Investigation of relationships between placental characteristics and kid birth weight in goats

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the relationships among the kid birth weight, the placental, and cotyledon traits in Saanen goats. The effect of parity, birth type, and birth weight (BIRWT), on placental and cotyledon characteristics, were analyzed by the general linear model. Significant differences for birth type occurred on cotyledon length (CL) and cotyledon depth (CDEP). The means for cotyledon width (CWID) and cotyledon depth (CDEP) were 21.52 and 0.361 mm, respectively. The general means of total cotyledon surface area (TCSA), cotyledon number (CN), and cotyledon weight (CWE) were 67.27 cm$^{2}$, 66.76 unit, and 153.51 g, respectively. There was negative correlation among placental weight (PW) and each of the cotyledon density (CD) (r = -0.321, p < 0.01), placental activity (PA), and cotyledon activity (CA) (r = -0.630, p < 0.01). The relationship among total cotyledon number (TCN), cotyledon weight (CWE), and total cotyledon surface area (TCSA) were significantly and negatively correlated (p < 0.01). It has been found that there was a significant and negative relationship between cotyledon density (CD) and cotyledon width (CWID). There was a positive relationship between cotyledon length (CL) and cotyledon width (CWID) (p < 0.01). Finally, it may enhance to conduct of further nutrition studies examining the relationship between gestation and total cotyledon surface area (TCSA).