CYCLIC REPRODUCTIVE ACTIVITY AND EFFICIENCY OF REPRODUCTION IN SERRANA GOATS

Reproductive efficiency was studied in mature Serrana goats in three c ommercial units with ovarian activity being assessed from plasma proge sterone profiles between October and May, Over a 2 year period, the me an fertility was 76.2% and the prolificacy was 1.73. Parturitions were recorded between 1 October and 28 February, with 50% of them occurrin g before the end of October, Goats kidding in October had a significan tly shorter (P<0.01) postpartum anoestrous period in the first year (3 3.0+/-9.4 days; n=20) than in the second year of this experiment (50.3 +/-19.7 days; n=20). Ovarian activity. assessed by plasma progesterone profiles, was low in October (postpartum anoestrus), increased until early January, then declined suddenly to less than 3% and remained low until the first week of May (seasonal anoestrus) when the breeding pe riod commenced. The data suggest that Serrana goats have a period of a noestrus from January to May. Fertility in the beginning of the breedi ng period (May) could be improved by adequate management techniques so that most parturitions occur in October/November.