Abstract
The study was designed to offer information on phenotype, reproductive and productive features of Maasai goats for amelioration in breeding programs utilizing these animals. Live measurements and qualitative traits were collected from 75 bucks and 165 does. A detailed survey was used to acquire information on reproductive and productive traits. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and General Linear Model procedures for age and sex as main effects. The results revealed that body weight, heart girth, chest depth, rump width, head length, head width and horn length differed (p < 0.05) among age groups. Body weight increased from young to old age and ranged from 25.83 kg to 30.34 kg. Body length, heart girth, head length, head width and cannon bone length were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in bucks than does. Plain white was the foremost coat color manifested. Nearly, 76% of bucks and 78.2% of does had straight short hairs. Beards were in 80% of bucks and 9.1% of does. All goats had short and erect ears; whereas, more than 88% had horns, 48% of the horns were curved, 33.1% lateral and 18.1% straight. Almost 76% and 83.6% of the horns in bucks and does, respectively, were pointing backward. In both sexes, facial profile was mainly concave, back profile was straight and wattles were absent. Twinning rate, age at sexual maturity, age at first kidding, kidding interval and lactation length were averaged at 8.7%, 11 months, 16.7 months, 7.7 months and 82.3 days; whereas, pre weaning kid survival rate was 77.1% and 79.9% for dry and rainy season, respectively. The strain was comparatively similar to most African indigenous goat populations. Thus, the strain can be utilized through selection for the traits preferred for the arid and semi-arid tropics.
Highlights
Small ruminants goats are one of the abundant assets and economical sources of animal protein that can be utilized to contribute to food security and income generation to the poor rural households in developing countries where poverty is a prevalent phenomenon
Goat meat accounts for about 14% of the total red meat supply from ruminants in the country (Michael et al, 2018), which is low compared to the total red meat supply from ruminants in Ethiopia (16.8%) (Ameha, 2008) and Nigeria (25%) (Moela, 2014)
Body weight increased from young to old age and ranged from 25.83 kg to 30.34 kg for goats aged below two years and above three years, respectively
Summary
Small ruminants goats are one of the abundant assets and economical sources of animal protein that can be utilized to contribute to food security and income generation to the poor rural households in developing countries where poverty is a prevalent phenomenon. In Tanzania, the national goat population is mainly composed of indigenous strains of goats which are well adapted to the arid and semi-arid tropical conditions (Njombe & Msanga, 2008) Their superior adaptation to the tropical environment is contributed by their small body size, large ratio of the surface area relative to body weight, restricted subcutaneous fat deposition, selective browsing habit and efficient digestive system (Sherton, 1978; Silanikove, 2000). Indigenous goats are resistant to manifold diseases infecting other animals in these areas (Sherton, 1978) Despite their superior adaptation to the local climatic conditions, most of the indigenous goats are seemed to have low productivity and their contribution to the national economy is below the potential. The average annual meat consumption in the country are estimated at 9.6 kg per capita, which is lower than the average annual meat consumption of Uganda (11 kg per capita), Kenya (16.7 kg per capita), USA (124 kg per capita) and the global average annual meat consumption (38 kg per capita) (FAO, 2013; Tilahun et al, 2019)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
