Reproductive performance and kid growth in Hair goats raised under farmer conditions in Adana Province of Türkiye

Abstract

This study was carried out to examine the growth and survival characteristics between birth and weaning (90th day) in kids born in 2020-2022, within the scope of the "National Sheep Breeding and Improvement Project under Farm Conditions" in the villages of the districts of Adana. A total of 15200 Hair goat kids’ data were used in the study. After birth, the kid’s birth weight, sex, and date of birth were recorded, and on the 90th day, weaning weights were determined. All kids sucked their mothers in the morning and evening and stayed in the pen rest of the day. From the age of about 2 weeks, the kids were fed with oak branches and straw pulp. The kids were fed with oak branches, cotton seed and wheat straw at around two weeks of age. The average birth weight of kids was 3.10 kg in males and 2.98 kg in females; The average weaning weights were found to be 16.05 kg for females and 17.50 kg for males. In terms of live weights at birth and weaning, differences across the birth year, sex, birth type, and maternal age groups were shown to be statistically significant (P < 0.001). The survivability of kids was 97.20%, significant by years (P < 0.05), but it was not significant in terms of sex, birth type and maternal age (P > 0.05). As a result, it has been determined that there is a significant variation among the herds in terms of the fertility of Hair goats and the developmental characteristics of kids, and it has been determined that developmental characteristics are affected by environmental factors.