O. R. Madibela
Sebele Station, Department of Agricultural Research, P/Bag 0033, Gaborone, Botswana
ABSTRACT
Two trials were carried out to investigate placental mass of Tswana goats kidding at two different periods during the dry season. Treatments groups with similar weights in Trial 1 were: Supplementing throughout the trial (SS I), no supplementation at all (NN I), supplementing during the first 103 days of gestation (SN I) and no supplementation during the first 103 days and feed offered thereafter (NS I). In Trial 2 the treatment were similar to those of Trial 1 except that crossover between SN and NS occurred at day 145 of gestation. In Trial 1 there was treatment and dam parturition weight (DPW) effect on total birth weight/doe (TBW). This was not the case with Trial 2. Placental mass (PM) in Trial 1 was neither affected by treatment or DPW while in Trial 2 treatment affected PM. TBW was correlated with DPW in Trial 1 while in Trial 2 correlation was moderate. PM tended to be correlated to DPW in Trial 2 but was significantly correlated with TBW and DPW in Trial 2. Trial 1 suggests that supplementing pregnant does with the aim of improving PM and TBW should start only after day 100 of gestation. In Trial 2, veld condition was responsible for improving TBW and supplementation was not necessary. It is concluded that a model of a grazing goat to assess the influence of placental mass on birth weight is flawed because of the difficulty to control forage intake of animals.
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How to cite this article
O. R. Madibela, 2004. Placental Mass of Grazing Tswana Goats Kidding at Two Different Periods During the Dry Season. Journal of Biological Sciences, 4: 740-743.
DOI: 10.3923/jbs.2004.740.743
URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=jbs.2004.740.743
DOI: 10.3923/jbs.2004.740.743
URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=jbs.2004.740.743
REFERENCES
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