Phenotypic Characterization of Goats (Capra hiricus) Reared at South Wollo Zone, Northeast Ethiopia.

The study was carried out to phenotypically characterize Goats (Capra hiricus) Reared at
South Wollo Zone, Northeast Ethiopia with the aim to access the production, qualitative
and quantitative characteristics of goats and to assess the type and function of goats by
using zoometrical indices. The study was performed based on household survey and field
measurements. For household survey, 135 households were involved and body
measurements were taken from 450 goats of both sexes from 0PPI to 4PPI. Using the body
measurements of the goats 10 structural indices was calculated. Both qualitative and
quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS versions 26 and indices calculation was
performed by Microsoft excel for windows. The qualitative traits were compared by chisquare test while the quantitative variables were compared by Duncun’s multiple range
tests. The result indicated that the average goat flock size per household shows increasing
trend with respect to equine and cattle while decreasing with respect to sheep. There were
higher numbers of female goats than male goats per household. Goats were primordially
reared as a source of cash income across the three districts which was followed by
meat,income and skin for Kelala; meat, wealth and income for Woreelu and wealth,income
and meat for Borena District in their order of importance. The goat flocks were provided
with house. The majority of households herded their goats with sheep in the dry season
while goats alone in the wet season. Bush/shrub and crop aftermath were the main feed
sources of the goats flock in wet and dry season respectively. In the dry season majority of
the goats flock have access to clean water while muddy in the wet season. Buckling’s wean
and reach for market at earlier age than doeling’s. Across all the districts, there were
higher intensions of selling males than females in dare of cash need. Castration was
entirely practiced at the age of 1-2 years traditionally with the aim to fatten and team the
bucks. Selection was practiced for both male and female where appearance was the most
selection criteria for both sexes. Farmers in the study area mainly practice natural and
uncontrolled mating systems. Predator was the main production constraints in all of the
studied districts. The main frequently observed coat color pattern of goats were plain and
the main dominantly observed coat color type were black. Presence of horn was common
with dominant curved shape and backward orientation. The absences of wattle and skin
pigmentation, concave face profile and long hair (smooth and glossy in respective order)
are the main common characteristics of South Wollo goats. There were no significant
difference (p>0.05) among the districts for body weight and linear body measurements.
Many of the linear body measurements have significant and positive correlation with live
body weight. Generally, the result from the structural indices indicates that the Longhaired
Arsi-Bale goats are adaptive to the highland areas. Therefore, this findingwas put baseline
for understanding about production and phenotypic characteristics of longhaired ArsiBale goats as a first step in designing a sustainable breeding program in the study area.