sheep breeds you will meet in South Indian markets.
Start with your purpose
- Meat (most farms). You will sell kids and young males. Most South Indian breeds — Kanni Adu, Kodi Adu, Salem Black, Malabari and Attappady Black — are kept mainly for meat.
- Milk. Local meat breeds give little milk: Kanni Adu does gave about 0.7 litre a day early in lactation, falling to about 0.4 litre by the third month (ICAR-NBAGR). Malabari does give about 0.5–1.5 litres a day (breed study). If milk matters to you, compare does by their milk records, not by size.
- Breeding stock. If you plan to sell breeding animals, buyers will expect true-to-type animals of a named breed, so start with pure stock from a reliable source.
Match the breed to your area
Goats do best in the climate their breed grew up in. ICAR-CIRG warns that breeds from the north-west of India perform and survive worse in the hot, humid south and east (ICAR-CIRG), and advises improving local goats with good bucks of a breed suited to your zone rather than bringing in a breed from another region (ICAR-CIRG). NABARD's model scheme agrees: breeds in their home area are the most suitable for farming (NABARD).
Where the region's breeds come from:
- Southern Tamil Nadu (Virudhunagar, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Ramanathapuram): Kanni Adu and Kodi Adu.
- North-western Tamil Nadu (Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri): Salem Black.
- North Kerala (Kozhikode, Kannur, Wayanad, Malappuram): Malabari, often sold as Tellicherry.
- Attappady hills, Palakkad (Kerala): Attappady Black.
- Karnataka: Bidri and Nandidurga are the state's registered goat breeds. NBAGR lists no goat breed from Andhra Pradesh or Telangana (ICAR-NBAGR); Andhra Pradesh is known for its Nellore sheep.
Match the breed to how you will feed
- Grazing. Local breeds that walk long distances and cope with dry months suit grazing. TANUVAS notes that Salem Black adapts well to harsh, semi-arid conditions (TANUVAS), and Attappady Black goats are kept mostly on open grazing in the hills (KAU study).
- Stall feeding. ICAR-CIRG notes that many breeds do not do well when stall-fed, and some need open space to walk and graze (ICAR-CIRG). Big breeds and exotic crosses need more and better feed: in Kerala, Boer crosses needed closer management than local Malabari goats (KVASU review).
- Ask how the animals were raised. Buy from a farm that feeds the way you will: a goat raised on grazing may struggle when kept in a shed all day.
Check what buyers near you want
Buyers in different districts like different breeds, colours and sizes. Before you choose:
- Visit your weekly santhai and note which goats sell fastest, and to whom.
- Ask traders and goat farmers which breeds they buy for festivals and for breeding.
- Look at the asking prices in farmers' ads for goats for sale in your district.
See How to sell goats: timing, fair price and safe payment for selling by weight and timing your sales.
Common breeds compared
Figures are averages from breed surveys; animals on your farm will vary with feed and care.
| Breed | Home area | Kept for | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kanni Adu | Virudhunagar, Thoothukudi and Tenkasi (once part of Tirunelveli), Tamil Nadu | Meat | Black, with a white stripe down each side of the face; adults about 34 kg (male) and 28 kg (female); about 1.9 kids per kidding on average |
| Kodi Adu | Thoothukudi and Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu | Meat | Very tall and long-bodied; two colour types, Chem-Porai and Karum-Porai; about 23 kg at 1 year |
| Salem Black | Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, and nearby Erode and Namakkal, Tamil Nadu | Meat | Fully black, tall and lean; adults about 38 kg (male) and 30 kg (female); nearly half of kiddings bring twins or more |
| Malabari (sold as Tellicherry) | Kozhikode, Kannur, Wayanad and Malappuram, Kerala | Meat, some milk | Colour varies from white to mixed to black; adults about 41 kg (male) and 31 kg (female); twins and triplets are common |
| Attappady Black | Attappady hills, Palakkad, Kerala | Meat | All black, with bronze-coloured eyes; adults about 35 kg (male) and 31 kg (female) |
| Osmanabadi | Osmanabad and Solapur area, Maharashtra | Meat | Mostly black; about 34 kg (male) and 33 kg (female) at 1.5 years; matures early |
| Jamunapari | Etawah district, Uttar Pradesh | Milk and meat | Very tall, mostly white, arched nose, long drooping ears; about 1.75 kg of milk a day; adults about 45 kg (male) and 38 kg (female) |
| Boer | South Africa (exotic); in India mostly as crosses | Meat | Crosses grow fast on good feed but need closer care; see below |
Sources: Kanni Adu, Osmanabadi and Jamunapari — ICAR-NBAGR; Kodi Adu — TANUVAS study; Salem Black — TANUVAS; Malabari — breed study and TNAU; Attappady Black — KAU study; Boer — KVASU review.
