The effects of doe weight, litter size and sex on kids’ birth weight of three goat breeds under a sedentary production system

S K Al-Khamaiseh, A G Al-Sawalqa and R M Al-Atiyat

Department of Animal Production, Mutah University, Mutah 60710, Karak, Jordan
ratiyat@mutah.edu.jo     raedatiyat@gmail.com

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of doe weight, litter size, and kid sex on kids' birth weights of three breeds reared in a sedentary production system. Sixty-three kids each of Black Bedouin, Damascus and F1 crossbreds were reared under identical conditions in a sedentary system. Data for each dam and kids were recorded, including sex, litter size (single or multiple) and body weights of all does and kids. In addition, does’ body weights were recorded immediately after kidding. Kids’ body weight was highly affected by breed, litter size, and doe weight. On the other hand, the kids’ body weight was affected differently within each breed. Sex had an influence on the birth weight of F1 crossbred kids and Damascus goats. Male and female birth weights of F1 crossbreds were heavier than those of the Black Bedouin breed. Birth weight (single birth) of F1 crossbreds was affected by litter size, with the highest values in comparison with multiple and triplet births. As was expected, kids’ birth weights in the three breeds were affected by doe weight. Furthermore, interaction effects between sex, litter size and doe weight were not significant in the three breeds. In conclusion, the body weight of does should be given full attention in order to realize positive effects on the birth weights of kids of the three breeds reared under the sedentary production system.

Keywords: birth type, mother weight, litter weight, production system

Introduction

The current situation for sustainable goat farming in developing countries is achieved by integrating goats into intensive (sedentary) or semi-intensive farming systems. The raising of goats in each system is a valuable and profitable aspect to increase farm economics, improve health status, and maintain a diversity of breeds. Worldwide, goats of 570 known breeds produce milk, meat, and fiber (Galal 2005). In Jordan, on the other hand, goats of five breeds–Mountain Black, Dhaiwi, Black Bedouin, Desert and Damascus–were reported (Al-Atiyat et al 2015) which produce mainly milk and meat in three production systems within the predominant geographical areas. The three well-known production systems of goats in Jordan are sedentary (intensive), transhumant (semi-intensive) and nomadic (extensive) (Al-Tamimi et al 2013; Al-Atiyat 2014). The sedentary system is preferred by goat farmers raising the Damascus breed as a dual-purpose breed around town and countryside (Al-Atiyat 2016). On the other hand, Dhaiwi or Black Bedouin as a meat-type breed is reared in the transhumant system under harsher desert conditions. Black Bedouin has been utilized along with the Damascus goat in various pure-breeding and crossbreeding programs in many regions of Jordan, particularly in the southern region (Al-Atiyat 2016). The first step taken in the breeding program was genetic evaluation and characterization of different traits of economic importance in Damascus, Black Bedouin and derivative F1 crossbreds. (The crossbred goats, derived mainly from Damascus and Black Bedouin, are usually labeled as F1 crossbred.) It is common knowledge that rapid genetic improvement can be achieved by planning crossbreeding, which is one of the major forces in driving goat breeding in developing countries (Abdullah et al 2015).

In Jordan, where the climate is suitable for goat rearing, the national population of goats is currently 1.2 million, contributing to about 9.4% and 21.4 % of the total milk and red meat production, respectively (MA 2016). The Black Bedouin goat is distributed in many parts of Jordan. It is a hardy animal, well adapted to the harsh environmental conditions of the region. The Damascus goat is highly productive for both milk and meat in terms of multiple births, as compared to Mountain Black goat. Its population in Jordan is 38,000 (MA 2016) and it is reared by farmers for meat, milk, skin, and hair production, and as a beauty animal (Khaled and Harb 1984; Zaitoun et al 2004). Finally, the F1 crossbred is produced mainly by the mating of Damascus male and Mountain Black female, and its population is estimated at up to 62,000 heads (MA 2016).

The sedentary or intensive production system provides the highest meat yield. In this regard, meat-producing animals should ideally possess traits of economic importance, such as a high correlation between weight at birth and weaning, with growth rate and market weight (Salah et al 1989). Birth weight is affected by placenta size, so balanced rations and good nutrient management practices under the intensive system are very important, from early gestation to the development of the placenta, in order to achieve normal size with adequate transfer of nutrients to the fetuses (Mellado et al 2011; Alkass et al 2013). Good feeding management practices at mid to late gestation are necessary to raise a doe’s body weight; the body condition score should not exceed four out of five–a condition that can lead to increased incidence of pregnancy toxemia, milk fever, and dystocia (Mellado et al 2011; Alkass et al 2013).

The present study was conducted to determine the potential effects of doe weights, litter sizes, and kid sex on the birth weights of Black Bedouin, Damascus and F1 crossbred goat kids reared in the sedentary production system.

Materials and methods

The study was conducted in the animal field of the Agriculture Research Station at the Mutah University in Jordan. The station is located in the southern part of Jordan at an altitude of 960 m above sea level. All kids were born from November to December (fall) 2016. The sample included 63 kids each of Black Bedouin, Damascus, and F1 crossbred kids, making a total of 189 kids, including female and male kids, all of which were ear-tagged at one day of age. The kids were reared under an intensive farming system in the animal farm of the Agricultural Research Station at Mutah University in Karak City, Jordan. Early birth weights (kg) of newborn kids were recorded following complete drying of the body within six hours of birth. Body weights for each doe were also recorded immediately after kidding. In addition, all data for each doe were recorded, including sex, and litter size (single or twin, triplets). The general management practice applied to those breeds was the sedentary production system, whereby each breed is kept in a separated barn, and fed according to NRC requirements for goat cultivation (NRC 1981). The feed was composed of barley (70%), soya bean meal (15%) and wheat barn (15%). In addition, alfalfa hay was fed ad libitum. All does were naturally mated with selected bucks during the summer season, and they were kidding by the autumn season of 2016. Data were analyzed using the General Linear Model procedures with Statistical Analysis System software (SAS 2008; ver 9.1.3). Where differences among breeds were deemed significant, the means were compared using the LSD test. The statistical significance test was assessed at p<0.05. Experiment procedures performed in the present trial were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of Mutah University, Jordan.

