Seasonal variation of live weight in Criollo bucks, in Southern Mendoza

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the variation of
the live weight of Creole goats males studied within the Castron Plan
at the beginning and at the end of the service period, in the South of
Mendoza. For that purpose, 824 Creole type males, divided according
to age by dental chronology, were used. Live weight was evaluated with
an electronic scale of 150 kg maximum capacity, with 50g of precision,
in May (austral autumn), at the beginning of the reproductive stage
and in September (austral spring), at the time that the goats were removed
from the producing establishments by “the castronero”. The
experimental design responded to a completely randomized model,
evaluating standard means and deviations between the different
work moments by Tukey test applying the statistical program InfoStat
2.0. The results showed 28.13 weights±4.4 and 27.94±5.1 kg for males
with 2 teeth, in September, and autumn respectively; 52.35 ± 4.7 and
41, 92±7,4 kg for males with 4 teeth, males 68.4 ± 6.3 and 56.7 ±6 , 7
kg for the goats with 6 teeth, 78,84 ± 6.2 and 62, 3±7, 6 kg for males
with full mouth and 70.4 ±6, 9 and 57.4 ±7 , 3 kg for the goats with half
tooth, there is a significant statistical difference (p≤0. 05) between the
two periods evaluated for animals 4-6 teeth, mouth full and half tooth.
We conclude showing the live weight of the selected Creole goats
in Plan Castron a significant seasonal variation between the onset of
the reproductive season (austral autumn) and the end of the service
stage (austral spring) influenced by the condition of the natural grassland
for every moment and the males´ activity during the reproductive
season