EFFECTS OF FODDER BANKS ON GROWTH AND SURVIVAL OF WEST-AFRICAN DWARF GOATS UNDER VILLAGE CONDITIONS IN SUBHUMID NIGERIA

Thirty-two goat flocks belonging to 45 farmers and raised under villag e conditions in the Ganawuri area of the subhumid zone of Nigeria were monitored every 2 weeks for 30 months to determine productivity under village conditions. Records collected on kids included birth weight, birth type, body weight (BW), mortality and disposal information. In t he wet season (August-October) goats were either tethered on natural p asture (NP) or were free-ranging on fodder banks (FB) of Stylosanthes spp. During the dry season, all animals were free-ranging on natural p asture (NP), forbs, crop residues or household wastes. Birth weight wa s affected (P < 0.05) by year and season of birth, sex of kid and birt h type. Both rate of gain and BW up to weaning (5 months) were affecte d (P < 0.05) by year, parity and birth type. Animals on FB gained weig ht at a faster rate (33.8 vs. 28.9 g per day) between birth and 12 mon ths of age and were consistently heaver than their counterparts on NP at all ages, but only the differences in BW at 3 months (5.1 vs. 4.6 k g) and 12 months (14.1 vs. 12.0 kg) of age were significant (P < 0.01) , Additionally, FB animals suffered less weight loss than NP animals d uring periods of limited feed availability. Overall mortality to 12 mo nths of age was 14.5% and this represented 45% of animal disposals fro m these flocks. There was no difference in mortality between FB and NP flocks. Peak wet season was associated with the highest mortality and this was attributed mainly to increased parasite challenge during thi s period. Results of the study indicated potential contribution of FB for the improvement of growth performance of village goats in situatio ns where, due to limited land, free-ranging is limited during the crop ping season.