Relationship of weaning weight to the mature liveweight of cashmere does on Australian farms

Abstract

Median weaning weight and its relationship with the median mature liveweight of does was quantified for four commercial Australian cashmere farms in various parts of Australia. Individual liveweights, of does of all ages at the time of weaning in December, ranged from 9 to 61 kg. Individual farm means of adult does (>1 year old) ranged from 24.6 to 38.8 kg. The model for the logarithm of liveweight was: log10(liveweight) = a + br(Age + 0.6); where a, b and r are parameters that are different for each farm. The result that the r parameter differs with farm was statistically significant (P = 9.4 × 10−6). The percentage variance accounted for was 84.4% and the residual standard deviation was 0.042. Farms differed greatly in the median mature liveweight with some farms reaching ~44 kg and others only 31 kg. Median weaning weight was 14.1 kg (range 11.4–16.8 kg). Median weaning weight as a percentage of median mature doe liveweight on a particular farm varied from 32 to 42%. These weaning weights appear low in absolute and relative terms and thus are likely to incur production penalties.