TY - JOUR 
A1 - Pérez-Baena, Ion
AU - Jarque-Durán, Marta
AU - Gómez, Ernesto A.
AU - Díaz, José-Ramón
AU - Peris-Ribera, Cristòfol
T1 - Terminal Crossbreeding of Murciano-Granadina Goats to Boer Bucks: Effects on Reproductive Performance of Goats and Growth of Kids in Artificial Rearing
Y1 - 2021
SN - 2076-2615
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/7859
AB - The aim of this work was to improve the growth characteristics of Murciano-Granadina (MG) kids through terminal crossbreeding of MG goats to Boer bucks. Four experiments were carried out, using a total of 354 MG goats, half of which were mated with MG bucks (n = 12) and the other half with Boer bucks (n = 12). The kids were raised in artificial rearing until slaughter weight (9 kg). The birth weight and average daily gain were recorded in crossed kids (n = 197 and 145, respectively) and purebred kids (n = 257 and 169, respectively). Crossed kids presented significant differences (p < 0.001) compared to MG purebred kids in birth weight (+ 24%), mortality in artificial rearing (−37%), average daily gain (+32%) and milk powder conversion rate (−16%). However, the reproductive performance rates of MG goats mated with Boer bucks were slightly worse (pregnancy rate: 78.5% vs. 86.6%, p < 0.05; kidding rate: 62.0% vs. 75.7%; p < 0.01; prolificacy: 1.9 vs. 2.1 kids/parturition), especially when the matings took place in non-breeding season (experiments conducted at latitude 38–39° N). It is concluded that the terminal crossbreeding of MG goats to Boer bucks (those not used to produce replacement kids) could be an interesting option for ethical goat production.
KW - Murciano-Granadina
KW - Boer
KW - L01  Animal husbandry
KW - L10  Animal genetics and breeding
KW - L53  Animal physiology - Reproduction
KW - L60  Animal taxonomy and geography
KW - Goats
KW - Kids
KW - Reproductive performance
KW - Growth
LA - en
PB - MDPI
ER -