Affiliation(s)
1. Dairy Research Institute-Naivasha (Dairy Goats Research Section), Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, Naivasha, Nakuru County, P.O. Box 25-20117, Kenya
2. Department of Animal Science, Egerton University, Egerton, Nakuru County, P.O. Box 536-20115, Kenya
ABSTRACT
A study was conducted in three cluster regions in Kenya where the
Alpine, Toggenburg and Saanen dairy goat breeds, respectively, were kept. The
objective was to determine the breeds’ relative performance for use as a basis
of their recommendation to farmers. Formal questionnaires were used to obtain
information on farm sizes, dairy goat sources, reasons for keeping the dairy
goats, goat milk production, amount of feed offered to the goats and the
constraints faced. Further information on the actual milk production and live weights of the
milking does was collected directly from the farms using hired recorders. Results indicated that the dairy
goats were fed between 6 kg/goat/day and 17 kg/goat/day of forage. They had
a low production average of 1.4 L milk/goat/day with no clear cut
breed differences. Toggenburg milking does were significantly (p < 0.05) heavier than the other breeds
(48.3 vs. 38.0 and 39.0 kg for
the Alpine and Saanen dairy goats, respectively). The milk production and goat live weights were below their reported
potential. Feed shortage in the dry season was a major constraint. It was
concluded that farmers could keep any of the three breeds. It was recommended
that data on the comparative performance from the three breeds be generated to guide
on farmer choices. Governments receiving
donor support on agricultural endeavours should put in place the technical and
policy mechanisms to support the ventures after the donor exits, and also
ensure recommendations by different donors on a technical issue are consistent
and complementary.
KEYWORDS
Dairy goats, goat genotypes, goat milk, goat weights, Kenya.
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