Authors : Sezen Ocak , Okan Guney , Hasan Onder and Nazan Darcan
Abstract: This study was carried out at the Dairy Goat Research farm of the Faculty of Agriculture of Cukurova University. Four single-born female, nine twin-born female, five single-born male and sixteen twin-born male of Cukurova Saanen kids were constituted the material of this study. The effects of birth type and sex on some growth parameters of Cukurova Saanen kids were investigated. Kids were weaned at 60 days of age. Weaning Weight (WW), Weight Gains for each month (WG) and Live Weights (LW) of kids were recorded at birth, 1ts, 2nd, 3rd, 4 and 5th months of age. Body measurement such as; Height At Withers (HAW), Body Length (BL), Chest Depth (CD), Heart Girth (HG), Height of Sacrum (HS) and Width Through Hip Joints (WTHJ) were measured at 1st, 2nd,3 rd and 4 months of age. WG1 and WG5 were found significant (p<0.05). WW was also statistically significant by permutation test (p<0.05). HAW3, HAW4, BL4, HS4, HG2, CD2 and CD4 were found statistically significant for birth type (p<0.05). The results of the study indicated that single born kids showed faster growth rate than twin born kids and males than females. The highest growth rate was determined in all groups between first and second months. Single born female kids were more affected by weaning shock in terms of LW and WTHJ.
Sezen Ocak , Okan Guney , Hasan Onder and Nazan Darcan , 2006. Growth and Development Performances of Cukurova Saanen Kids under Tropical Climate Conditions. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 5: 985-989.