UTILITY OF BODY CONDITION SCORE (BCS) SYSTEM FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF PHYSICAL TRAITS AND PERFORMANCE OF GOATS UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS
| dc.contributor.advisor | ANITHA, A (MAJOR) | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | JAGADEESWARA RAO, S | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | MURALIDHAR, M | |
| dc.contributor.author | VENKATA RESHMA, Ch. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2020-09-19T07:01:22Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2020-09-19T07:01:22Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2019-12 | |
| dc.description | THESES | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | Body condition score (BCS) has been shown to be an important practical tool in assessing the body condition of goats because BCS is the best simple indicator of available fat reserves which can be used by the animal in periods of high energy demand, stress, or suboptimal nutrition. The technique of Body Condition Score (BCS) is a means of subjectively assessing the degree of fatness or condition of the live animal. The study was carried out on well maintained local goat flocks of farmers in Prakasam district. The present experiment was designed to study the utility of BCS system for the assessment of physical traits and performance in well maintained local goats. BCS system of 1 to 5 scale developed by Carlson (2017) was used to score the does in the present study. Six check points of the doe’s body were examined by vision and palpation. The scores from these check points were recorded and an average BCS was assigned to the doe. The relationship between BCS and physical parameters was studied in 100 does by grouping them in to 2 years, 3 years and 4 years age groups. Does with BCS of 2.50 were more in number in the test flock followed by does with BCS of 3.00, 3.50, 3.25, 2.25, 2.75, 4.00, 2.00 and 3.75. The mean BCS was 2.88 ± 0.05. The mean values of the measurements of physical parameters i.e., body weight (kg), pin-shoulder length (cm), height at withers (cm), chest girth (cm), abdominal girth (cm) and thigh circumference (cm) of the does of test flock were 27.03 ± 0.15, 65.36 ± 0.17, 74.54 ± 0.18, 74.04 ± 0.27, 88.17 ± 0.30 and 36.46 ± 0.16, respectively. The variance of BCS was 0.27. The does of the age group of 3 years had higher BCS (2.96 ± 0.75) compared to the does of age group of 2 years (2.82 ± 0.77) and 4 years (2.75 ± 0.16). There is an increasing trend of pin- shoulder length and abdominal girth with respect to BCS up to BCS of 3.50 while the values decreased from BCS 3.50 to 3.75. There is an increasing trend of chest girth with respect to BCS up to BCS of 4.00. There is an increasing trend of thigh circumference with respect to BCS up to BCS of 3.75 while beyond the trend was in opposite direction. As the BCS increased the body weight of does also showed increasing values. The BCS was significantly (P < 0.01) positively correlated with all physical parameters. Pin - shoulder length, height at withers, chest girth, abdominal girth, thigh circumference and body weight were significantly (P < 0.01) positively correlated with each other. The postpartum changes studied in BCS of 60 does showed that the does were in the BCS range of 2.50 – 3.75 at kidding, there were no does in either poor (below 2.00) or obese (5.00) body condition. Does in the test flock were in the BCS range of 2.50 – 3.75 at kidding, reduced their body condition during early lactation and so the minimum BCS of 2.00 – 2.99 was recorded for majority of the does (55). The mean BCSK was 3.11 which was decreased to 2.87 at first week postpartum, further decreased to 2.42 by 12 weeks postpartum and later on increased gradually to 2.80 by 18 weeks postpartum. LBCS of the test flock ranged from 0.50 to 1.00 with a mean value of 0.70. GBCS of the test flock ranged from 0.25 to 0.50 with a mean value of 0.38. Minimum BCS of the test flock ranged from 2.00 to 3.00 with a mean value of 2.41. The highest CV (16.29) of BCS in does was observed at 8 weeks postpartum and the least (12.46) at 14 weeks postpartum. The CV of LBCS was 20.58 and the CV of GBCS was 32.81. A significant (P < 0.01) difference was observed between the does of different groups of BCSK in LBCS, GBCS and minimum BCS. The mean BCS was decreased from first week to 10 weeks postpartum for the does of BCSK 2.50 to 2.99, from first week to 11 weeks postpartum for the does of BCSK 3.00 to 3.49 and from first week to 12 weeks for the does of BCSK 3.50 to 4.00, thereafter showed an increased trend for the does of three BCSK groups. The highest loss as well as gain in BCS was achieved by the BCSK group 3.50 to 4.00 compared to the BCSK group 2.50 to 2.99 and 3.00 to 3.49. The birth weight of kids per doe ranged from 4.20 to 6.10 kg with a mean of 5.04 kg. There was a significant (P < 0.01) difference between the does of different BCSK groups in birth weight and weaning of kids. Kids of the BCSK group 3.50 to 4.00 showed significantly (P < 0.01) higher birth weight (5.77 kg) compared to the BCSK group 3.00 to 3.49 (5.00 kg) and 2.50 to 2.99 (4.36 kg). The weaning weight of kids per doe ranged from 18.4 to 25.3 kg with a mean of 21.3 kg. Kids of the BCSK group 3.50 to 4.00 showed significantly (P < 0.01) higher weaning weight (23.68 kg) compared to the BCSK group 3.00 to 3.49 (21.88 kg) and 2.50 to 2.99 (18.39 kg). The present study revealed that BCS of 3.50 – 4.00 at kidding resulted in higher birth weight as well as weaning weight of kids. Hence, the BCS system on a number system of 1 – 5 scale is economical, easily applied measure of fatness in does and also an immediate appraisal of body fat reserves | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810151580 | |
| dc.keywords | GOATS;PHYSICAL TRAITS;BODY CONDITION SCORE (BCS);PERFORMANCE;FIELD CONDITIONS | en_US |
| dc.language.iso | English | en_US |
| dc.pages | 118 | en_US |
| dc.publisher | SRI VENKATESWARA VETERINARY UNIVERSITY TIRUPATI - 517502. (A.P.) INDIA | en_US |
| dc.sub | Livestock Production and Management | en_US |
| dc.theme | UTILITY OF BODY CONDITION SCORE (BCS) SYSTEM FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF PHYSICAL TRAITS AND PERFORMANCE OF GOATS UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS | en_US |
| dc.these.type | M.V.Sc. | en_US |
| dc.title | UTILITY OF BODY CONDITION SCORE (BCS) SYSTEM FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF PHYSICAL TRAITS AND PERFORMANCE OF GOATS UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |