Study on grazing and housing pattern of Osmanabadi goat

2^nd International Conference on Animal & Dairy Sciences

September 15-17, 2014 Hyderabad International Convention Centre, India

M R Mule, R P Barbind, R L Korake and S V Gaikwad

Posters: J Veterinar Sci Technolo

Abstract :

The Osmanabadi goat is dual-purpose breed existing in the villages of Marathwada region of Maharashtra. The present investigation was done on 799 Osmanabadi goats from Hingoli and Nanded districts of Maharashtra for grazing and housing pattern. It revealed that 78.65 per cent (70) were under grazing system, 21.35 per cent (19) semi grazing system, while, none of the farmers had stall feeding to their goats. In grazing flocks, the average distance of walking was 4.93 ± 0.10 km, which ranged between 4.65 ± 0.08 to 5.13 ± 0.11 km. The overall grazing period averaged 7.25 ± 0.11 hours, which ranged between 7.15 ± 0.11 to 7.36 ± 0.09 hours. In case of semi-grazing, the overall distance covered for reaching the grazing area averaged 3.57 ± 0.20 km, which ranged between 3.25 ± 0.14 to 3.87 ± 0.37 km and total grazing period averaged 4.72 ± 0.24 hours, which ranged between 4.48 ± 0.41 to 4.93 ± 0.22 hours. It was observed that the distance covered during grazing and grazing period were more in the grazing system than the semi-grazing system of management. Out of 89 observations for housing provided to the goats; it was revealed that 86.09 per cent (76) goat keepers provided housing only during night hours. It was also noted that hardly 2.06 per cent (2) goat keepers provided housing at day and 11.85 per cent (11) provided with both day and night housing. The overall, 84.45 per cent of the goat keepers provided closed housing to their goats, while 15.55 per cent goat keepers provided open. It was also observed that 77.23 per cent goat keepers kept their goats in separate byres while 22.77 per cent goat keepers kept their goats using part of residence.