Galla goats

The Galla goat, also called the Somali goat, was bred by pastoralists in northern and north-eastern Kenya and southern Somalia. Most are white, with a short coat, long legs and a long face.

It is a meat goat first. Kenya's livestock research body, KALRO, and many county programmes promote Galla genetics for farmers in dry areas because the goats keep their condition when grass runs out.

Rachuonyo North is drier than its place beside Lake Victoria suggests. The rains are hard to predict, and for much of the year goats live on browse: shrubs, leaves and bush. A goat bred for that life does better here than one bred for green pasture.

• A bigger frame. Galla goats stand taller and carry more weight than most local goats, so they reach higher browse and fetch more at sale.

• Built for heat and drought. The breed comes from Kenya's dry north and east, where goats have to walk far for water and live on shrubs for months.

• Quick to recover. When the rains return, Galla goats put weight back on fast, which matters in a place with long dry spells.

• Good mothers. Galla does are known for kidding well and raising their kids on browse, without a lot of bought feed.

Local East African goats are small but tough, and they know this place. A Galla buck adds size and growth. The cross, a Galla-cross, keeps much of the local goat's hardiness and grows bigger than a local goat.

Our breeding does are local East African goats. Each kid's parents are written in our herd records, so you can see a goat's sire and dam on its page before you buy.

There are two ways, and neither needs you to start again:

• Buck service. Bring your doe to one of our bucks. You get a cross-bred kid without keeping a buck all year. How buck service works
• Buy a breeding goat. A Galla-cross doe or buck from us brings the genetics straight into your herd.