Factors affecting milk yield and milk chemical compositions in Nigerian indigenous goat breeds

Abstract

The present study examined the milk yield and chemical composition of three distinct Nigerian indigenous goat breeds. Specifically, the study utilized three breeds of indigenous goats, namely the Red Sokoto, Sahel, and West African Dwarf (WAD), with each breed being represented by five (5) does. The milking process involved hand stripping each doe in the morning for a period of 2-3 minutes, with milk yield being immediately weighed. The milk samples were transferred to the laboratory and kept at -200C for further proximate chemical analysis for crude protein, ash, and solid fat. The results indicated that Red Sokoto does produced the highest quantity of milk in comparison to Sahel and WAD does, although this was not statistically significant (p<0.05). Moreover, milk yield decreased significantly (p<0.05) with increased lactation weeks in all three breeds. However, milk yield was observed to increase with a higher number of kids per dams, which was statistically significant (p<0.05). The ash content of Red Sokoto goats’ milk had the highest value with 0.93% as compared to the other two breeds. The WAD showed significantly higher fat content (4.20%) in comparison to Sahel (3.22%) and Red Sokoto goats (3.05%). The Red Sokoto goats had the highest solid non-fat (13.93%) as compared to the WAD and Sahel breeds with 3.66% and 12.9% respectively. In general, the Red Sokoto goats had the highest overall total solid in milk composition, with a value of 17.22% when compared to WAD and Sahel dams having 16.09% and 15.70%, respectively. Furthermore, the WAD breed had the highest crude protein content at 4.62%, while Red Sokoto and Sahel breeds had 4.43% and 4.04%, respectively. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that milk compositions varied across these goat breeds and that milk yield was affected by the breed, lactation week, and the number of kids per dam.