Results and Discussion

Factors affecting birth weight

The average values for kids’ birth weights and doe weights of Black Bedouin, Damascus and F1 crossbreds showed that the Damascus breed was the heaviest breed (Table 1). Statistical analysis demonstrated a highly significant relationship (P<0.0001) between breed and litter size (Table 1). In addition, doe weight was also found to be highly significant for comparisons between breeds (Table 2). Other factors, such as sex, and all other statistical interactions, were not found to be of significance.

Significant effects were noted for birth weight in F1 crossbreds and Damascus goat kids as a result of kid sex, while the sex effect was not significant in the Black Bedouin breed. The litter size had a significant effect on birth weight in F1 crossbreds kids only (Table 3). Male and female Damascus goats were heavier than those of F1 crossbred goats (Table 4). In general, males and females of F1 crossbreds were in turn heavier than those of the Black Bedouin. These results might be explained as a result of the heterosis effect (Al-Atiyat 2016; Meza-Herrera et al 2019). It is common knowledge that male kids tend to be born heavier than females, and that single kids are born heavier than twin kids. However, the interaction effects between the factors of kid sex, litter size, and doe weight were not significant in the three studied breeds (Table 3). In other words, there were no significant interaction effects to be considered affecting the birth weight of kids, from the viewpoint of kid sex or litter size (single, twin or triplets).

On the other hand, for F1 crossbreds, the birth weight of kids was significantly affected by litter size, when considering the major differences found between single-birth types with triplet types (Table 5). A similar finding was previously reported by Tabbaa et al (2005). The birth weight was significantly affected by the litter size of Damascus, F1 crossbred and Black Bedouin breeds. Furthermore, it was previously reported that birth weights for kids born as twins, triplets and quadruplets were 92%, 87% and 83%, respectively, compared to single-born kids; litter size accounted for 81% of the variation in litter weight regardless of breed (Mellado et al 2011). The lower birth weight of twins may be attributed to limitations within the uterine environment (Sinha and Sahni 1983; Faiz et al 1994). It is relevant to mention that there were, for example, cases of quadruplet kids born in the same litter among the Damascus breed in this herd. Tatar et al (2019) reported similar values of birth weight related to litter size in the Damascus breed.

Of interest, it was noted that kids’ birth weight was significantly affected by doe weight in the three breeds (Table 6). Upon closer examination, the Black Bedouin goat breed doe’s weight had a significant effect on the birth weights of kids, by which a heavier doe (dam) tended to yield more widely ranging differences in kid weight when compared to the lightest does (Class 1) (Figure 1). Similarly, kids of the F1 crossbred born to heavy dams were heavier than those born to lighter weight dams, whereas those born to middle weight dams had intermediate birth weights, while reflecting minimal differences from kids born to heavy or lightweight dams (Figure 1). Finally, the higher doe weight classes showed significant differences in kids’ birth weights (Figure 1). These result are in agreement with the findings of Tamilnadu (2011) and Al-Shaikh and Mogawer (2001). In contrast, Kugonza et al (2014) reported that kids of the big-sized doe of Mubende (Uganda) were not heavier than those of small-sized does at birth.

Finally, the results of correlated traits (not presented) in each breed shown that kids’ birth weight was significantly and negatively correlated (-0.50; P<0.001) with kids’ litter size only for F1 crossbreds. In the same breed, litter size was significant and negatively correlated (-0.17; P<0.05) with kids’ birth weight. Furthermore, does’ weights were also significantly correlated with litter size (0.28; P<0.05) and birth weight (0.22; P<0.05) for the Black Bedouin. These estimates are generally within the range of values reported for other breeds worldwide (Meza-Herreraa et al 2019; Tatar et al 2019; Adhianto et al 2019). With regards to the Damascus goat, the results were unexpected, given the previously assumed hypothesis of a lack of such correlations. Correspondingly, it might be concluded that, regardless of the breed, there were low to moderately significant correlations between litter size, birth weight and sex.

Figure 1. Comparison of significance (P<0.001) for does’ body weight classes on birth weights of Black Bedouin, F1-crossbred and Damascus kids

Conclusion

• There are significant differences among breeds as well as within breeds, due to dam weights, regarding the birth weight of the three breeds studied.
  
  
• A kid’s sex has a significant influence on birth weight among the Damascus and F1 crossbred only; of note, both males and females F1 crossbred kids were heavier than those of the Damascus goat.
  
  
• Birth weights of F1 crossbred kids were significantly affected by litter size, for which major differences were identified between single and triplet types.
  
  
• Interaction effects between sex, litter size and doe weight factors were not significant among the three breeds. Finally, a strong correlation between doe weight and kid weight was reported.
  
  
• It is recommended that farmers give sufficient attention to the doe/dams’ weights and litter sizes for producing kids with higher body weights under the sedentary production system.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Dr. Sa’ad Al-Shikheely for his collaboration in the establishment of goat herds and formation of F1 crossbreeding goat herd at Mutah University. The authors are also thankful to the Animal Science Department at Mutah University for facilitating the logistical work and for their financial support of this project.

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