Early growth trend and performance of three Ethiopian goat ecotypes under smallholder management systems

The present study aimed to evaluate the early growth performance of three Ethiopian goat populations (Bati, Borana and Short-eared Somali) from birth to 180 days and the influence of non-genetic factors such as sex, gemellarity and parity as well as goat ecotype on body weight (BW) and average daily weight gain (ADWG). A total of 350 heads of breeding does (113 Bati, 137 Borana and 100 Short-eared Somali) were used, and the kids were monitored for 1 year at birth, 30, 90 and 180 days of age. A total of 125 household flocks (46 Bati, 48 Borana and 31 Short-eared Somali) were monitored. The birth BW of Bati (2.71 ± 0.04 kg; n = 139), Borana (2.36 ± 0.05 kg; n = 123) and Short-eared Somali (2.15 ± 0.08 kg; n = 46) remained significantly different ( p < 0.01) in all successive observations until 180 days (16.31 ± 0.02, 13.9 ± 0.22, 13.75 ± 0.36, respectively). In overall, the sex of kids, gemellarity and parity of doe factors influenced the kid BW and ADWG during the early growth period mainly until 90 days, and consistently in Bati goat ecotype. In consequence, higher ( p < 0.05) BW and ADWG were observed in males and singletons than in females and twins, respectively. In conclusion, our study confirms that non-genetic factors genetic affect these three Ethiopian goat ecotypes. The relative high BW of Bati goats suggest that this ecotype is profitable to improve growth performance using genetic selection.