Meet a New Territories goatherd and her roaming flock

In the present day, there are only a small number of livestock farms in the New Territories, remnants of an industry that was once a major pillar of the rural economy. In the 1950s and 60s, faced with a surging urban population, the government actively promoted small-scale family farming in the New Territories, encouraging villagers to raise chickens and pigs.

However, as more and more rural land was lost to urban expansion, the livestock industry began to decline. The outbreak of avian influenza in 1997 and Japanese encephalitis in 2004 prompted the Hong Kong government to tighten regulations on livestock farming to better control water pollution and the spread of zoonotic diseases.

In fact, the industry had already been declining since the 1980s when the government enacted the Livestock Waste Control Scheme, which required farms to install up-to-standard waste treatment facilities. Farms that were unable to meet the standards had no choice but to shut down and apply for government compensation. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, outbreaks of avian influenza further accelerated the government’s efforts to get farmers to relinquish their livestock licenses. In 2006, it launched a voluntary surrender scheme, encouraging pig, duck and chicken farmers to hand in their licenses in exchange for special compensation. That same year, legislation was passed banning free-range poultry, which brought an end to so-called “ground-running chickens (zau2 dei6 gai1)”. Since 2006, the number of pig farms has plummeted from around 250 to fewer than 50 today, chicken farms from around 140 to just 29, and duck farms have disappeared altogether.

Yet, amidst this decline, a not insignificant number of farms in the New Territories have started raising goats. Flocks wandering into urban areas have even become a familiar sight to residents in the North District.

A flock of goats on a farm in the New Territories.

An organic farm with 130 goats

Situated in Tit Hang Village, Sheung Shui, the Fu Kum Organic Dragon Fruit Farm is renowned for its fruits and vegetables—and for its flock of 130 goats. The owner, Ngan Fu Kum, also known as Kum Jeh, began working on the farm with her husband after moving to Hong Kong in 2002 to get married. At the time, it was a pig farm, but in 2007 they surrendered their livestock license and switched to organic fruits and vegetables.

Kum Jeh and her husband started raising goats in 2003. Back then, organic farming was just beginning to emerge in Hong Kong. Their farm had not yet converted away from livestock, and they only had a small fruit and vegetable patch. At first, they acquired three goats to graze grass and produce manure for fertilizer, but over time, the goats kept multiplying until the herd reached its present size.

Kum Jeh spraying medicine on a kid with a bacterial skin infection.

A herd of organic fertilizer generators

At Kum Jeh’s farm, raising goats is closely intertwined with the farm’s daily operations. After pruning the farm’s fruit trees, Kum Jeh and her husband feed dry branches and grass to the goats. If the weather is good, every noon, they open the goat pen to let the herd out to graze, either guiding them to the farm’s grassy areas, or letting them follow their herd queen up into She Leng Hill behind the farm. Typically, two or three dominant females serve as “herd queens”, guiding the flock’s direction and deciding when to return. When the herd queens go back to the pen, the rest will follow. If the herd queens detect danger or bad weather, they will lead the herd home. Goats are both easily startled and highly social animals, and will become extremely anxious when separated from the herd, so most goats will follow their herd queens and goatherds closely. Some female goats with young kids (baby goats) tend to stay close to the farm when grazing, as they worry their babies might wander off and get lost.

The goats usually come back on their own by sunset, but occasionally the farmers need to go up the hill to herd them back. Over four to five hours of grazing, each adult goat will consume roughly five catties (about 2.5kg) of grass. When it rains or during a typhoon, the goats stay in their pen, where they are fed corn and dry hay.

Goats taking shelter from the rain inside the pen.

Since goats can be fed in their pen, why let them out at all? Why not just keep them inside and feed them daily? Kum Jeh explains that the goats need to be “let out to grow nice and big”. They also improve the farm’s environs by eating weeds and overgrowth so that crop-damaging animals like wild boars have fewer places to hide. However, young kids follow the rest of the herd outside, but are kept behind to nurse and protect them from being eaten by pythons and black kites.

