Effect of some non-genetic factors on the growth of kids of the brown short-haired breed

Abstract

The evaluation of effects of some non-genetic factors (sex, litter size, age of dams and year of study) on the growth of 85 kids of the Brown Short-haired breed was carried out in a period of two successive years. The analysis of the growth of all kids revealed that in the time interval from birth to Day 90 of age daily gain and final body weight were 181.3 g and 19.52 kg, respectively. As far as the effect of sex was concerned, the intensity of growth was significantly higher in males than in females (P ≤ 0.01) in all periods under study. From birth to Day 90, the respective daily gains of males and females were 200.6 g and 162.0 g. As far as the litter size was concerned, it was found out that daily gains of singles and triplets were higher than those of twins and that the differences between single kids and twins were significant (P ≤ 0.01) in all periods under study. Specifically, daily gains of single kids, twins and triplets in the time interval from birth to Day 90 were 201.4 g; 167.1 g and 175.6 g, respectively. The analysis of the effect of age of dams on daily gains revealed significant effects of this factor on daily gains in the time intervals of Day 30 – Day 60; Day 60 – Day 90; Day 30 – Day 90 and from birth to Day 90 (P ≤ 0.05). With the exception of the period from birth to Day 30, the highest daily gains were recorded in kids of four-years-old dams in all other periods under study. In both years of study, all kids were reared under nearly identical conditions but the effect of year of study on the growth was significant.