Forage Availability and Quality, and Feeding Behaviour of Indigenous Goats Grazing in a Mediterranean Silvopastoral System

The aim of this study was to study the feeding behaviour of indigenous goats and the selection drivers of different plant species in a Mediterranean forest rangeland. To achieve this goal, the seasonal variations in terms of forage availability and quality of ingested plant species were studied during three grazing seasons. In the same period, eight indigenous goats of Beni Arouss breed were selected to explore the seasonal changes in their browsing behaviour. Forage quality was determined by the hand-plucking technique. The results showed a wide seasonal variation in forage availability and quality, and feeding behaviour. Woody species were more selected independently of the season (p < 0.001). The crude protein content varied from 53.3 g/kg of dry mater (DM) for Erica arborea in summer to 197 g/kg DM for Calicotome villosa in autumn (p < 0.001). Despite the high condensed tannins content in selected shrubs, they were highly consumed. In vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) and metabolizable energy (ME) had recorded the highest contents in herbaceous during spring. Shrubs and trees contain the lowest levels of IVOMD (<500 g/kg) and ME (<7.2 MJ/kg) during autumn and summer. It is concluded that seasonal changes in forage availability and quality did not necessarily affect the indigenous goats’ preference. These findings could help goat herders to develop feeding and grazing systems while increasing the performance of goats in the Mediterranean silvopastoral system.

Endocrine, energy, and lipid status during parturition and early lactation in indigenous goats native to the Algerian Sahara

Background and Aim: Goats are widely distributed in southwest Algeria. The Saharan goat is perfectly adapted to the harsh conditions of arid areas, and it is characterized by resistance to long photoperiod and reduced metabolic needs, allowing the survival of its offspring by maintaining lactation. Several studies have demonstrated that parturition and lactation are critical periods that induce hormone, energy, and lipid status changes in mammals. However, the relationship between the blood biochemical parameters of parturition control and lactation functions in the Algerian Saharan goat has not been thoroughly documented. Therefore, this study assesses hormone and metabolite levels during parturition and early lactation in Saharan goats reared in arid areas. Materials and Methods: Experiments were performed on 14 multiparous female goats, and blood samples were collected during parturition, 4 days postpartum (D1PP-D4PP), and during the first 12 weeks of lactation (W1-W12) to analyze prolactin, cortisol, glucose (GLU), total proteins (TP), cholesterol (CHO), triglycerides (TGs), total lipids (TL), low-density lipoproteins (LDLs), high-density lipoproteins (HDLs), and very LDLs (VLDLs). Results: Statistical data analysis revealed a significant (p<0.05) increase in plasma prolactin concentrations at W1 after parturition, reaching maximum values at W3 and W9, and remained high until W12 of lactation. Plasma cortisol levels were high at parturition, reaching two peaks at W3 and W9, and then decreased at W5, W7, and W12 of lactation. No significant changes were found in serum GLU levels during the first 7 weeks of lactation compared with parturition day; then, the levels became significantly (p<0.05) lower at W8, W11, and W12 of lactation. Plasma TP increased significantly (p<0.05) at D3PP, W1, and W4, then decreased significantly (p<0.05) at W8. In addition, this decrease coincided with that of GLU production. Serum CHO, TGs, TL, LDLs, and VLDLs, were low at parturition and high at D4PP and during the first 3 months of lactation. Furthermore, HDL levels were low at D3PP, 1st, and 3rd months and high at the 2nd month of lactation. Conclusion: This study emphasized the impact of parturition and the 1st weeks of lactation on endocrine and metabolic changes in indigenous goats living in the Algerian Sahara Desert. These results can be used to monitor and improve farming management and understand physiological adaptive strategies, mainly lactation function sustainability, of this goat living in marginal zones.

Characterisation of Semen and Phenotypic Parameters in Relation to Male Goat Fertility

The following are aspects were discussed in this chapter: Domestication of goats – checking on when the goats were first domesticated and for what purposes; Current goat industry - looking on the contribution of goats economically; Conservation of domestic animal diversity - looking on the importance of conserving indigenous animals since some of them are under threat of extinction; Male goat fertility – discussing male fertility indicators; Characterisation approaches - different approaches to be followed when characterising indigenous species; and Phenotypic and genetic characterisation of indigenous goats.

