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African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development
Rural Outreach Program
ISSN: 1684-5358
EISSN: 1684-5358
Vol. 8, No. 4, 2008, pp. 464-479
Bioline Code: nd08042
Full paper language: English
Document type: Research Article
Document available free of charge

African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, Vol. 8, No. 4, 2008, pp. 464-479

 en Evaluation of some factors influencing growth performance of local goats in Nigeria
Zahraddeen, D; Butswat, ISR & Mbap, ST

Abstract

This study was conducted at the Research Farm of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Nigeria to investigate some factors (breed, season, parity, sex, litter size and body condition score) affecting kids' growth performance at various ages. The daily weight gain (overall) of kids reveals non-significant breed effect whereas season, parity, sex, litter size and body condition score had significant (P<0.05) effects on the kids' daily weight gain. Kids born in the dry season had higher daily weight gain (98.95 ± 4.65g) than those born in the wet season (88.15 + 5.31g). Similarly, kids born in the second (90.58 ± 3.71g) and third (88.28 ± 11.31g) parities gained higher weights daily than kids in the first (86.80 ± 3.25g) parity. There were significant (P<0.05) sex and litter size effects on kids' daily weight gain. The male kids had higher daily weight gain than their female counterparts with respective values of 92.94 ± 5.06 and 84.16 ± 5.46g. Similarly, kids born single gained higher (90.06 ± 4.03g) daily weights than those born as twins (87.04 ± 6.58g). Kids from does with body condition score 4 had the highest (91.61+ 6.61g) daily weight gain followed by 3 (89.37 ± 5.37g) and least value was observed in does with score 2 (84.67 ± 4.95g). Kids' weights at various ages (birth, 30, 60, 90 and 120 days) showed significant (P<0.05) differences except for the effects of litter size (at birth, 60,90 and 120 days) and sex (at 30, 60 and 120 days of life). Similarly, kids' mean daily weight gains at various age intervals (birth – 30, 31- 60, 61- 90 and 91- 120 days) also showed significant (P<0.05) differences in these factors except for the effects of breed (at 61-90 days), sex (at birth – 60 days), litter size ( 61-10 days) and parity ( 31-120 days of life). It is, therefore, concluded that large body size, good body condition, dry season, birth of male kid and single birth and high parity resulted in higher postnatal kid weight and daily weight gain. The Sahel goats are more promising than the other breeds in terms of their growth performance. Improvement of these breeds can be made through crossbreeding with better local or exotic breed. However, these local breeds can be successfully used for quality meat production and supply at an early stage of their life.

Keywords
Goats, age, daily weight gain

 
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