The effect of individual variation on litter weight in Boer and Jawarandu goat crossbreed

Abstract

Abstract This study aims to determine the effect of individual variations on litter weight in Boer and Jawarandu goat crossbreed in CV. Kambing Burja (farm), East Java. Records from 2012 to 2015 consisted of breed of does, date of birth, litter size and birth weight of kids; along with individual identity, season and year of birth were obtained. There were 107 Boer, 687 Jawarandu, and 495 Boerja does with a total of 3804 kids in the records. Data analysis was conducted using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) incorporating the factors of season of birth (rainy and dry season) and doe’s breed (Boer, Jawarandu, and Boerja F1). Mixed model analysis using Restricted Maximum Likelihood (REML) method was used to estimate the individual variations. The results showed that both doe’s breed and season of birth had a significant effect (p<0.05) on litter weight; while the individual variations contributed 36.28% to the total variance. We concluded that the individual variation of litter weight was considerably high which reflects high genetic diversity within each breed. Hence, selection to improve the reproductive performance of these goats is highly possible.