Growth performance of Black Bengal goats at rural areas of Gaibandha district in Bangladesh

Abstract

The present study was conducted to assess the growth performance of Black Bengal goats along with investigating the effect of sex of kids, type of kidding and parity of dam on the body weight at birth and subsequent 3, 6 and 9 month of age reared under field conditions at Gaibandha district of Bangladesh. All goats of the study area were reared extensively. Data were collected on a regular basis from June 2018 to February 2019. Least- squares means for body weights at birth, 3, 6 and 9 month of age were 1.13±0.02, 5.22±0.13, 8.12±0.22 and 10.92±0.28 kg, respectively. The average body weight of male kids was higher than female kids at all the ages with significantly (p<0.05) higher body weight at 6 and 9-month of age. Litter size had significant (p<0.01) effect on birth weight and highest birth weight was found in single birth kids than the twin and triplet birth kids. Parity of dam significantly (p<0.01) influenced the birth weight and it increased with the progress of parity of dam. However, body weights at 3, 6 and 9 month of age did not varied significantly due to influence of litter size and parity of dam. It can be concluded that non-genetic factors should be adopted as a technique for improving the growth performance of Black Bengal goats.