Abstract
Raising goats has been little addressed in research studies
and experiments in Benin. This breeding has not received any attention in the
context of improving its production in Borgou. Nevertheless it is one of the
few sectors where the workforce is rising steadily, despite the traditional
lines that remain. So we must think of a selection of dwarf goats through an
understanding of phenotypic characteristics and animal performance. The purpose
of this study is to characterize the dwarf goat in the town of Parakou on the
basis of the phenotype and production parameters. Data were collected at the
start of a survey form. Comparisons between means were made in pairs by the t
test. Following this study, investigations have revealed a variety of coat
color in goats. Among these colors, the pie-black and black are the most
dominant with respective frequencies of 24.6% and 21.3%. Almost all goats have
horns (95.22%) and only a minority does not have one (4.07%). Among the goats
identified in this study, almost all have neither beards nor pendants.
Encountered goats have an average birth weight of 2.09 kg for females and 2.05
for males. The weight of males was 8.81 kg and that of females, 8.90 kg at 225
days. The goats were mostly rank calving 1 and 2 with respective frequencies of
28.1 and 25.8%. The litter size increases with the rank of calving (P ? 0.001).
The number of stillbirths increased with the rank of calving (P ? 0.001). In
herds of goats surveyed the frequencies of goats whose scope is twofold were
the most encountered (56.2%), followed by simple litters (32.6%).
Keywords: Goat, phenotype, measurement, weight,
reproductive performance, Benin
Introduction
générale
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