Management system and breeding practices of indigenous goat types in selected districts of East Gojjam Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia

Understanding the management and breeding practices of indigenous livestock species kept under the traditional management system is very important to design and implement appropriate breeding and management interventions. This study described the goat management and breeding practices in East Gojjam Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia. A semi-structured questionnaire was prepared and administered to 202 randomly selected respondents and group discussions were held to triangulate the information. Qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed using the descriptive, and GLM procedures, respectively. In the area, crop-livestock farming was common (100%). The overall average goat flock size was 11.52 +/- 9.09. The matured male-to-female goat ratio was 1:3.6. Goats were mainly raised for income (Index = 0.436). Hillside browsing was the first rated feed source in wet (I = 0.390) and dry (I = 0.394) seasons. Rivers were the major water sources in the dry (93.1%) and wet (92.1%) seasons. Most (98.5%) of the respondents reported that they practice buck castration. Most farmers reported the selection of breeding does (98.5%) and bucks (99%). Farmers rated body size as the first selection criteria to select breeding does (Index = 0.341) and bucks (Index = 0.344). About 84.7% of the respondents had their breeding buck(s). However, a natural uncontrolled mating system (86.6%) was common. The overall mean age at first mating of male and female goats were 7.01 +/- 1.55 and 6.69 +/- 1.64 months, respectively. The overall mean age at first kidding, kidding interval, litter size at birth, and productive life of does were 13.02 +/- 2.18 months, 6.47 +/- 0.69 months, 2.15 +/- 0.38 kids, and 6.93 +/- 2.38 years, respectively. The uncontrolled breeding management and low male-to-female ratio in the flock would lead to inbreeding. Thus, designing and implementing an appropriate goat breeding strategy is worthwhile.