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Production and composition of milk from suckled feral, dairy and crossbred coats

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2017

A.J.F. Russel  and
J.E. Adkins
A.J.F. Russel
Affiliation:
Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Pentlandfield, Roslin, Midlothian
J.E. Adkins
Affiliation:
Goat Extension Project, PO Box 188, Newala, Tanzania
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Extract

The developing UK cashmere goat industry utilises a variety of goat breeds and crosses as base stock in breed improvement programmes. Native feral goats contribute small but significant quantities of very high quality fibre and the attribute of hardiness. Stock from overseas are imported to increase the weight of cashmere produced. Some dairy goats are used for their higher prolificacy and because their superior ability to rear kids is important in the production of goat meat which is a secondary but nonetheless important source of income in cashmere production enterprises.

Early growth rates of feral kids have been shown to be low in relation to those of dairy breed and crossbred kids when reared by their natural mothers (Russel, Lippert, Ryder and Grant, 1986) but it is not known whether this is a result of a low potential growth rate or a limitation in the production or composition of their dams’ milk.

Little is known of the milk production characteristics of feral goats or even of dairy goats kept under suckling as opposed to milking regimes. This paper describes the milk production characteristics of suckled feral, dairy and feral x dairy goats and the effects of these characteristics on early kid growth rate.

Type
Novel Forms of Animal Production
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Production (1972) , Volume 1990 , March 1990 , pp. 71
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Production 1990

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References

Russel, A J F, Lippert, M, Ryder, M L and Grant, S A (1986) Goat production in the hills and uplands. Hill Farming Research Organisation Biennial Report, 1984-85, pp. 135–141.Google Scholar