Growth, survival rate, and some reproductive characteristics of Hair goat under breeder conditions in Kahramanmaraş Province

Authors: İRFAN GÜNGÖR, KÜRŞAT ALKOYAK, SEZER ÖZ, SEYRANİ KONCAGÜL

Abstract: This study was carried out to determine the growth characteristics and survival rate until weaning, some reproductive characteristics of Hair goat, and the factors affecting these characteristics under farmer conditions in Kahramanmaraş province. In the study, a total of 19386 birth weight (BW) records of kids in 49 different flocks in 14 villages for 5 years (2014-2018), and a total of 18017 weaning weight (WW) records were used from the National Genetic Improvement Project of Sheep and Goat in Turkey (NGIPSG). The average BW, WW, and daily live weight gain (DWG) of the kids were determined as 3.17 ± 0.013, 15.81 ± 0.045 kg and 139.78 ± 0.502 g, respectively. Among the environmental factors examined on these characteristics, the effect of dam?s age, year and season of birth, type of birth, and sex were found to be statistically significant (p < 0.01). While the average survival rate of the kids at weaning was 92.94% and ranged between 90.99% and 95.14% depending on the years the effects of dam's age (p < 0.01), year of birth (p < 0.01), season of birth (p < 0.05), sex (p < 0.01) and type of birth (p < 0.01) on survival rate were found to be significant. In the study, litter size and twin birth rate were found to be 1.10 and 9.9%, respectively. These results showed that the Hair goat was adapted to the region, and its breeding was carried out in a sustainable manner in the region.

Keywords: Hair goat, growth, environmental factors, reproductive characteristics, survival rate

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