Abstract:
Abstract Growth peliormance of small East African goats (SEA) and crosses between Norwegian x SEA was studied in three villages namely, Mandamazingara, Msingisi and Langali representing humid, semi-arid and tropical highlands zones of Tanzania respectively. Weights of the animals were recorded for 2 years at five periods for animals in three age groups namely group A (0-4 months), B (4-12months) and C (above 1 year) in order to assess the effect of sex, genotype, season and zone on weight changes. Males tended to grow faster than females with a pronounced difference (9.0 g/d) being observed in group C. Crossbred goats grew faster with a marked d(fference (55.0 ± 4.2 vs. 28.0 ± 8.4 g/d) among animals in group B. Weight changes were influenced (P<0.05) by genotype, season and zone and were inferior in the wet season for animals in humid and highland zones but superior for animals in semiarid zone. It is concluded that exotic breeds with higher growth potential can be used to upgrade performance of the indigenous goats.
