Understanding goat keepers’ breeding objectives and selection criteria in northwestern Ethiopia: application of participatory own-flock and group-animal ranking experiments

Successful implementation of breeding program requires understanding and accommodation of selection criteria. The objective of this study was to investigate the breeding objectives and selection criteria of farmers' in northwestern Ethiopia. Two ranking methods, own-flock and group-animal, were used. In the first technique, 150 goat keepers were chosen and asked to rank breeding does in their flock as the First-, Second- and Third-Best and Inferior. Farmers explained why they ranked in that order. From the rated does, body measurements and life histories were collected. In the second technique, twenty breeding bucks and twenty breeding does were chosen at random, ear-tagged, and brought to a central station. Animals of same sex were randomly assigned to five groups. Ten farmers, who have not known the animals, ranked the goats in each group as first, second and third and fourth, giving reasons for their ranking. After the first round of ranking, the farmers were then provided with history of each goat and asked whether they would reconsider their ranking. This was iterated ten times until a person covered all groups. In the own-flock ranking, twining ability, body size and kidding interval were the most preferred attributes for selecting does. Does chosen as the First-, Second- and Third-Best had significantly higher body measurements than the Inferior ones. In group-animal ranking, goat keepers however generally focused on body size, conformation and coat color. Simultaneous use of both own-flock and group-animal ranking methods is advisable to identify breeding objectives and selection criteria of traditional goat keepers.