Growth of goats under village conditions in Rajasthan

Body weight data on 770 nondescript and graded Sirohi goats born between 1992-93, belonging to 300 farmers and distributed over 14 locations in Bhilwara district of Rajasthan were analysed. The mean body weight at 3, 32, 60, 95, 123, 151 and 178 days of age were 2.94+/-0.32, 5.29+/-0.60, 6.47+/-0.87, 10.44+/-1.19, 12.85+/-1.51, 14.95+/-2.07 and 15.33+/-3.08 kg respectively. Effect of sex, type of birth, month and year of birth, herd size of large and small animals maintained by the goat owners, were highly significant. The land holding of the farmer, however, had no effect on the growth of the kids. Male kids were heavier than female, and single than twins or triplets. Kids born in 1993 showed more body weight compared to those in 1992 and those born between February to May were lighter than those in September to January. The kids born in September and October were the heaviest. The land holding of the goat owners in general did not have any effect on the growth of the kids except at third month of age. The goat owners who did not rear any large animal or those maintaining a herd of large animals between 3-5 reared their goats significantly better than those keeping a herd of more than 6 large animals. The lowest body weights were recorded when the flock size was less than 3 small animals and the highest in the farmer group maintaining animals ranging from 3 to 5 small animals. The body weights decreased with increasing flock size up to 20 animals.