Gohilawadi

Origin and distribution: The breed is a native of Gujarat state and found in the district of Bhavnagar, Amreli and Junagarh. Most flocks are stationery and reared on extensive grazing. Few flocks migrate to nearby areas during scarcity period. Singh et al (2009) reported that major criterions of doe/female selection were breed characteristics and milk yield. 

Physical Characteristics:Verma et al (2007) characterized the breed and found that Gohilawadi goats were medium to large in size and had uniformly black coat colour covered with long coarse hair.  Singh et al (2005) surveyed the home tract and defined the breed and recoded the production performance. The flock size ranged from 5 to 80 goats. It is a medium to large in size breed and body is covered with long hairs. The coat colour is predominantly black with white marking on the ear. The face is long and slightly convex. The ears are leafy and drooping. Both sexes have long slightly twisted horns directed upward and backward with pointed tips. Hairs are long rough and thick. The body weight of adult male and female are 37 and 36 kg respectively. The average body length, body height and hart girth is 73, 81 and 74 cm in adult male and 71, 79 and 75 cm in adult female.

Production performance:  The age at first kidding ranges from 650 to 700 days with twinning of 15-20% under village conditions. The udder is well developed with long conical teats. The average daily milk yield is 1.71 kg in village goats. Mortality is very low. 
The average age of first kidding, lactation length, kidding interval and herd life were 19.07±0.73, 6.52±0.30, 10.78±0.57, and 91±7 months, respectively. The twin and triplet births were 46.7% and 5.3%, respectively. The average body weight of males at birth, 3, 6, 9, 12 and >18 months of age were 2.78±0.1, 10.1±0.4, 16.9±1.1, 21.8±1.6, 30.4±2.4 and 48.5±4.5 kg, respectively. Corresponding body weights of females were 2.64±0.01, 10.6±0.3, 15.6±0.5, 18.2±0.7, 21.07, 21.07±0.8 and 37.6±0.5 kg, respectively. The average milk yield recorded was ranging from 0.98 litres (1st parity) to 1.42 litres (4th parity) with an average of 1.29 litre/day.

References