Adaptation of Reproductive and Growth Traits of Primiparous Kilis Goats to High-Altitude Mountain Areas

Abstract

Kilis goat is an important local gene source in terms of fertility and milk yield and its original breeding area is Kilis, Adana, Gaziantep and Hatay provinces in Türkiye. This study was carried out to determine the reproductive and growth characteristics of primiparous Kilis goats and their adaptation to high-altitude mountainous areas (altitude 1550 m). A total of 120 Kilis goats from four different farms in Konya province were used in the study in 2019. Among the reproductive traits of Kilis goats, birth rate, litter size at birth, litter size at weaning, twinning rate and survival rate were found to be 92.5%, 1.25, 1.11, 25.1% and 88.2%, respectively, and the difference between the flocks were not statistically significant (P>0.05). Most of the births occurred between 06:00 and 09:00 during the day (P