Milk yield, milk composition and kid growth in Boer and East African Goats in Malawi
Milk yield and milk composition of local (LL) and Boer (BB) goats, and their crosses (BL) were estimated over 2 kidding seasons for 12 weeks of lactation using 3 techniques, i.e. kid-suckling, hand-milking and oxytocin + hand-milking. The average daily gain (ADG) and milk conversion of kids were also determined. The total milk yield was 75.7±2.0 kg. Milk yield in the dry and wet seasons was 84.6±3.1and 66.8 ± 2.6 kg, respectively (P<0.001). Estimates of milk yield by suckling and oxytocin techniques were similar. Hand milking produced 29.9% less milk than the other two techniques (P<0.001). The LL produced 70.6±2.5, BL 81.6±2.3 and BB 75.0±3.8 kg milk (P<0.001). Milk yield increased by 14kg/additional kid suckled, and by 17.6 and 7.4 kg between the first and the second and between the second and the third lactations, respectively. Mean concentrations of total solids (TS), fat and protein were 17.4, 6.8 and 4.5%, respectively. Season, technique of milk yield estimation and genotype affected milk composition. TS (%) decreased by 0.56/kid; increased by 0.60 and 0.12 between the first and the second, and between the second and the third lactations, respectively. Fat (%) decreased by 0.76/kid and increased by 0.36/lactation. The ADG from birth to 12 weeks of age was 87.9±3.2 g. Season of kidding had a significant effect on this trait. ADG decreased by 8.9g/kid and increased by 19.9g/lactation. Milk conversion was 15.6 kg milk/kg live-weight gain, and was affected by season, milking technique and genotype.
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Conference Paper biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1992
|
| Subjects: | goats, malawi, milk yield, kids, growth, weight gain, |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/70834 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|