Relationship between litter birthweight and litter size in five goat genotypes

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to use a non-linear regression approach to investigate the relationship between litter birthweight and litter size of five breeds of goat under intensive conditions in a hot arid environment. Litter-size and litter-weight data on 20 117 kids from 13 685 litters representing five breeds, namely Saanen, Toggenburg, French Alpine, Anglo-Nubian and Granadina, were compared to evaluate this relationship. Regardless of breed, birthweight for kids born as twins, triplets and quadruplets was, on average, 92%, 87% and 83%, respectively, of that of singleton kids; litter size accounted for 81% of the variation in litter weight. The coefficient of the power regression differed (P < 0.01) among breeds, with similar slopes for French Alpine, Toggenburg and Saanen goats and a smaller litter-weight increase for every additional fetus in Anglo-Nubian and Granadina goats than in other breeds of goat. These results support the hypothesis that, regardless of parity, litter weight in dairy and Granadina goats increases at a reduced rate with increases in litter size, although the rate of change with the increasing number of fetuses was moderate, as indicated by a power regression of the form y = axb between these variables across age categories and breeds of goat.

A Preliminary Study on Some Reproductive Traits and Heterosis Effects of Anglo Nubian and Etawah Grade Crossbred Does

“…The overall mean of litter size was 1.51±0.50, ranged between 1-3 and variation 33.65% (Table 1). This result was in agreement of some literature stated that litter size of goats ranged between 1-1.7 (Sutama et al 2011;Mellado et al 2011;Parasmawati et al 2013).…”

“…This results were similar to some findings that litter size were not affected by genotypes or breed of local goats in Ethiopia (Dereje et al 2015) and PE goats (Parasmawati et al 2013). In Mexico, Anglo Nubian showed litter size 1.56±0.5 (Mellado et al 2011) similar to this present study. Other study mentioned that Anglo Nubian, in Sudan, showed litter size of 1.75±0.71 (Hassna et al 2013) higher than this study.…”

Trend analysis of plasma insulin level around parturition in relation to parity in Saanen goats1

“….6 ± 12.9 a 77.7 ± 9.14 a 80.9 ± 9.04 a 88.5 ± 3.03 a as possible consequence of the fact that dietary requirements of primiparous goats included a portion for weight gain (to reach the adult weight) in addition to those for maintenance and development of the fetuses during late pregnancy or those for maintenance and milk synthesis during early lactation (Pulina and Cannas, 2008). Saanen goats give birth to 1.34 ± 0.52 and 1.46 ± 0.58 kids for primiparous and multiparous goats, respectively (Mellado et al, 2011). We report a greater number of kids per dam that appears not to have affected fetus development.…”

Effect of different protein and energy levels in concentrate diets on nutrient intake and milk yield of Saanen x Etawah Grade goats

“…This Saanen breed was introduced in to breeding program of the Indonesian Research Institute for Animal Production to improve quality and quantity of goat milk yield. This Saanen breed often produced triplets (Mellado et al 2011) and higher milk yield compared to Etawah Grade (Praharani 2014) and Angora goats (Anwar et al 2015). Therefore, Saanen genetics were used to produce a new goat breed with higher milk yield and adapted well to Indonesian environmental conditions.…”