Rearing Practices and Performance Attributes of Assam Hill Goat in Assam, India

The study was conducted in the hill district of Assam to collect information on existing management practices of Assam hill (AH) goat and assess their productive and reproductive performances under field conditions. The data were collected through field survey, PRA, focus group discussion, pre-tested interview schedule and records obtained through individual farm visits. The study showed that 94 per cent of the goat farmers didn’t have knowledge on availability of different goat breeds. Most of the tribal farmers didn’t maintain breeding buck (75.5%) and used natural service method (100%). A large share of the farmers reared their goat in open grazing/tethering under semi intensive system (89%) followed by semi stall feeding (11%) with provision of temporary house (84%) made of locally available materials (81%). The study on feeding practices showed that 94.5 per cent farmers didn’t cultivate green fodder and 65.5 per cent farmers didn’t provide concentrate feed. The study revealed that 92.5 per cent of the farmers don’t vaccinate their goats and while only 10.0, 7.0 and 11.0 per cent used antibiotics, deworming and ectoparasitic drugs, respectively. Tick/mange/mite infestation, diarrhoea, PPR, or goat pox and mastitis were reported by 71, 78, 61.5, 47, 30 and 13 per cent of the goat farmers, respectively. Most of the farmers had flock size of 5-10 (66%) with average litter size of 1.69. The mean body weight gain of Assam Hill goat at birth, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months were 1.61±0.03, 4.62±0.09, 8.48±0.08, 11.75±0.08 and 15.24±0.14 kg, respectively. The mean age at puberty, sexual maturity, length of estrus cycle, first kidding, post-partum estrus period, gestation length were 276.19±1.19,298.39±0.94, 20.97±0.03, 449.56±0.85, 64.78±0.71, 247.73±0.95 and 147.91±0.16 days, respectively. No significant differences were observed in productive and reproductive performances (p>0.05) among the districts.