Effects of Male Goat Pheromones on Feeding Behavior of Female Markhoz Goats during Breeding Season

Abstract

The present study was carried out to investigate the effects of male goat on feeding behavior of female goats in breeding season. Sixty four Markhoz female goats, 3.5 years old, two or three parity, 43±2 kg live weight, body condition score 3, along with 10 male goats were used to study the effects of male pheromones on feeding behavior. The study was done in 6 weeks. Female goats were equally divided into three treatments (a1, a2 and a3) along with a control treatment (c) with 8 animals in each group. Variable factor of treatments was the distance of the male goats box (source of pheromone secretion or male effect), which was supposed to be the a1 (0-5 meters), a2 (10-15 meters) and a3 (25-30 meters). The results of study showed a decrease in feed intake of the female goats due to distance from male goats (P<0.01). It was concluded that the distance of female from male goats or the concentration of pheromones can significantly affect feed intake of the Markhoz female goats. Therefore, in order to increase livestock production and reproductive performance, the management of nutrition must be paid more attention.

Keywords

• Feed intake
• Male effect
• Markhoz goat
• Pheromone