STRATEGIES FOR BREEDING CONTROL EN TRADITIONALLY MANAGED WEST AFRICAN DWARF GOATS IN NIGERIA

摘要

Breeding control among other advantages serves to: prevent unwanted mating and pregnancy; select against undesirable traits; synchronize reproduction activities; prevent transmission of reproductive infections and increase (re)productivity of the herd. Conventional breeding control methods are difficult, if not impossible, to apply under the traditional free range management system in which over 90% of the West African dwarf (WAD) goats in Nigeria are kept. As a viable alternative, two adoptable (simple and cost- effective) methods for breeding control were evaluated for their effectiveness in controlling mating in the WAD goats. These methods are a) weating of apron by bucks and b) single intramuscular injection of anti-oestrus progestagen (medroxyprogesterone acetate, MPA) at 25 and 50 mg/doe. The results indicated that mating could be controlled in the WAD goats by either of the methods. However, the post-treatment effect of MPA on the fertility of the does need to be investigated.