PHENOTYPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF INDIGENOUS GOATS, HUSBANDRY PRACTICES AND BREEDING PRACTICES IN THE NORTHERN MUDUG ZONE, PUNTLAND REGIONAL STATE, SOMALIA

Abstract

The study was conducted on Indigenous goat populations in Northern Mudug Zone, Somalia, specifically in the Galdogob, Galkacyo, and Jariban districts to characterize Indigenous goat populations phenotypically and investigate breeding and husbandry practices It surveyed 180 respondents, 60 from each district, from households in three villages. Three focus group discussions per district were conducted, and parameters were analyzed using the index method. In both quantitative and qualitative traits, 450 goats (150 from each district) of both sexes with above two years of age were employed. Univariate analysis, Generalized Linear Model (GLM) procedure, and Pearson Correlation Coefficient (PCC) of SAS JMP Pro 18 software (2023 were used to analyze the quantitative data while qualitative data of the investigated goat populations were analyzed using the frequency procedure of the Chi-square (χ2) test and descriptive statistics. Results revealed that the selection criteria for the breeding buck, the results indicate that 49%, and 44% of the selection in Galdogob, and Galkacyo were based on the large body size of the animals respectively, while the absence of horns were ranked second in all districts while selection criteria for the doe in Galdogob pastoralist were concerned more about the appearance of does (index=0.49) followed by body coat colour and milk yield with the indices of 0.27 and 0.13 respectively. Unlike Galdogob pastoralists, Galkacyo pastoralists ranked colour first with an index of 0.50 followed by appearance or body conformation (index = 0.34), while Jariban selection criteria for doe ranked similarly to Galdogob. Regarding qualitative traits, the majority of goat coat colour was plain (81.33%) across all districts in both male and female goats followed by white coat colours (60.44%), whereas a relatively high proportion of goats had its combination with other coat colours and the majority of goats in all districts were horned (73.33%), predominantly with straight horn shapes, while polled goat/no horn was less common (26.67%). The analysis revealed that male goats had a significantly higher body weight (35.48±0.29 kg) compared to female goats (30.17±0.15 kg), with a p-value < 0.0001 indicating a strong statistical significance. Males showed a steady increase in body weight from 28.00 kg at 2PPI to 49.50 kg at 4PPI, highlighting a substantial weight gain of 21.50 kg across this growth period. In contrast, females exhibited an increase from 22.00 kg at 2PPI to 36.00 kg at 4PPI, amounting to a weight gain of 14.00 kg. The strongest positive correlation was observed between body weight and rump high (RH) (r = 0.63, P < 0.0001), indicating that as the height of female goats increases, their body weight also tends to increase and in males, the correlation between body weight and rib weight (RW) was found to be strong and positive (r = 0.75, P < 0.0001). The study provided a comprehensive phenotypic characterization of indigenous goat populations in the Northern Mudug Zone, Somalia, and shed light on the prevailing breeding and husbandry practices. Finally, finding suggested Iinvestigate the genetic basis of traits to inform selective breeding programs.