1. Effect of Dam Dominance on Kid Growth in
Boer-Bred Spring Kidding Does
DataIntroduction
The relative dominance of an individual animal has a
large effect on goat populations in the wild. Dominance
ranking within the herd determines access to food and
resources, thus contributing to the overall size and
health of the individual. The primary aim of this study
was to determine whether the effect of dam dominance
within a herd of domesticated goats had any influence
on the overall growth of their kids.
Methods
The study was conducted with 7 mature does housed in
the livestock barn facility at SUNY Cobleskill. All does
were housed in the same pen, and gave birth between
February 7th and February 9th, 2015. The kids of each
doe were weighed and measured for heart girth and
pelvic width values on days 1, 25, and 50 of life. Does
were observed during feeding time in order to
determine relative dominance based on antagonistic
encounters at the feed trough, with the more dominant
does winning a majority of the antagonistic encounters.
The results of these encounters were then taken into
account when making final conclusions with the data.
Elizabeth Rawlings
Discussion
On average, the male kids weighed more than their
female counterparts. Male kids also experienced a
slightly higher rate of gain in comparison to female
kids throughout the time of the study. There were 8
males and 6 females in the data group all together.
Singletons experienced the highest rate of gain
overall, with twins coming in last behind triplets in
the litter size category.
Conclusion
In the end, dam dominance did not have a significant
effect on the growth of kids. The most important
factor overall was litter size, with the singletons
gaining more weight than their cohorts with larger
litter sizes. Gender also played a large role, with the
male kids gaining more on average. Overall these two
deciding factors were much more predictive of
growth rate and average daily rate of gain than the
dominance of their respective dams within the herd’s
social hierarchy, despite observations made in which
the kids of more dominant dams were able to displace
other lower ranking adult goats at the feeding trough.
Literature Cited
• S. Côté, (2000) Dominance Hierarchies in Female Mountain Goats: Stability, Aggressiveness and
Determinants of Rank. Behavior.
• F. Fournier et al, (1995) Social dominance in adult female mountain goats. Animal Behaviour.
• K. Stears et al, (2014) Group-Living Herbivores Weigh Up Food Availability and Dominance
Status when Making Patch-Joining Decisions. PLoS ONE
• J. Langbein et al, (2004) Analysing dominance relationships by sociometric methods. Applied
Animal Behaviour Science.
• C. Lu, (2002) Boer Goat Production: Progress and Perspective. University of Hawaii Publication.
Acknowledgements
A special thanks to all of the following for their assistance throughout
the duration of the project:
• Dr. Shelley and Professor Tarvis, project advisors
• SUNY Cobleskill Livestock Facilities
• Dirk Schubert, Livestock Facilities Manager
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Female average weights Male average weights All average weights
Average Kid Weights, Days 1-50
Day 1 Day 25 Day 50
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
Average rate of gain (Days 1-25) Average rate of gain (Days 25-50) Average rate of gain (All)
Kid Average Rate of Gain, Days 1-50
Female average rate of gain Male average rate of gain Average all rate of gain
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
Average singleton Average twin Average triplet
Average Rate of Gain in Relation to Litter Size
Average rate of gain (Day1-25) Average rate of gain (Day 25-50) Average rate of gain overall
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Female Male
Sex Distribution of Kids
Total