EVALUATION OF FEED CONVERSION RATIOS AND GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF VARIOUS GOAT BREEDS IN A COMMERCIAL GOAT FARM SETTING IN KATHMANDU, NEPAL

  • Sekhar Bidari and Arjun Pandit

The study was conducted to evaluate the feeding status, Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) of different breeds of goat at commercial farm’s condition at Dakshinkali municipality-7, Kathmandu, Nepal from April 2022 to June 2022. A total of 32 goat kids aged approx. 3months and body weight 11±2kg were selected on the basis of Purposive sampling technique and categorized into 4 study group on the basis of breed i.e. B × K (50%), B × K (75%), B × J (50%) and B × J (75%). Feed and forage containing 13% Crude Protein per dry matter, 1.35kg Dry Matter per head per day and 12.1MJ energy per day were provided to study population and weekly weight gain of goat was recorded. The average daily weight gain was found to be 40±2gm and the Cumulative Feed Conversion Ratio (CFCR) was found to be 33.592, FCR of overall male was lower than female of study population (i.e. FCR of male = 30.006, FCR of female = 38.151). Among the breed and sex, B × K (75%) male had the lowest FCR (22.055) while B × K (75%) female had the highest FCR (47.726). Comparison based on breed revealed B×K (75%) had the least FCR (30.169) whereas, B × J (75%) had the highest FCR (36.593). Cumulative body weight gain was not uniform leading to highest on third week (21kg) while 2.8kg fall in body weight was seen on tenth week. The rise and fall in weekly body weight gain was caused due to poor farm management, parasitic infestation, seasonal change and respiratory disorder caused due to unknown viral infection.