Milk production performance of Begait goat under semi intensive and extensive management in Western Tigray, North Ethiopia

Hagos Abraham, Solomon Gizaw² and Mengistu Urge¹

Bule Hora University, Department of Animal Science, P O Box 144, Bule Hora, Ethiopia
hagsabr@gmail.com
¹ Haramaya University, School of Animal and Range Sciences, P O Box 138, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia
² International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), P O Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

The study was conducted in Kafta humera district of Ethiopia, (i) to investigate the milk yield of Begait goat under different management and (ii) to evaluate the effects of different non-genetic factors on lactation performance. Data were collected from 428 lactating does under two managements (semi intensive and extensive) during October 2014 and March 2016. Statistical analyses were carried out using the GLM procedure of SAS version of 9.2 software. The least squares means (with standard error) for daily milk yield, lactation milk yield and lactation length were observed to be 0.75±0.01 kg, 85.6±1.04 kg and 111±1.21 days under semi intensive management, respectively whereas under extensive management these were found as 0.55±0.01 kg, 56±1.43 kg and 101±1.57 days, respectively. The results of this study indicated that management system, parity number and season of birth affected all variables highly significantly.

Keywords: daily milk yield, lactation milk yield, lactation length, non-genetic factors

Introduction

Farmers and pastoralists all over Africa are increasingly turning to goats as a means of survival and a way of boosting their incomes (Peacock 2005). Most importantly their products such as meat are not subjected to any religious taboos unlike the pork and beef to Muslims and Hindus, respectively (Chenyambuga et al 2012). There is also a growing awareness of the importance of goat as a source of milk off-take for home consumption (Tona et al 2015) and they are normally called the ‘poor man’s cow’ (Lemma et al 2003). Goat’s milk is better as compared to cow’s milk for people suffering from lactose intolerance, which is a common phenomenon among adults in Sub Saharan Africa (Haenlein 2004). Besides to its better digestibility, goat’s milk contains almost same amount of lactose as cow’s milk (Silanikove et al 2015) with high quality proteins and a great content of minerals and vitamins (Brito et al 2011).

Goat population of Ethiopia ranks high both in the Africa continent and the globe in general (FAOSTAT 2014). In fact, Ethiopian goats are among the neglected animal genetic resources in agricultural research centers and development of breeding programs except limited experiences of FARM Africa, the Boer goat breeding program of Ethiopian Sheep and Goat Productivity Improvement Program and recently BecA-ILRI Hub. Hence, it seems rationale to investigate milk production potential elaborately in indigenous Ethiopian goats resulting in better productivity, which will contribute in the reduction of poverty in the country. The present study was, therefore, designed to achieve the following objectives.

· To investigate the milk yield of Begait goat under different management

· To evaluate the effects of different non-genetic factors on lactation performance.

Materials and methods

Description of the study area

This research work was conducted in Kafta humera district of western zone of Tigray National Regional State, Ethiopia. The study area is situated 1372 km away from the administrative center of Addis Ababa city to northwest direction. Geographically, it is located in between the latitudes 13^o14'-14^o27' N and longitudes 36^o27'-37 ^o32' E. The study district comprises kolla (lowland) and weinadega (midland) agro-climatic zones with an altitude raging from 560 to 1849 m above sea level. The annual precipitation in the lowlands and midlands is 448.8 and 1102.5 mm, respectively (EARO 2002) occurring between June and September. The mean minimum and maximum temperatures in the lowlands are 25 ^oC and 27.5 ^oC, respectively while the corresponding values in the midlands are 20 ^oC and 25 ^oC. The hottest months are between April and June with temperatures rising up to 42 ^oC. Detailed descriptions of the study area are indicated in previous works (Abraham et al 2017).

Data collection procedures

The daily milk yield and lactation length were recorded on station (Humera Begait animal species conservation, breeding and improvement ranch) and on farm (farmers’ houses) during October 2014 to March 2016. A total of 428 lactating does (120 on station and 308 on farm) were involved in the monitoring activity. The amount of milk suckled by kids could not measure due to financial constraints.

On station

Humera Begait animal species conservation, breeding and improvement ranch is situated in western Tigray region, at latitude of 14°06' N and longitude of 036°13' E with an altitude of 889 m above sea level. Animals were kept under semi intensive management system where herdsmen direct grazing of animals within the confines of the ranch and housed at night. Sheds were cleaned regularly and animals were given dips against ecto-parasites. Vaccination against anthrax, foot root, pasteurellosis, goat pox, PPR and Orf were provided every year. In wet season mineral salt supplementation was practiced. However, in dry season animals were supplemented with sorghum grain and its residues (chaff and stover), harvested hay and agro-industrial byproducts. Mating is natural and uncontrolled. Adult males move with females year-round and mated freely whenever on heat. During data collection kids had free access to their mothers for the first week after kidding. Starting from the second week until dams refused their kids to suck milk, complete hand milking was made twice a day in the morning and in the evening by enumerator recruited on the ranch. Kids were bottle fed with the collected milk according to their dams’ yield. Dams were allowed to nurse their kids in the mornings and in the evenings after milking for 20 minutes.

On farm

Flock monitoring was made in Adebay (14^o12' N, 36^o45' E and 660 m above sea level) and Rawyan (14^o17' N, 36 ^o37' E and 600 m above sea level) rural kebeles of Kafta humera district, where animals were managed extensively. Mineral salt supplement is offered in wet season. Study sites were selected based on ease of accessibility to the areas and farmers’ willingness. In addition, having pregnant does per household was used as selection criteria. Participant farmers were provided a calibrated cup for measuring daily milk yield and case books in to which they recorded data.

