Abstract
This study was conducted to study the morphological characteristics of indigenous goats breed under farmer’s management condition in Ancher and Gemechis districts, West Hararghe Zone, Eastern Ethiopia. The most frequently observed coat color pattern of goat was (60.8%) plain, (9.1%) spotted and (30.1%) were patchy coat color and coat color type in the study area was brown (36.8%) followed by white (24.7%). Heart girth had consistently the highest correlation coefficient (0.80), (0.76), (0.90) with body weight of intact male, female and castrated male goat respectively in both study districts. The mean of body weight, body length, chest girth, wither height, chest width, pelvic width, face length, horn length, rump length, ear length intact male are 38.1±0.7, 65.2±0.63, 74.0±0.70, 69.0±0.48, 15.0±0.12, 15.±0.14, 19.8±0.18, 16.0±0.56, 16.0±0.23, 14.4±0.14, respectively. The corresponding values for the female goat were 32.0±0.22, 62.0±0.20, 70.0±0.22, 64.7±0.15, 14.2±0.04, 13.8±0.04, 19.0±0.06, 12.0±0.23, 15.0±0.07, 14.1±0.04, respectively. The mean of body weight, body length, chest girth, wither height, chest width, pelvic width, face length, horn length, rump length, ear length castrated male are 44.4±0.42, 69.6±0.37, 78.9±0.42, 72.9±0.29, 15.1±0.07, 16.4±0.08, 20.5±0.12, 18.1±0.44, 15.8±0.14, 14.7±0.08, respectively. The body weight of castrated male goat was higher than the intact male and female goat in both districts. As conclusion castrated male goat has potential for improving income and to increase economy of smallholder farmers in the study areas as well as in the surrounding areas.
Highlights
Agriculture in Ethiopia is the backbone of the country's economy and livestock is an integral part of agriculture
District effect: in this current study body weight and some of the linear body measurements were significantly affected by the district (P0.05)
Correlation between body weight and linear body measurements for female was recorded for body weight and chest girth (r=0.76) followed by between body weight and body length (r=0.75), between body weight and wither height (r=0.63) and between body weight and pelvic width (r=0.62)
Summary
Agriculture in Ethiopia is the backbone of the country's economy and livestock is an integral part of agriculture. Ethiopia have large livestock population; comprising 59.5 million cattle, 30.70 million sheep, 30.20 million goats, 8.44 million donkeys, 2.16 million horses, 1.21 million camels, 0.41 million mules and 56.53 million poultry [11] and endowed with diverse and abundance livestock species [14]. Livestock plays an important role in providing export commodities, such as live animals, hides and skins to earn foreign exchanges to the country [11]. Populations of livestock of the same species, especially if they are geographically isolated and recognized by ethnic owners as being distinct from others around them, are traditionally recognized/considered as distinct eco-types or breeds [29]. The genetic improvement of livestock involves identification of the breeds or strains of livestock reared in the country and the type of environment in which they are reared, this involves the description of the breed, successful livestock improvement programs
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