Performance of Toggenburg dairy goats in smallholder production systems of the eastern highlands of Kenya

2009 ◽  
Vol 83 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 7-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.O. Ahuya ◽  
J.M.K. Ojango ◽  
R.O. Mosi ◽  
C.P. Peacock ◽  
A.M. Okeyo
Keyword(s):  
Production Systems ◽  
Dairy Goats ◽  
Eastern Highlands

Breeding dairy goats for disease resistance is profitable in smallholder production systems

2021 ◽  
Vol 197 ◽  
pp. 106337
Author(s):  
A.A. Amayi ◽  
T.O. Okeno ◽  
M.G. Gicheha ◽  
A.K. Kahi
Keyword(s):  
Disease Resistance ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Dairy Goats

Reasons for keeping dairy goats in Tanzania, and possible goals for a sustainable breeding program

2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. C. Nziku ◽  
G. C. Kifaro ◽  
L. O. Eik ◽  
T. Steine ◽  
T. Ådnøy
Keyword(s):  
Milk Yield ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Breeding Program ◽  
Dairy Goat ◽  
Dairy Goats ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Animal Identification ◽  
Breeding Goals ◽  
And Performance

This research aimed at describing reasons for keeping dairy goats in Tanzania, and possible goals for a sustainable breeding program. Three districts, each representing a unique dairy goat breed population, were selected for the study. The Saanen, Toggenburg and Norwegian were the main dairy goat breeds in Arumeru, Babati, and Mvomero districts, respectively. A total of 125 dairy goat farmers were interviewed. A holistic approach of both quantitative and qualitative research methods was used to study the perceptions of farmers. More milk yield, sale of breeding stock and manure were the highest ranked reasons for keeping dairy goats. The reasons were coherent to the production systems. The three most preferred traits for improvement were milk yield, adaptability and twinning ability. These preferences were absolutely important in the context of the referred production system. Selection of replacement stock, animal identification and performance recording were the main challenges emphasised by farmers. The present study views these challenges as a result of knowledge gaps in animal breeding that require solutions. Based on result findings it is suggested that the milk yield and survival traits should be the primary dairy goat breeding goals. Generally, there are possibilities for developing sustainable dairy goat breeding programs in the surveyed areas given relevant breeding goals are incorporated. The design of simple and manageable dairy goat breeding schemes is necessary.

scholarly journals On-FarmWelfare Assessment Protocol for Adult Dairy Goats in Intensive Production Systems

Animals ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 934-950 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Battini ◽  
George Stilwell ◽  
Ana Vieira ◽  
Sara Barbieri ◽  
Elisabetta Canali ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Production Systems ◽  
Dairy Goats ◽  
Assessment Protocol ◽  
Intensive Production

scholarly journals Factors Affecting Kenya Alpine Dairy Goat Milk Production in Nyeri Region

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mburu Monica ◽  
Mugendi Beatrice ◽  
Makhoka Anselimo ◽  
Muhoho Simon
Keyword(s):  
Milk Production ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Goat Milk ◽  
Feeding Practices ◽  
High Potential ◽  
Dairy Goat ◽  
Dairy Goats ◽  
Breeding Programmes ◽  
Semi Arid

<p>In Kenya use of exotic dairy goats in breeding programmes for smallholder production systems has become popular, but information on the milk production is scarce. A study was carried out to assess the milk yield of dairy goats reared in high potential and semi arid areas of Nyeri County. This involved 190 smallholder farmers rearing Alphine dairy goats in Nyeri County and registered with Dairy Goat association of Kenya (DGAK). Which formed 100% sampling of the population under study. The grade, feeding practices and age of the dairy goats were evaluated. The dairy goat average milk production was 1.90 litres per day, with the appendix grade in Kieni East giving the highest production of 2.69 liters per day while foundation grade in Mukurweini gave the lowest, 0.98 litres per day. The higher milk production in Kieni East, which is a semi arid area, was noted to be due to good feeding practices where 43% of the farmers used concentrates during milking and also 48% supplemented the feed with minerals. In the high potential area of Mukurweini none of the farmers used mineral supplements with only 5% using concentrates during milking. The age of the dam significantly affected the average milk production, with the onset of production being the age of 2.0 years, reaching the peak at the age of 6.5 years. Kieni East, gave the highest production of 4.2 litres at the age of 6 years. The results demonstrated that the low-input farming conditions affected the Alphine goats milk production.</p>

scholarly journals Animal-Based Indicators for On-Farm Welfare Assessment in Goats

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 3138
Author(s):  
Adrian Minnig ◽  
Romane Zufferey ◽  
Beat Thomann ◽  
Sibylle Zwygart ◽  
Nina Keil ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Production Systems ◽  
Body Condition Score ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Dairy Goats ◽  
Hair Coat ◽  
Welfare Indicators ◽  
Current State ◽  
Condition Score ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Full Text Screening

This review describes the current state of knowledge relating to scientific literature on welfare indicators for goats. Our aim was to provide an overview of animal-based indicators for on-farm welfare assessments. We performed a literature search and extracted 96 relevant articles by title, abstract, and full-text screening. Out of these articles, similar indicators were aggregated to result in a total of 32 welfare indicators, some of which were covered in multiple articles, others in only a single one. We discuss a set of three established assessment protocols containing these indicators, as well as all individual indicators which were covered in more than one article. As single indicators, we identified lameness, body condition score (BCS), qualitative behaviour assessment (QBA), and human–animal relationship (HAR) tests with substantial evidence for sufficient validity to assess welfare in goats. A multitude of indicators (e.g., hair coat condition) was studied less intensively but was successfully used for welfare assessments. For some indicators (e.g., oblivion, lying behaviour), we highlight the need for future research to further validate them or to optimise their use in on-farm welfare assessments. Moreover, further investigations need to include kids, bucks, and meat and fibre goats, as well as extensively kept goats as the literature predominantly focuses on dairy goats in intensive production systems.

