HUSBANDRY PRACTICES AND PREWEANING GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF INDIGENOUS GOAT ECOTYPE/BREED/POPULATION IN TEGEDIE DISTRICT, CENTRAL GONDAR ZONE, AMHARA REGION, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

This study was conducted in the Tegedie district, Central Gondar Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia, to assess goat husbandry practices and evaluate the pre-weaning growth performance of goats. For this study, data were collected through interviews with 340 purposively selected sample households from three agroecology sites, using a semi-structured questionnaire. Besides, on-farm monitoring of the growth performance of 180 kids owned by farmers was done. The data collected from the questionnaire were described and analyzed using descriptive statistics procedures of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, and monitoring data of kids were subject to GLM analysis using SAS version 9.4. The result of the study indicated that 99.4% of respondents followed a mixed crop livestock farming system. The overall objective of goat production in the current study area was income generation, household consumption, and saving, with an index value of 0.46, 0.23, and 0.21, respectively. Natural pastures and rivers were the main feed and water sources, respectively, in the study district in both dry and wet seasons. The overall top three criteria for selecting breeding does in the study area were the ability to give twins, body size, and milk production, with index values of 0.26, 0.25, and 0.17, respectively. For breeding bucks, the selection criteria were appearance/body size, color, and mating ability, with corresponding index values of 0.312, 0.245, and 0.18. The overall least square mean birth weight,30-day weight,60-day weight, and 90-day weight of goat kids in the current study area were 2.2±0.01kg,4.31±0.04kg, 6.23±0.06kg, and 8.14±0.10kg, respectively. The overall 90 days of the kids showed a significant difference (p<0.0001) across agro-ecologies. The kids from the midland and lowland regions were heavier than those from the highland region (8.67±0.12 kg and 8.68±0.12kg vs 7.06±0.14 kg, respectively. Kids born from the second, third, and fourth parity, as well as single-born kids, and male kids were significantly heavier (p<0.0001) at birth than kids from the first parity, twins, triple-born kids, and female kids, respectively. The average daily weight gain from birth to 90 days in this study area was 68.23±1.06g/day. Single-born and male kids had higher (P<0.001) average daily weight gain than twins, triples, and female kids. The overall survival rate of the current monitoring kids in the study area from birth to 90 days of age was 85%.it indicating relatively good pre-weaning kid survival under current management conditions. The parity of the doe and the type of birth had a significant influence on kid survival (P < 0.05). Kids born from first-parity does have a lower survival rate (65.4%) compared to those from second (87.1%), third (89.6%), fourth (90%), fifth (88.2%), and sixth (77.8%) parities. The most significant constraints identified were diseases and parasites, predators, shortage of feed, and water. Even though the current productivity of x goats in the area is fairly good, the full potential needs to be exploited by improving husbandry practice and applying appropriate disease prevention methods Keywords: Growth Performance, Husbandry, Indigenous Goats, Preweaning,