Using Behavior, Performance and Blood Profile to Evaluate the Effect of Group Size on Domestic Goat

摘要

A study was carried out to evaluate the effect of group size on some behavioral patterns, body weight, body measurements and hematological parameters of domestic goat. Adult female Shiba goats (Carpa hircus) (n=12) were divided randomly to 2 groups according to the group size. The first group contains 4 animals (small size group) while the second one contains 8 animals (large size group). Behavior was recorded by using contentious focal sampling throughout the period of the study, growth parameters were measured every two weeks along the whole period of the study and blood samples were collected monthly to estimate the effect of group size on blood picture. Results revealed that group size affected significantly on some behavioral patterns of goat (P0.05) affected by the group size.