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Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

DOI

10.55730/1300-0128.4321

Abstract

This study assessed the effect of thermo-insulated kid hutch (TIKH) on location preference, body surface temperature, growth performance, and blood haemato-biochemical indices of winter-born Black Bengal goat kids. Does were maintained in the same shed, born kids (n = 12) were divided into two groups along with mothers to begin experiments from day 1 of birth. The treatment group (TIKH) of kids was given a TIKH to which kids had free access, but not the adults. However, in the control group (CONT) kids were reared without TIKH. The floor surface temperature of TIKH was significantly (p < 0.05) higher at night as compared to goat shed in December (4.28%), January (3.98%), and February (7.72%). The interior roof surface of TIKH had 25.12%, 33.55%, 31.85%, 10.99%, and 4.37% higher (p < 0.01) temperatures at night compared to the roof surface temperature of the goat shed in December, January, February, March, and April, respectively. The presence of kids inside the TIKH at the age of 1–15 days was the greatest in morning (80.5%) and evening (72.2%). Between the ages of 16–-60 days, the preference of kids for the TIKH varied from 69.2% to 54.2% in the morning and from 70.0% to 66.7% in the evening. However, at the age of 61–75 days, kids’ preference for TIKH gradually declined in the morning (11.6%) and evening (19.9%) due to the increased inside temperature. Kids weaning weight was 23.25% higher (p < 0.05) in the TIKH group as compared to that of CONT. The average daily gain (0–30 days) was higher (41.34%; p < 0.05) in kids in the TIKH compared to the CONT shed. The haemato-biochemical profiles of kids were similar in both groups except for blood serum glucose, which was greater (p < 0.05) in kids of the TIKH than that of CONT shed. In conclusion, the provision of TIKH improved the growth and overall performance of winter-born Black Bengal goat kids during pre and postweaning periods.

Keywords

Black Bengal goat, thermo-insulated kid hutch, winter, location preference

First Page

515

Last Page

528

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