Effect of Supplementing Mineral Mixture Daily on Body Weight Gain in Male Goats

The present experiment was carried out in a village of district Uttarkashi to assess the effect of supplementary inorganic mineral mixture on the growth performance of male goats. Fifteen non-descript local male goat (7–8 months, 9.38±0.93 kg body weight) were randomly distributed in three groups viz. T1 (control), T2 and T3 consisting of five goats each. All fifteen goats were treated with anthelmintics before the start of study and repeated at two months interval. All goats were provided ad lib basal diet. A quantity of 10 and 15 g mineral mixture was supplemented/goat/day for 120 d in T2 and T3, respectively. Body weight of each goat was measured fortnightly. Higher body weight (kg) and average daily wt. gain (g) were recorded in T3 (4.9 kg and 41.0±1.4 g) followed by T2 (4.8 kg and 39.7±1.4 g) and T1 (4.3 kg and 35.5±1.5 g). The higher daily wt. gain was observed during the period between 30 to 75 days in T3 (45.3 g/d) followed by T2 (42.4g/d). The higher body weight gain in T3 and T2 might be due to supplementing effect of mineral mixture. The results of present study indicated superior daily gains in male goat with supplementation of 15 g mineral mixture/goat/day with basal diet.