Effect of concentrate supplementation on feed intake, growth performance and morphometric characters of weaned Black Bengal goats under semi-intensive production system

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of concentrate supplementation on the growth performance and morphometric characteristics of weaned Black Bengal goat kids. Twelve kids, aged 5-6 months, were divided into three groups: a control group (T1) receiving 50 gm of concentrate daily, a treatment group (T2) receiving increasing concentrate levels (50, 75, 100, and 150 gm), and a treatment group (T3) receiving higher concentrate levels (50, 100, 150, and 200 gm) over four months with adequate amount of green grass. Other management practices were similar for each group. The body weights and morphometric parameters (viz., body length and heart girth of kids) were measured individually at the beginning and at fortnightly intervals during the experimental period. Total dry matter (DM) intake (260.47±8.99, 315.9±9.63, and 356.27±5.0 g/day in groups T1, T2 and T3, respectively) was significantly (P<0.05) influenced by the level of concentrate in the diet. Significant (P<0.05) increases in overall body weight changes and average daily body weight gain were observed in goat kids from group T3, followed by those in group T2 and group T1. The trend of increase in heart girth and body length of kids of T2 and T3 groups was found significantly higher (P<0.05) with higher level of concentrate (150 and 200 g/d/kid, respectively). It is concluded that concentrate supplementation between 150 to 200 gm per day per kid improved the growth performances of weaned kids. It is also revealed from the results that the higher quantity of concentrate to kids shown maximum body lengths and heart girth