Physical characteristics and selection criteria of pare white goats in Kilimanjaro and Manyara districts, Tanzania

Abstract

The study was conducted in semi-arid areas of Kilimanjaro and Manyara districts Tanzania to describe the phenotypic attributes, selection preferences and criteria employed by the Pare White Goats (PWG) keepers. A total of 280 does and 140 bucks were measured for live body weight, linear and other morphometric characters. The general linear model (GLM) procedure (SAS, 2002) was used to analyse metric and scored parameters. The bucks were significantly (P<0.001) heavier (33.2±0.5kg) than does (30.4 ± 0.2kg). The heart girth, body length, wither height and rump height were 72.5±0.2, 64.4±0.2, 64.3±0.2 and 64.3±0.2 for females and 75.0±0.4, 66.1±0.4, 67.2±0.3, 67.0±0.3cm for males. Furthermore, the result showed that PWG are predominantly white, with long legs. The percentage of goats with wattles, beards and horns were 33.1, 38.1 and 84.5% respectively. Most of the goats (81.0%) had their ears held horizontally, while 82.4% had straight face and 76.2% of the goats had straight short hairs. Farmers do prefer the PWG because of their ability to deposit fats and high adaptability to semiarid areas. Thus, the strain can be exploited through selective breeding for hot tropical environments.

Keywords: Pare White goat, Selection criteria, Preference, Morphology