Milk yield in West African dwarf goats as influenced by coat colour, liveweight, week of lactation and udder circumference

Abstract

In this study the effect of coat colour, dam live weight, week of lactation and udder circumference on milk yield in West African Dwarf (WAD) goats was investigated. Twentyeight WAD does of different coat colour (black, brown, and combinations of black and white, brown and black, and brown and white) were further grouped on live weight basis into four: 13-15, 16-18, 19-21 and 22-24 kg. The animals were housed individually in well-ventilated pens with slatted floors following parturition. Kids were separated from dams at 5pm and dams were hand milked at 8am the following morning. Milk was collected once per day and thrice per week for 12 weeks. The 15-hour milk yield was converted to 24-hour. Udder circumference was measured before and after milking to determine changes in udder volume.Animals were fed a combination of grass and concentrate in ratio 50:50 at 5% body weight (dry matter basis) twice daily. Results showed that all parameters studied had significant (P<0.05) effect on milk yield. Animals with combination of black and white coat colour had higher milk yield of 339.20 g/dam/day compared with others. Animals with live weight of 22- 24 kg produced higher milk yield of 396.06 g/dam/day followed by animals in 19-21 kg weight group. Milk yield was highest in first week of lactation and decline progressively. Positive and significant relationship was observed between milk yield and udder circumference.Combination of black and white coat colour had highest change in udder circumference (6.47 cm) while the lowest value was found with brown and black coat colour (4.79 cm). It is concluded that animals with combination of black and white coat colour with higher live weight be used for milk production and this can help when choosing for breeding stock.