scholarly journals Sensing solutions for improving the performance, health and wellbeing of small ruminants

2020 ◽  
Vol 87 (S1) ◽  
pp. 34-46
Author(s):  
Gerardo Caja ◽  
Andreia Castro-Costa ◽  
Ahmed A.K. Salama ◽  
Joan Oliver ◽  
Mario Baratta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Small Ruminant ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Small Ruminants ◽  
Dairy Goats ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Economic Barriers ◽  
Multiple Sensor ◽  
Large Animals ◽  
Research Initiatives

AbstractDiversity of production systems and specific socio-economic barriers are key reasons explaining why the implementation of new technologies in small ruminants, despite being needed and beneficial for farmers, is harder than in other livestock species. There are, however, helpful peculiarities where small ruminants are concerned: the compulsory use of electronic identification created a unique scenario in Europe in which all small ruminant breeding stock became searchable by appropriate sensing solutions, and the largest small ruminant population in the world is located in Asia, close to the areas producing new technologies. Notwithstanding, only a few research initiatives and literature reviews have addressed the development of new technologies in small ruminants. This Research Reflection focuses on small ruminants (with emphasis on dairy goats and sheep) and reviews in a non-exhaustive way the basic concepts, the currently available sensor solutions and the structure and elements needed for the implementation of sensor-based husbandry decision support. Finally, some examples of results obtained using several sensor solutions adapted from large animals or newly developed for small ruminants are discussed. Significant room for improvement is recognized and a large number of multiple-sensor solutions are expected to be developed in the relatively near future.

Expanding the contribution of dairy goats in efficient and sustainable production systems

2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (9) ◽  
pp. 1198 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. B. Liang ◽  
C. Devendra
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Goat Milk ◽  
Cow Milk ◽  
Dairy Goat ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Market Demand ◽  
Dairy Goats ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Sustainable Food Production

Goats contribute significantly to human nutrition, food security and income of resource-poor small farmers in Asia, Africa and beyond. Because of the high content of mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids in goat milk, it is beneficial for human health resulting in it being sold at premium prices of three to nine times the price of cow milk in countries like China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Goats play a significant role in farming systems that directly impact on the capacity of rural farmers striving for the objective of sustainable food production systems. Increasing sustainable food production, particularly of animal proteins, presents major challenges to these small farms in the face of massive demands that are driven by rapid growth of human populations and increased availability of disposable income. In the last two decades, expanding market demand for goat milk has resulted in the establishment of commercial dairy goat farms in several newly developed South-east Asian countries. Major challenges to expanding production exist, and include ways to utilise the well-adapted features inherent in goats and their potential production to benefit the small and commercial farmers alike. Increasing the knowledge base is a priority to stimulate improved production systems and, increased the income of dairy goat farmers and other people involved in the industry. The recent establishment of the Asian-Australasian Dairy Goat Network supported jointly by FAO and Universiti Putra Malaysia, and national programs of participating countries, are committed to address these objectives and facilitate much-needed improvements to sustain dairy goat production systems in Asia and beyond.

scholarly journals Understanding seasonal weight loss tolerance in dairy goats: a transcriptomics approach

BMC Genomics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
José Ricardo Parreira ◽  
Lorenzo Enrique Hernández-Castellano ◽  
Anastasio Argüello ◽  
Juan Capote ◽  
Noemí Castro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Weight Loss ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Dairy Goat ◽  
Feed Restriction ◽  
Dairy Goats ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Tropical Regions ◽  
Ruminant Species ◽  
Restricted Group ◽  
Dry Seasons

Abstract Background Seasonal weight loss (SWL) is a very important limitation to the production of ruminants in the Mediterranean and Tropical regions. In these areas, long dry seasons lead to poor pastures with low nutritional value. During the dry season, ruminants, particularly those raised in extensive production systems, lose around 30% of their body weight. Seasonal weight loss has important consequences on animal productive performance and health. In this study, RNA sequencing was used to characterize feed restriction effects in dairy goat of 2 breeds with different SWL tolerance: Majorera (tolerant) and Palmera (susceptible). Nine Majorera and ten Palmera goats were randomly distributed in a control and a restricted group: Majorera Control (adequately fed; MC; n = 4), Palmera Control (adequately fed; PC; n = 6), Majorera Restricted (feed restricted; ME; n = 5) and Palmera Restricted (feed restricted; PE; n = 4). On day 22 of the trial, mammary gland biopsies were collected for transcriptomics analysis. Results From these samples, 24,260 unique transcripts were identified. From those, 82 transcripts were differentially expressed between MC and ME, 99 between PC and PE, twelve between both control groups and twenty-nine between both restricted groups. Conclusions Feed restriction affected several biochemical pathways in both breeds such as: carbohydrate and lipid transport; intracellular trafficking, RNA processing and signal transduction. This research also highlights the importance or involvement of the genes in tolerance (ENPP1, S-LZ, MT2A and GPNB) and susceptibility (GPD1, CTPS1, ELOVL6 and NR4A1) to SWL with respectively higher expression in the Majorera restriced group and the Palmera restricted group in comparison to the control groups. In addition, results from the study may be extrapolated to other dairy ruminant species.

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