Effect Of Season And Sex On The Body Morphometrics, Heat Tolerance And Faecal Egg Counts Of West African Dwarf (Wad) Goats
Keywords:
Season, Sex, Body morphometric, Heat tolerance, Faecal egg count, WAD goatsAbstract
Eight hundred and twenty (820) West African Dwarf (WAD) goats were sampled randomly on-farm in Ogbomoso agro-ecological zone of Oyo State, Nigeria. Data obtained on body weight, body length, chest girth, height-at-wither, sacral pelvic width, rectal temperature, respiratory rate, pulse rate, heat stress index and faecal egg counts were corrected for age effect and analysed for fixed effect of season and sex using General Linear Model procedure of SAS (2003). Significant effects of season and sex were obtained in all the aforementioned parameters except rectal temperature and pulse rate which were not influenced by sex. Highest values of body morphometrics, physiological parameters and faecal egg counts were recorded during the early dry, late dry and late wet seasons respectively. Female goats had higher body parameters and faecal egg counts and lower breath per minute. It therefore suggests the significant importance of season and sex in the growth and productivity of WAD goats.
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