Origin and Genetic Diversity of Nepalese Indigenous Goats (Capra hircus)

Background: A very little study has been conducted on the phylogenetic diversity of Nepalese indigenous goats where four breeds, Khari, Chyangra, Terai and Sinhal, have been identified. Methods: The 625-bp long sequences of the mitochondrial DNA hyper-variable region obtained from 93 goats in this study revealed high haplotype diversity among breeds, which come under four haplogroups (A-D).Result: The study demonstrated a certain level of gene flow among the neighboring goat populations exhibiting no correspondence between the geographic regions of origin and relationships among breeds. The complex mtDNA diversity and structure identified among indigenous Nepalese goats can be explained by gene flow through ancient trading and the current ‘free’ movement of goats across the geographic vicinities in India and China. Furthermore, HapG B showed the southward direction of gene flow which does not cross the Himalayas, whereas HapG B1 revealed the South-West gene flow from the claimed domestication center for HapG B, China, to Nepal.

Mitochondrial DNA D-loop sequence variability reveals high haplotype diversity and multiple maternal origins in twelve indigenous goat populations from Tanzania.

The Small East African (SEA) goat (Capra hircus) breeds are widely distributed in different agro-ecological zones of Tanzania. We report the genetic diversity, maternal origin, and phylogenetic relationship among the 12 Tanzanian indigenous goats populations, namely Fipa (n = 44), Songwe (n = 34), Tanga (n = 33), Pwani (n = 40), Newala (n = 49), Lindi (n = 46), Gogo (n = 73), Pare (n = 67), Maasai (n = 72), Sukuma (n = 67), and Ujiji (n = 67), based on the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) D-loop. High haplotype (Hd = 0.9619-0.9945) and nucleotide (π = 0.0120-0.0162) diversities were revealed from a total of 389 haplotypes. The majority of the haplotypes (h = 334) drawn from all the goat populations belonged to Haplogroup A which was consistent with the global scenario on the genetic pattern of maternal origin of all goat breeds in the world. Haplogroup G comprised of 45 haplotypes drawn from all populations except the Ujiji goat population while Haplogroup B with 10 haplotypes was dominated by Ujiji goats (41%). Tanzanian goats shared four haplotypes with the Kenyan goats and two with goats from South Africa, Namibia, and Mozambique. There was no sharing of haplotypes observed between individuals from Tanzanian goat populations with individuals from North or West Africa. The indigenous goats in Tanzania have high genetic diversity defined by 389 haplotypes and multiple maternal origins of haplogroup A, B and G. There is a lot of intermixing and high genetic variation within populations which represent an abundant resource for selective breeding in the different agro-ecological regions of the country.

Sexual dimorphism in morphological characteristics of two Nigerian indigenous goat breeds

Themorphological traits of 594 indigenous goats comprised of 316 and 279 Red Sokoto goat (RSG) and West African dwarf (WAD) goats, respectively, were measured to determine the presence or otherwise of sexual dimorphism in the morphological characteristics of the two indigenous goats. The morphological traitsmeasured were body length (BL), withers height (WH), rumps height (RH), heart girth (HG), body depth (BD), tail length (TL), head length (HL), head width (HW), ear length (EL), and horn length (HL). Also recorded were body weight (BW) and sex of each animal.The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics and analysis of variance of fixed effect of sex on themorphological characteristics. The result revealed the presence of marked sexual dimorphism in morphological characteristics of both the RSG and WAD goats. The adult females were significantly (P< 0.05-0.01) heavier and larger in size than the males. The respective coefficients of variation (CV) between breeds were high in most of the morphological traits suggesting high heterogeneity, an indication of the amount of opportunity available for improving the breeds through selection.

Zoometrical index analysis of Nigerian indigenous goat populations

The study was conducted to assess the zoometrical index analyses of Nigerian indigenous breeds of goats. The sampled populations of goat included 100 from each of three populations of goat in Nigeria; Red Sokoto, West African dwarf (WAD) and Sahel to give a total of 300 animals. .Nine body measurements were taken on these goats, which were used to estimate the ethnological indices and functional indices (as the zoometrical index) of the animals. There was significant effects (p<0.05) of breeds on morphological traits of these animals. The functional and ethnological traits of these goat populations were significantly affected by breeds (p<0.05) except pelvic and corporal. Based on the results of this study, Nigerian indigenous goats are medium-sized and their conformation corresponds to the meat type animals.