Effect of rearing systems on body surface area, sweating rate and feeding beraviour of Barbari goats

A study was conducted to know the effect of rearing systems and diurnal variation on the body surface area, sweating rates and feeding behaviour of sixteen Barbari female goats. The body surface area for grazing group was 5.82±0.08 sq.cm/kg body weight having average body weight at the end of the experiment 18.25±0.59 kg. The values for stall fed group was 5.90±0.79 sq.cm/kg body weight having 19.75±0.59 kg body weight at the end of the experiment. No significant effect of management systems was observed during morning hours of summer season for sweating. However the evening sweating rates were significantly higher in grazing group as compared to the stall fed group. The feeding behaviour of grazing group showed maximum mastication/minute (90.81) during winter as compared to summer (86.87).