Vol. 9, Issue 6, Part J (2024)

Author(s): Hridita Deb, Ranjana Goswami, Girin Kalita, Abhishek Paul, Kalyan Sarma, Rajat Buragohain and Dibyajyoti Talukdar

Abstract: Goat population in North-Eastern region is 4.37 million approximately, while Mizoram is home to 14,820 goats. In rural areas, raising goats can be a productive, low-investment alternative business model. The weaning process has a direct impact on goat health and profitability of the farm. Knowing when and how to wean a goat kid and when to introduce solid feed is essential, as understands the weaning procedure. The study was conducted on 24 local non-descript goat kids of 0 to 3 months of age, which were divided in three treatment groups (T₁, T₂ and T₃) to compare the health status of goat kids managed in the agro-climatic condition of Mizoram after weaning. Goat kids were kept with their mother upto 90 days (T₁) and weaning was done at 60 days (T₂) and 45 days (T₃) of age and the kids were provided with cow milk @1/12^th of their body weight from 45 days till 60 days of age and @ 1/14^th of their body weight from 60 days till 90 days of age. Different parameters like physiological (respiration rate, pulse rate and rectal temperature), Skin tent test (sec), capillary refill time (sec), Faecal consistency score, hematological (Haemoglobin, PCV, TLC and TEC) and biochemical (glucose, total Protein and cholesterol) were examined during the experimental study. The respiration rate, pulse rate, rectal temperature, capillary refill time, and faecal consistency score were found to be under the normal range and no significant difference was observed in the goat kids among the different treatment groups. Average skin tent test (sec) of kids recorded every fortnightly were found to be non-significant among treatment groups. The haematological and blood biochemical parameters did not differed significantly among the three treatment groups. In conclusion, there was no significant effect of weaning age on health status of kids.