EFFECT OF EARLY WEANING ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF SAHELIAN AND KALAHARI GOAT KIDS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51791/njap.vi.4839Keywords:
Early weaning, growth performance and goat kidAbstract
The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of early weaning on growth performance of Sahelian and Kalahari goat kids. Two Sahelian goat kids (all female) and one Kalahari goat kid (male) obtained at second and fourth parity respectively were used for the experiment. Kids were allowed to suckle colostrum for the first three days after parturition. Thereafter, they were suckled by their dams ad libitum for four weeks and then weaned. Feed and water were supplied for them. Breed, Birth weight,
weaning weight and the weekly live weight changes for a period of 12 weeks were monitored. Parity, litter size, sex of kids, and mortality were recorded. Data collected on weekly weight changes were analyzed using Microsoft excel. The results revealed that the Kalahari kid had better performance in terms of growth rate compared to the Sahelian kids. The Kalahari kid had higher birth weight, weaning weight and weekly live weight changes with value of 3.5 kg, 8.00 kg and of between 0.15 kg
to 2.0 kg respectively, while the values obtained for the Sahelian kids were 1.5 kg, 3.5 kg and of between 0.25 kg to 0.5 kg respectively. It is concluded that breed, litter size, birth weight, parity and sex of kid had an effect on the survival and growth of early weaned goat kids. Thus, further studies using different breeds of same dam parity; age or weight and litter size is recommended to ascertain their effect on growth performance and survival of early weaned goat kids.
