College of Veterinary and Animal Science, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Navania, Vallabhnagar, Udaipur- 313 601, Rajasthan.
*E-mail address: mcsharmalrs@yahoo.co.in.
A study was conducted to investigate the instantaneous relative growth rate (IRGR) of 1361 Sirohi kids over a period of 3 years. The least square means at 0–3 months (IRGR1), 3–6 months (IRGR2), 6–9 months (IRGR3) and 9–12 months (IRGR4) were 1.89±0.04, 0.40±0.02, 0.21±0.01, and 0.20±0.01 per cent/day, respectively. Sire effect was significant on the IRGR at all age groups except 6–9 months of age. The effects of location, year, season of birth, were significant on IRGR at all ages group except year, at 6–9 months of age. The phenotypic and genetic correlation of IRGR at particular period with the subsequent period studies was mostly negative. The heritability estimates of IRGR1, IRGR2, IRGR3 and IRGR4 were 0.352±0.023, 0.320±0.108, 0.062±0.073 and 0.125±0.085, respectively. The results revealed that the IRGR can be considered as indicator of growth and sire selection could be effective for altering growth of weight of kids of field flocks.
Goat, Growth, Instantaneous relative growth rate, Kids, Sirohi
