Genetic study on growth efficiency in Sirohi goats under field condition

Abstract

A study was conducted to estimate the pre- and post-weaning growth efficiency (GE) in 6748 Sirohi goats born during 2005 to 2017 under field conditions. The overall least-squares mean for pre-weaning (0-3M) and post-weaning (3-12M) growth efficiencies were 4.31±0.09 and 1.10±0.031 Kg per kg, respectively. Sire, type of birth, sex of kid and cluster had highly significant (P≤0.01) effect on both pre and post-weaning relative growth efficiencies whereas year of birth, season of birth and parity had highly significant effect (P≤0.01) only on pre-weaning growth efficiency. Heritability estimates for pre- and post-weaning growth efficiencies were 0.53±0.06 and 0.44±0.06, respectively. Genetic and phenotypic correlation between two traits was negative.