Reproduction and Milk Production Performance of Saanen Dairy Goat in Southern Togo (West Africa)
Reproduction and Milk Production Performance of Saanen Dairy Goat in Southern Togo (West Africa)
Elie Brigitte Mawussi1*, Arnaud Koffi Assah2, Essozimna Abalo Kulo1
ABSTRACT
Milk and dairy products consumption increase in Togo due to gradual change in diet and demand of an ever-expanding population. However, local dairy production, exclusively cow’s dairy, cannot cover the needs of the country which do the powdered milk importation. To diversify dairy production, an experimental breeding of Saanen dairy goat imported from Belgium was undertaken in southern Togo early year 2020. This study evaluates reproduction and milk production performance of Saanen dairy goat raised in southern Togo. The animals are raised in permanent stable and fed with local fodders. They are subjected to veterinary care against trypanosomiasis and parasites. The mineral supplement was provided by the lick stone. Water was constantly served to the animals. The kids are fed with powdered milk replacing their mother’s milk until weaning to avoid the Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis Virus. They are fed with local fodders after weaning. Were collected through regular controls: litter size, birth weight, type of kidding (single or twin), mother’s parity, age at first kidding, interval between kidding, milk yield and lactation length. The results reveal that litter size ranged from 1 to 2 with an average of 1.37 for primiparous against 1.50 and 1.62 for multiparous. The birth weight depended to sex, parity and type of kidding and ranged from 2.55 to 3.04 kg. The age at first kidding was 450 days while the interval between births ranged from 360 to 720 days. Lactation length ranged from 157.63 to 214.41 days for milk daily production of 1.55 to 1.98 liter/goat. The study reveals Saanen dairy goat adaptation to local conditions of southern Togo.
Keywords | Togo, Saanen dairy goat, Adaptation, Reproduction, Milk production, Performance
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