Evaluating the Growth Performance of Black Bengal Goats in Coastal Sundarban of West Bengal.

To evaluate the growth performance of 3495 Black Bengal kids from Jatirampur village of Sunderban area of South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, the data were collected for a period of 15 years (2008-2022) to ascertain the effect of various environmental factors on growth traits and their genetic control over growth performance. Least-squares analysis of variance was applied to determine the effect of nongenetic factors on different growth traits of kids. The heritability of growth traits was estimated by the paternal half-sib method and animal model. The overall least-squares means for weights at birth, 3-, 6-, 9- and 12-months of age were 1.19±0.004, 5.44 ± 0.01, 7.74 ± 0.01, 10.68±0.01 and 13.37 ± 0.01 kg., respectively. The study revealed the periods of birth had a significant (P<0.01) effect on all the growth traits under the study. The kids born in different seasons showed significant variation in body weights recorded in various intervals except in 3rd month. Similarly, a significant effect was shown by the sex of kids on the 3-month body weight of kids. Parity of dam and type of birth showed significant (P<0.05) effects on all traits except the birth weight of kids. Kids born from does of third or later parities had significantly (P<0.05) higher body weights than kids born from does of earlier parities. Single-born kids exhibited significantly (P<0.01) higher body weights at all ages except weight at birth than kids born as twins or triplets. The study also revealed that estimates of heritabilities for all growth traits were low in magnitude, ranging from 0.04 to 0.48, indicating the scope of slow to moderate genetic progress of these traits through selection under the prevalent managemental condition at the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]