Abstract:
Proc. Aust. Soc. Anim. Prod. Vol. 18 EFFECT OF THE OF JOINING ON THE REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF CASHMERE DOES S.G. GHERARDI* and T.J. JOHNSON* The time of the year a farmer decides to kid does can have a major effect on The Cashmere goat producer the overall profitability of a goat enterprise. the breeding season of needs to consider a number of factors which include: the doe, the length of the pasture growing season, the availability of The aim of this supplementary feed and the effects on cashmere production. study was to investigate the effect of time of joining on the reproductive performance of Cashmere does in the northern agricultural region of Western Australia. A total of 102 Cashmere does were stratified by age and live weight into two equal groups for mating: Group 1 commenced joining on February 21 and Group 2 The does in each group were joined to two bucks over a on April 12, 1989. After joining the does 'were run together as a single period of five weeks. The pregnancy status of the does was determined using group until kidding. The number of does real-time ultrasound 60 days after the bucks were removed. Kidding observations were with zero, one, two or three kids were recorded. conducted daily. Fertility data were analysed by Chi-squared test and fecundity and kidding rate by t-test. Table 1 Pre-joining live weights (LW) and reproductive Cashmere does joined in February-March and April-May performance of Does in Group 2 had both a higher fertility (P < 0.01) and kidding rate (P < 0.05) than those in Group 1. By comparison, the fecundity of the does within the two groups was similar. The depressed fertility of the does at the earlier mating may have been due to either a failure to cycle or to conceive at this time of the year (Restall 1987). These factors will be investigated in the second year of the study. RESTALL, B.J. (1987). 'Proc. Standing Committee on Agric. Workshop on the Role of Non-Milch Goats in Agric. Prod. in Aust.', Paper No. 4. * Goat Industry Development Perth, W.A. 6151. Unit, Western Australian Dept Agriculture, South 479
