Concentrate supplementations of grazing pregnant Kalahari Red goats: Effects on pregnancy variables, reproductive performance, birth types and weight of kids

Abstract

A study was conducted for 22 weeks to determine the effects of concentrate supplementations at three crude protein (CP) levels, i.e. low protein diet-LPD 12.42% CP (124.93 g day); medium protein diet-MPD 14.18% CP (145.87 g day) and high protein diet-HPD 16.35% CP (168.19 g day) on some pregnancy variables, reproductive performance, birth types and weight of kids kidded by pregnant Kalahari Red goats grazed on Chloris gayana. Thirty-three matured Kalahari Red goats of first parity within age range of 2 to 2/ years with an average body weight of 38.10 ± 1.13 kg were randomly allotted to the diets with 11 goats per treatment. Data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance in a completely randomised design. It was observed that goats fed HPD had the highest (p < 0.05) values for products of pregnancy (10.35 kg) taken within 24hour before kidding and foetal growth rate (88.37 g day) during pregnancy. Goats fed MPD had the lowest values (p < 0.05) of 9.28 kg and 80.07 g day for each of the respective parameters. Afterbirth weight was also the highest and lowest (p < 0.05) for goats supplemented with HPD (3.38 kg) and MPD (3.04 kg), respectively. On the other hand, MPD-supplemented goats had the highest values (p < 0.05) for litter size (2.14) and litter weight (6.80 kg) at birth, the value which was the least for HPD supplementation. From the results obtained from this study, it could be concluded that concentrate diet supplementation with 14.18% CP improved litter size and weight at birth with resultant reduction in weights of pregnancy variables of pregnant Kalahari Red goats grazed on Rhodes grass.

Reproductive performance in goats and causes of perinatal mortality: a review

“…Ovulation rate sets the upper limit to fecundity (the number of kids born per pregnant doe). Goats are prolific breeders and high rates of fecundity have been reported in numerous countries and breeds, including in Kalahari Red, 1.6 kids/ doe (Oderinwale et al 2017), and Boer, 2.0 kids/doe (Erasmus 2000). However, fecundity can be low with reports of 95% of does producing single kids (Aldomy et al 2009).…”

Genetic polymorphism in the POU1F1 gene in Kalahari Red and two Nigerian goat breeds and their relationship with litter size

“…In Nigeria, the WAD and RS goats are the most prolific breeds with average litter size of 1.60 and 1.45, respectively (Abubakar et al, 2013;Oga, 2016). Information based on limited data showed that mean litter size of KR goats bred in Nigeria was 1.67 for dams fed with grass supplemented with low protein diets (Oderinwale et al, 2017). Over the past decades, the application of traditional selective breeding to improve litter size resulted in limited success due to its low heritability (Otuma and Onu, 2013).…”