Kattutharai's goat (aadu) category also covers sheep. Common sheep breeds in Tamil Nadu markets:
| Breed | Home area | Kept for | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mecheri | Salem, Namakkal, Erode, Karur and Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu | Meat | Light brown, very short hair, no horns in either sex; rams about 32 kg, ewes about 28 kg |
| Madras Red | Chennai and Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu | Meat | Brown, from light tan to dark; rams have twisted horns, ewes none; rams about 35 kg, ewes about 23 kg |
| Ramnad White | Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu | Meat | Mostly white; rams have twisted horns, ewes none; rams about 31 kg, ewes about 22 kg |
| Nellore | Nellore and Prakasam, Andhra Pradesh | Meat | Tall, with long drooping ears and very little hair; rams about 36 kg, ewes about 28 kg |
Sources: TNAU; Mecheri — ICAR-NBAGR. Other registered sheep breeds of the region include Kilakarsal, Vembur, Tiruchi Black and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, and Bellary, Mandya, Hassan and Kenguri in Karnataka (ICAR-NBAGR).
Each breed's name in the tables opens its own page. All breeds, by state: goats and sheep.
Find goats near you on Kattutharai
See goats for sale direct from farmers near your village, with photos, the village name and the distance. No middlemen. Call or chat with the farmer, then see the goat and check its health yourself before you pay.
Looking for a particular breed? Search its name in the Kattutharai app, for example Kanni, Kodi or Tellicherry.
Pure breeds, crosses and exotic breeds
- A breed name is the seller's word. "Tellicherry", "Salem Black" or "Boer cross" in an ad is a claim, not proof. NBAGR's register lists the Kerala breed as Malabari; Tellicherry is its market name (ICAR-NBAGR). Check the breed signs in the table, ask where the parents came from, and see the mother if you can.
- Pure Jamunapari is scarce. NBAGR estimated fewer than 5,000 animals in its home area (ICAR-NBAGR), so ask how the seller knows an animal is pure.
- Boer and other exotic crosses. In Kerala, Boer × Malabari crosses grew faster under good management, but the crossbred goats studied there, Boer crosses among them, had more deaths and more breathing problems than Malabari goats, which coped better with the hot, humid climate (KVASU review). Try crosses only when you can give good feed, housing and care.
- Improving local goats. If pure females are hard to find, ICAR-CIRG suggests mating good local females with high-quality bucks of a breed suited to your climate, generation after generation — never with their own father (ICAR-CIRG).
Common mistakes
- Choosing the biggest or most famous breed without checking that it suits your heat, rain and feed.
- Paying a breed price for an animal whose breed you cannot confirm.
- Bringing exotic crosses into a low-cost grazing system.
- Keeping the same buck for years, so that he mates with his own daughters — change him every 2–3 years (ICAR-CIRG).
- Choosing a breed that local buyers do not ask for.
Frequently asked questions
Which goat breed is best for Tamil Nadu?
There is no single best breed. Tamil Nadu's registered breeds — Kanni Adu, Kodi Adu and Salem Black — are adapted to the state's hot, dry districts. Choose the one whose home area is nearest to you, or improve your local goats with a good buck of such a breed.
Is Boer good for a beginner?
Usually not as a first step. Boer crosses can grow fast, but they need better feed, housing and care, and in Kerala crossbred goats had more deaths than local goats. Learn with a local breed first.
Are Tellicherry and Malabari the same?
Yes. Tellicherry is the market name for goats of the Malabari breed from north Kerala; TNAU lists them as "Malabar or Tellicherry" (TNAU), and NBAGR registers the breed as Malabari.
Next
Next, read How to buy goats safely: health, age and fraud checks to check a goat's health and age before you pay. To see which breeds farmers near you are selling, browse goats for sale.