Goat meat has a market value, which unfortunately leads to some individuals attempting to steal goats. Kum Jeh once encountered some people trying to snatch her goats while they were out grazing, claiming they thought they were wild. But because it is hard to obtain proof, these cases often go unresolved even when reported to the police.

Goats leaving the pen to graze.

Is it legal to keep goats in Hong Kong?

While goat farming has gained increased attention in recent years, it was not traditionally a prominent part of the local livestock industry. Official reports and publications seldom mention goats. Even the most comprehensive local agricultural record published by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD)—authored by its former Assistant Director Iu Kow-choy titled “The Heritage and Transformation of Fishing and Agriculture in Hong Kong in the 19th and 20th Centuries”—contains no reference to goat farming in Hong Kong.

However, there has long been local demand for goat meat. In 1956, the Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Association (KAAA) noted a significant rise in goat slaughter and consumption, highlighting that the New Territories had plentiful fertile grasslands and that production costs were lower than those of chicken or pig farming. They therefore recommended the development of goat farming in the New Territories. In fact, farmers in Guangdong, with a climate similar to Hong Kong, were already raising goats in the 1950s. Therefore, climate and environmental conditions are not obstacles to local goat farming, yet the industry has never truly taken off in Hong Kong.

Nor are regulations an obstacle. According to the Public Health (Animals and Birds) (Keeping of Cattle, Sheep and Goats) Regulations, Chapter 139, Section 3, all persons keeping goats or sheep must obtain a license from the Director of AFCD. However, this requirement does not apply to the Outlying Islands, Kwai Tsing, North District, Sai Kung, Sha Tin, Tai Po, Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun, and Yuen Long districts. In short, outside of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, or New Kowloon, anyone can keep goats or sheep without a license.

Goats foraging on the hill behind the farm after being released from their pen.

In the past, farmers used chicken and pigeon manure to fertilize vegetables, but these types of livestock have largely disappeared due to tighter regulations, leaving goats as the only animals farmers can raise to produce manure. Recently, there have been a number of media and online stories about pig farmers who converted their pigsties into goat sheds after surrendering their licenses. Some villagers keep goats as pets, others collect milk for their own personal use. Since goat farming is a long-term commitment—female goats can live for over a decade—and goats consume large quantities of vegetation, most goat farms remain concentrated around Yuen Long and North District, even though goats are exempt from licensing requirements anywhere in the New Territories.

Goat manure being prepared to be composted into organic fertilizer.

Kum Jeh considers goat-keeping a sideline of her overall farm business. She has also noticed that goat farming has become increasingly popular in the New Territories over the last 20 years. Most goat farmers keep goats mainly for fertilizer and weed clearance. Ones like Kum Jeh who have not sold goats for many years have ended up with herds of over 130. She admits that maintaining such a large flock is challenging, and that her farm does not actually need so many goats. In recent years, she has started using more traditional, low-tech methods of fertility control, such as separating the males and females to slow down the herd’s rate of reproduction.

While some farmers occasionally sell live goats to Indian and Pakistani restaurants, Hong Kong has never developed a large-scale goat farming industry comparable to pig or chicken farming. Some local farmers are trying to develop goat raising into a formal industry. At present, most goat meat sold in Hong Kong is frozen meat imported from mainland China, especially from Inner Mongolia. Although the Sheung Shui slaughterhouse can handle up to 300 goats daily, data from the Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety shows it actually processes only an average of 2 goats a day. Therefore, fresh goat meat is rarely found in the local market.

Fresh meat sales in Hong Kong are strictly regulated, requiring all fresh meat to have come from one of two government-approved slaughterhouses. In the last few years, some local goat farmers have sought to organize to gain access to lawful slaughtering facilities, hoping to develop a domestic goat meat market. However, with growing public concern for animal welfare, questions about whether current grazing practices comply with food safety standards, as well as potential cost increases, the prospects of a live goat market in Hong Kong remain limited.

With the decline of traditional livestock farming in the New Territories, an unexpected agricultural model combining goat herding with crop cultivation has gradually taken shape. However, with ongoing urbanisation in the North District and strict regulations on livestock trading, the future of goat farming as a fully developed industry remains uncertain.