Determination of Growth and Survival Rates of Saanen Kid in UniSZA Dairy Goat Farm

Live weight is one of the parameters for evaluating milk and meat production of livestock. Live weight is an important indicator for improving production traits. The present study was conducted to measure growth performances based on two factors; sex differences and litter size and observation of survival between these factors during the sample period. Data from 22 Saanen kid were recorded for 6 weeks. Results showed that male kid had higher live weight than female kid (P0.05), with a difference of 3.3% in the percentage of live weight gained over 6 weeks of sampling. This resulted in a body gain of 0.68 kg/day for male kid and 0.48 kg/day for female kid. The current study also showed that twin kid had a higher average live weight than single kid (P0.05). The average size of single-born Saanen kid was not significantly different from twin-born Saanen goat kid (P0.05). Twin-born Saanen kid gained 9.9% more live weight in 6 weeks than singleton- born. Survival was 86.4%, with all deaths attributable to singleton-born kid. In this study, preweaning kid survival was not affected by sex or litter size, but was affected by maternal age. Other factors such as pellet deficiency should be considered as they affect the overall production of the animals. The data collected in this study could potentially lead to more accurate evaluation of breeding value, and improvements in feeding and management.