Reproductive success in goats: A review of selected impacting factors

Dairy goats are a very successful form of livestock farming in developing countries, with functional products for human consumption, which makes their breeding attractive. Breeding efficiency is determined by successful reproductive parameters. Several parameters can be used as indicators of reproductive success, such as the number of kids born, age at first kidding, kidding interval, percentage of kids born and weaned, abortion rate, body weight of kids at birth and at weaning, and the length of the goat's reproductive life. Due to the seasonality of reproduction and multiple possibilities of controlling the sexual cycle in goats (hormonal and non-hormonal methods), it is difficult to standardise parameters that could be systematically used to detect suboptimal production, and whose improvement would increase reproductive success. Adequate housing conditions and feeding are inseparable from good breeding and productivity of animals. By meeting these measures with constant observation of reproductive success parameters, high fertility, large litters (2 kids per pregnancy) with a survival rate of 90% until weaning can be expected in goat breeding. U zemljama u razvoju mliječno kozarstvo s funkcionalnim proizvodima za ljudsku konzumaciju predstavlja vrlo uspješnu granu stočarstva. Uspješnost uzgoja koza je definirana dobrim reprodukcijskim programom. Kao pokazatelji reproduktivne uspješnosti najčešće se uzimaju podatci o broju ojarene jaradi, dobi pri prvom jarenju, razmaku između jarenja, postotku jarenja, pobačaja i odbijene jaradi, tjelesnoj težini jaradi pri porođaju i pri odbiću te duljini reproduktivnog života koze. Zbog sezonalnosti reprodukcije i velike mogućnosti upravljanja spolnim ciklusom, hormonalnim i nehormonalnim metodama, u koza, nije lako standardizirati čimbenike koji utječu na plodnost na način da se mogu sustavno koristiti za otkrivanje suboptimalne plodnosti, a čijim bi se poboljšanjem utjecalo na cjelokupno poboljšanje plodnosti. Odgovarajuća hranidba i zoohigijenski uvjeti su neodvojiviod dobre plodnosti i proizvodnosti. Uz poštivanje tih i osiguravanje i analizu nekih od čimbenika opisanih u ovom radu, moguće je u uzgoju koza očekivati visoku plodnosti, veći broj jaradi (2 jarića po leglu) s postotkom preživljavanja prilikom odbića 90 %.