Performance of Boer and their Crossbreed Goats in Nepal - A Review

Abstract

There are about 10.25 million goats in Nepal. Most of these are local and adaptive to different ecological zones of Nepal. Despite of big goat population, performance in terms of daily gains were very low as compared to the Boer crossbreeds. The crossbreed Boer goat is a remarkable small-stock ruminant that possesses distinctive qualities enabling it to excel as an efficient production performer. The Boer goats had faster growth rates and were heavier than the indigenous breeds of goats from Nepal. The daily gain of Boer is 80-140 gm/day and Boer crossbreeds is 100-200 gm/day varying with different blood level of Boer crossbreeds. It is early maturing, reaching a mean maximum weight ≈ 62 kg at 3.5 years of age on natural pasture under extensive grazing conditions. Twinning percentage is about 40-50% in the crossbreeds. The indigenous goats of Nepal are subjected to crossbreeding with Boer goats in order to utilize the Boer goat breed as an alternate breed for production and reproduction performances. Boer milk is rich in fat followed by lactose and protein. Dressing percentage is about 56-60 % at the age of full teeth placement. They are resistant to various disease due to better performance of adrenal cortex and high cortisol production. Mortality rate is more for quadruplet and triplet kids. They are the best browsers and used as a controller in bush encroachment. Flexibility in acclimatization and other vital characteristics signified better performance of Boer and their crossbreeds in diverse country like Nepal.

Comparative Study Among Boer, Damascus and Their Crossbred Goats: Performance, Digestion, Nutritive Values and Blood Parameters

“…In different production systems of goats, the growth traits are an important as an economic trait for production and useful in selection decisions of the kind of animals [8]. crossbreds produced from Boer goat are more resilient to diseases compared to native breeds [9], whereas the aim of crossbreeding are better growth, early maturity, adaptability, disease resistant, hardiness, less kid mortality, improved milk production and increasing twinning percentage [10 and 11]. This study aims to characterize the production performance of first generation of Boer x Damascus [crossbred goats] in comparison to their parents' using metrics of nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation, and some biochemical blood parameters.…”

Effects of preservation period on quality of chilled semen of Boer-cross bucks

“…Considering the superior traits of the Boer breed and the increasing demand for meat in Bangladesh, Boer goats were introduced from Malaysia in 2012 (Ahmed, 2017). Yousuf et al (2020) reported the adaptability of Boer goats in Bangladesh and found enhanced performance of native breeds through cross-breeding (Lu, 2001;Parajuli, 2020). The offspring of BB  Boer goats are superior to the pure BB breed (Gond et al, 2019).…”