Performance of Locally Adopted Goats in Sundarbazar Municipality of Lamjung District, Nepal

Abstract

Goat (Capra hircus) is a small ruminant with hollow horn that is found throughout the world. A survey (N = 60) was carried out to evaluate the performance of locally adopted goats under farmers’ management practices in Sundarbazar municipality of Lamjung district between February and August, 2017. The study focused on two breeds, Khari and Jamunaparias well as their crossbred. Individual goats’ primary data, collected using a convenient sampling technique and pretested questionnaires with open and close ended questions, were analyzed using SPSS 20 and MS Excel 2010. Results revealed significant effects of a Doe’s breed on age at first estrus ( $p<0.001$ ), age at first kidding ( $p<0.001$ ), gestation length ( $p<0.001$ ), postpartum estrus ( $p<0.001$ ), and kidding interval ( $p<0.05$ ). Age at first estrus and age at first kidding were lowest (252.3 days and 403.9 days, respectively) for Khari. Highly significant lowest kidding interval (214.7 days) and significantly shortest gestation length (148.2 days) were found for Khari. No significant effect of parity was observed on age at first estrus, age at first kidding, kidding interval, and postpartum estrus, but a significant effect ( $p<0.05$ ) was observed on gestation length with lowest values in 4th to 6th parity (149.5 days). Doe’s breed showed a significant effect on litter size at birth ( $p<0.05$ ). However, no significant effect of the breed was found on litter birth weight and litter size at weaning ( $p<0.05$ ). The results demonstrated Khari as the desirable breed for the locality.