Milk production, kidding interval and kid growth of indigenous goats of southern Mexico

Abstract

Milk production, kidding intervals and kid growth were evaluated in 20 multiparous indigenous goats of southern Mexico, grazing on a tropical forest. The association between milk production and kid growth rate was also assessed. The total average milk yield was 26.9 ± 9.3 kg, in lactations of 108 ± 13 d. Average daily weight gain of kids was 67 ± 27 g. Considering the entire lactation, daily milk yield accounted for less than 1 % of the known variation in kid weight gain. It was concluded that, due to the high energy investment in reproduction (mean kidding interval of these goats was 195 ± 8 d), low genetic merit for milk production, low adult body weight (28.7 ± 3.3 kg), and sub-optimum nutrition (6 h daily grazing), the lactation performance of the indigenous goats of southern Mexico was very poor, which forces kids to depend upon native forage at an early age.

Keywords

• Body weight
• calving interval
• grazing
• growth traits