Vets on Tour - India 2026.

In the last week of February Bryony was invited to go to India with Ben Dustan and Yoav Alony Gilboa, two members of the Goat Veterinary Society (GVS) and also fellow Directors of XL practices, Tarn Farm Vets and Friars Moor. They were invited by an Indian company called Venky’s, a major poultry conglomerate that specialise in poultry farming, they breed the birds then distribute them as day old chicks to farmers to rear for meat or egg production. They cover all aspects of this process from training farmers to making the poultry vaccines, feed and equipment needed. They then buy back the eggs or broilers and do all their own processing from bird to burger.

So why GVS? Well, they are wanting to do the same with goat meat as goat and sheep meat is the second biggest meat product eaten in India as cows are sacred. We were invited to see how far they have got with this process and give some advice on the next steps. This was very interesting and will pose some significant challenges for them. They have chosen a breed called the Osamabadi goat, a fine, small breed that seems to be relatively slow growing, not the most ideal choice in our Western mindset but apparently fit the market for Indian tastes. Goats are mainly farmed in India in small backyard settings and the few larger set ups that we visited all struggled with mortality rates. So they are going to need to focus on efficiency from the start. Indian people are extremely welcoming and kind, everywhere we went we were treated like celebrities and showered with gifts and plenty of chai! India is a beautiful country, very colourful, chaotic and smells amazing (mostly).

Hopefully this visit will lead to some work over in India for Tyndale for some years to come but watch this space!

Right to left - L-R Yoav, myself and Ben at a sheep farm complete with our biosecurity flip flops, L-R Ben, myself and at a meeting held at a village vet practice, there were about 200 people in attendance! and lastly - Osmanabadi goats.