EFFECT OF NATURAL SUCKLING ON POSTPARTUM REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF NUBIAN GOATS

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of natural suckling on
reproductive performance of Nubian Goats. The study involved 20 multiparous
Nubian goats allocated randomly according to body weight and age to two equal
groups of 10 does each. Group A suckled their kids for 13 weeks while group B
(control) kids were reared artificially by bottle for 13 weeks. The results showed
that the mean postpartum anoestrus interval (PPAI) length was 57.8±21.5 days
compared to 20.4± 4.4 days in the two groups respectively. The results indicated
a high significant difference (P<0.001) in favor of the suckled group. The
duration of oestrus in group A was shorter than that in group B with values of
29.89± 3.04 versus 31.89 ± 6.42 hrs, respectively. The gestation length in the
two groups was 152.3 ± 5.4 and 151 ± 3.9 days. The litter size in the two groups
was similar 1.75 ± 0.71 and 1.7 ± 0.5. The kidding interval was highly
significantly (P<0.001) affected by the treatment. The recorded values were
210.1± 25.6 versus 171.4 ± 7.2 days for group A and B, respectively. The Hassna. A.E. el al.