Genetic and non-genetic factors influencing the performance of the West African Dwarf (WAD) goat kept at the Kintampo Go
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Genetic and non-genetic factors influencing the performance of the West African Dwarf (WAD) goat kept at the Kintampo Goat Breeding Station of Ghana S. A. Ofori 1 & J. K. Hagan 1 Received: 12 April 2019 / Accepted: 22 April 2020 # Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract A study was conducted to analyze the effect of genetic and non-genetic factors influencing the growth performance of the West African Dwarf goat. Breed records of 836 kids born by 259 does, and 8 bucks from 2011 to 2017 at the station were used. Growth performance traits studied were birth weight, weaning weight, 6-month body weight, 9-month body weight, yearling weight, and pre-weaning and post-weaning growth rates. The fixed effects of sex of kid (male or female), season of kidding (major, minor, and dry), year of kidding (2011–2017), and type of birth (single, twins, or triplets) on growth performance were determined. Genetic parameters such as heritability and correlations among the traits were also estimated. The non-genetic data (fixed factors) obtained were analyzed using the general linear model procedures of GenStat (Discovery Edition 12). Heritability estimates obtained for the growth traits were 0.45 ± 0.15, 0.57 ± 0.29, 0.04 ± 0.05, 0.74 ± 0.59, 0.49 ± 0.35, 0.55 ± 0.39, and 0.54 ± 0.36, respectively, an indication of high genetic variation existing among the traits (with the exception of 6-month body weight). This could be harnessed and utilized for genetic improvement within the flock. The phenotypic correlation coefficients among the traits ranged from low to high (0.04–0.95), indicating that there is a linear relationship among body traits of the goats which may be caused by either genetic or environmental factors of correlation. The genetic correlations were also medium to high (0.30– 0.96). The general implications are that selection for any of these growth traits in a breed improvement programme would have a considerable simultaneous positive impact on each other. The overall birth weight, weaning weight, 6-month body weight, 9month body weight, yearling weight, and pre- and post-weaning growth rates obtained were 1.48 kg, 5.35 kg, 6.56 kg, 8.30 kg, 10.00 kg, 32.26 g/day, and 19.39 g/day, respectively. These growth performances were found to be significantly influenced by the non-genetic factors studied. There is therefore the need to factor these in future breed improvement programmes to ensure their success. Keywords Heritability . Phenotypic correlation . Genetic correlation . Genetic variation . Genetic improvement
Introduction It is reported that Africa held approximately 35% of the world’s goat population as at 2012, with the species being the most abundant production livestock species on the continent (FAO 2014). Goats play critical roles in supporting families in most parts of rural Africa, including contribution to nutrition and food security, employment for income
* J. K. Hagan [email protected] 1
Department of Animal Science, School of Agriculture, College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, Universit
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