Before commencement of the study, number of previous lactations (parity) of pregnant does was taken by inquiring owners. All animals in the study flocks were identified with numbered plastic ear tags. For each doe, data on birth date, parity, birth season and daily milk yield were recorded. Milking was done once a day in the morning starting from 7^th day of kidding till the end of lactation length. The daily milk yield was then estimated for each doe, multiplying morning milk yield by 2. Kids were kept separated from their dams overnight (12 hours). Data were routinely collected by farmers under close supervision of the researcher. The researcher personally visited door to door to study sites.

Data analysis

Incomplete records were removed before analysis. Data were analyzed using the GLM procedure of SAS version of 9.2 (SAS 2008) software. The significance of fixed effects was tested using Tukey’s HSD test of the same software. The following linear model was used.

Y_ijk = m + a_i + b_j + c_k + ε _ijk. Where; Y_ijk = response variable; m = overall mean; a_i= fixed effects of the i^th management system (i = semi intensive, extensive); b_j = fixed effects of the j^th parity (j = 1, 2, 3, 4); c_k = fixed effects of the k^th birth season (k = wet, dry) and ε_ijk = random error.

Results and Discussion

Milk yield

The least squares means (±SE) of daily and lactation milk yields (kg) are shown in Table 1. The average milk yields obtained in the present study are higher than those reported by other researchers (Tesfaye et al 2000; Lemma et al 2003; Mohammed et al 2012) for different indigenous goats, while the obtained figures are in comparison with the result of Berhane and Eik (2006) for the same breed. However, Mestawet et al (2012) reported higher daily milk yields for indigenous Arsi-Bale and Somali goats when compared to the findings of this study. The variations in milk production performance among different goat breeds can be explained by differences in breed performance and management conditions (Mohammed et al 2012) as well as by udder size and milking methods (Högberg 2011) and milking frequency (Capote et al 1999; Salama et al 2003).

The present study showed that there were highly significant (p<0.001) differences in milk yields between goats under different management systems. The average daily and lactation milk yields of goats in semi intensive management were higher than that obtained in the village scavenging conditions (Table 1). These variations may be due to differences in feeding and other management practices. Berhane and Eik (2006) and El-Hassan and Abu Nikahaila (2010) found that milk yield of goats was significantly affected by supplementation. Besides, variation in milk yields between the managements is due to the difference in data taking for daily milking frequency in the management systems. The number of daily milking is of great importance in determining milk yields in dairy animals (Salama et al 2003). Reducing milking frequency from twice daily milking to once daily milking decreased milk yield from 7‒38% in dairy cows (Stelwagen and Knight 1997), 15‒48% in ewes (Negrao et al 2001) and 6‒35% in dairy goats (Capote et al 1999).

The effect of parity (lactation number) on daily and lactation milk yields shows a growing trend from first to fourth parity. The lowest milk yields were obtained in the first parity, whereas the highest recorded in the fourth parity, which is in agreement with several authors (Rabasco et al 1993; Hossain et al 2004; Hamed et al 2009). Milk yield increases with age because as the age of the animal increases, the hormonal status of the animal body, metabolic activity, secretary cells and nutrient intake which are used in milk synthesis increase too (Capuco et al 2001; Hansen et al 2006; Carnicella et al 2008). Besides, milk from younger goats tends to have a higher fat content than that from older goats (Park and Haenlein 2010). The seasons of birth also exerted significant effects on milk yields. Goats that kidded during the wet season had higher milk yields, whereas goats that kidded in the dry season had lower yields. The high amount of milk yield during the wet season was due to the effect of quantity and quality of feedstuffs provided by natural pasture and/or due to presumably benefitted nutritionally from leaf development by browse species. This is in good agreement with the findings of El-Hassan and Abu Nikahaila (2009), who confirmed that productivity of goats increase during the wet season.

Lactation length

The lactation length of Begait goat is averaged 104±1.22 days (Table 2). It is higher than the findings of other researchers (Lemma et al 2003; Tatek et al 2004; Mohamed et al 2012; Mestawet et al 2012) for other indigenous goats under different management. It is, however, lower than that reported by El-Hassan and Abu Nikahaila (2010) in Sudanese Nubian goats. Average lactation length of different breeds differed significantly (Güler et al 2007) may have been due to diet, environmental conditions, breed, litter size, parity and season of kidding (Mourad 2001; Crepaldi et al 1999). Findings of the present study revealed significant effects of management system, parity and birth season on lactation length. Semi intensively managed Begait goats had the longest lactation length, whereas extensively managed does had the shortest lactation length. It was observed that the lactation length of does became lower in the first parity. Does kidded in the dry season had the shortest lactation length, but those kidded during the wet season had the longest lactation length.

Conclusion

Overall, the results of the present study revealed that Beagit goats have good potentiality of milk yield and long lactation length indicating the breed even can be utilized in dairy farming. However, the effects of non-genetic factors such as management, parity and birth season were highly significant (p<0.001), which suggests that the influences of these factors need advance considerations.

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank all the farm households participated in the monitoring study for their all round support throughout the study period. We are also grateful to Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tigray region for their interest in the present study and allowing the animals maintained on Humera Beagait animal species conservation, breeding and improvement ranch to be used for this study. The support of all the ranch workers and Teklay Tekie during the data collection period is gratefully acknowledged.

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Received 1 October 2017; Accepted 17 November 2017; Published 1 December 2017

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