Characteristics and trait preferences of West African Dwarf goat keepers in Ghana.

A study was conducted to evaluate the characteristics of West African Dwarf (WAD) goat keepers and their trait preferences as part of a broader phenotypic characterisation work with the aim of providing information for improving the household management, conservation and productivity of the breed in Ghana. A total of 384 respondent households were selected from four agro-ecological zones in the middle belt and southern part of the country for questionnaire administration and direct observation of animals under field conditions. The results showed that there are slightly more women (54.2%) keeping WAD goats than men (45.8%) and fall within the economically active population of youthful and middle age categories (53.9%). A majority of these goat keepers were married (73.8%) and educated (87.3%) in one way or the other. They obtained their starter or foundation stock mainly from neighbours (80.5%) and the open market (16.0%). The average flock size from the households sampled was 7.9 ± 1.5, whereas the flock structure constituted 56.1% adult females, 27.5% adult intact males, 1.2% castrates and 15.2% kids of both sexes. Survivability, fast growth rate and larger litter size were the farmers' most preferred quantitative traits, whereas most of these respondents preferred to keep WAD goats which do not have qualitative traits such as horn, wattle and beard. From the findings of the research, it was concluded that the favourable socio-economic characteristics of WAD goat keepers could sustain intensification and increase the productivity of the breed when given the necessary input assistance along the goat value chain. The primary objective of WAD goat farmers is to produce matured animals for various purposes and the breeding goal for a WAD goat breeding programme would be to increase survival, growth rate and litter size of light coat (white, grey and light brown) goats. Finally, most farmers lack knowledge on the significance of tropically beneficial qualitative traits such as horn, wattle, beard and light coat colouration on the survivability, climate adaptability or resilience and productivity of their goats. Educating farmers on the importance of conserving and inclusion of animals possessing such traits in their selection practices under the Government's Rearing for Food and Jobs Initiative is therefore suggested.

Morphometric characterization and differentiation of West African Dwarf goat populations in Ghana.

A study was carried out to characterize and differentiate four West African Dwarf goat populations on the basis of morphometric traits and also predict their body weights using linear body measurements. A total of 384 goats were sampled from four agro-ecological zones from the middle belt and southern part of Ghana. The morphometric traits examined for phenotypic differentiation using univariate and multivariate analysis were body weight, body length, withers height, chest girth, chest depth, shoulder point width, rump length, rump width, head length, head width, shin circumference, horn length, ear length, tail length, and hair length. Results obtained showed that agro-ecological zone and age significantly (p < 0.05) influenced the performance of most traits. The phenotypic correlations among the traits were low to high (0.06-0.67) indicating linear relationships among these traits which may be caused by both genetic and environmental factors. The regression analysis also revealed that a single trait which may be used to predict the body weight of male West African Dwarf goats of ages 1-4 years is chest/heart girth and that of female counterparts is withers height. All the populations were significantly (p < 0.0001) distant (differentiated) from each other, but the largest (4.62) estimated Mahalanobis distance (D2) was between West African Dwarf goat populations in the transitional zone P1 and the rainforest P3 while the least (1.61) was observed between transitional zone P1 and semi-deciduous forest zone P2. The highest similarity between individuals within population was found in the rainforest P3 (79.76%) and the lowest in the transitional zone P1 (47.13%). The three canonical components (Can1, Can2, and Can3) explained the total (100%) between-population variation in morphometric traits. However, in partitioning of the variance, the first two canonical components (Can1 and Can2) accounted for cumulative proportion of 84.35% of between-population variance. In order of importance, tail length, head length, ear length, shin circumference, head width, and shoulder point width were the most discriminating variables responsible for the variations among the four goat populations. In conclusion, morphometric variations exist among West African Dwarf goat populations of Ghana. Yet, further studies on molecular genetic diversity of the populations are recommended to support a sustainable breed improvement strategy. Also, equations have been developed that can be used to reliably predict the body weight of WAD goats and future research should also focus on developing single variable weight estimator measuring tapes based only on either the chest girth, withers height, or body length prediction equations for farmers to use in the absence of weighing scale.

Genetic and non-genetic factors influencing the performance of the West African Dwarf (WAD) goat kept at the Kintampo Goat Breeding Station of Ghana.

A study was conducted to analyze the effect of genetic and non-genetic factors influencing the growth performance of the West African Dwarf goat. Breed records of 836 kids born by 259 does, and 8 bucks from 2011 to 2017 at the station were used. Growth performance traits studied were birth weight, weaning weight, 6-month body weight, 9-month body weight, yearling weight, and pre-weaning and post-weaning growth rates. The fixed effects of sex of kid (male or female), season of kidding (major, minor, and dry), year of kidding (2011-2017), and type of birth (single, twins, or triplets) on growth performance were determined. Genetic parameters such as heritability and correlations among the traits were also estimated. The non-genetic data (fixed factors) obtained were analyzed using the general linear model procedures of GenStat (Discovery Edition 12). Heritability estimates obtained for the growth traits were 0.45 ± 0.15, 0.57 ± 0.29, 0.04 ± 0.05, 0.74 ± 0.59, 0.49 ± 0.35, 0.55 ± 0.39, and 0.54 ± 0.36, respectively, an indication of high genetic variation existing among the traits (with the exception of 6-month body weight). This could be harnessed and utilized for genetic improvement within the flock. The phenotypic correlation coefficients among the traits ranged from low to high (0.04-0.95), indicating that there is a linear relationship among body traits of the goats which may be caused by either genetic or environmental factors of correlation. The genetic correlations were also medium to high (0.30-0.96). The general implications are that selection for any of these growth traits in a breed improvement programme would have a considerable simultaneous positive impact on each other. The overall birth weight, weaning weight, 6-month body weight, 9-month body weight, yearling weight, and pre- and post-weaning growth rates obtained were 1.48 kg, 5.35 kg, 6.56 kg, 8.30 kg, 10.00 kg, 32.26 g/day, and 19.39 g/day, respectively. These growth performances were found to be significantly influenced by the non-genetic factors studied. There is therefore the need to factor these in future breed improvement programmes to ensure their success.