Effects of the Grazing of Korean Black Goats on Their Reproductive Performance and Growth Performance of Goatlings
2015
Hwangbo, S., Daegu University, Gyeongsan, Republic of Korea
This study assessed the impacts of grazing and barn feeding on the reproductive performance of black goats and the growth performance of goatlings to gather basic data for the establishment of an ideal goat-breeding system. A total of 36 Korean black goats were grouped by feeding system (a pasture grazing group and a barn feeding group, n=18) over the 8-month study period from April to November 2011. The difference between the singleton pregnancy rate of the grazing group, measured at 31.5%, and the barn-feeding group's 37.0% was not statistically significant. Also, breeding type did not yield any meaningful differences, with 1.76 live births recorded for the grazing group and 1.69 recorded for the barn-feeding group. In regard to weaner goats, the grazing group showed a higher number compared to the barn-feeding group (p=0.11). The birth weight of the grazing group was measured at 2.3 kg, while that of the barn-feeding group was 2.29 kg, with breeding type yielding no significant differences. The grazing group's weight at 90 days of age was 9.97 kg, which was higher than the barn-feeding group's 9.45 kg (p=0.09). The grazing group showed higher daily weight gain during the lactation period than the barn-feeding group (p=0.13). Overall, with breeding type considered, the grazing group did not show significant differences in terms of the number of live births and birth weights compared to the barn-feeding group; however, the grazing group showed better outcomes in terms of daily weight gain. As it has been shown that grazing satisfies the physiological needs of goats more effectively than barn feeding, we believe that it contributes to the farming of healthy goats.
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