Optimization of management strategies to control kid mortality

Goats provide a dependable source of income to 40% of the rural population below poverty line in India and to many who do not possess any land. At present due to scarcity of land for animal husbandry practices necessitates the farmers to adopt alternative management practices and to intensify their goat production to meet the increasing demand for chevon in the domestic as well as international markets. Goat production system in India has started slowly moving from traditional low input extensive system to high input commercial production. One of the important limiting factors of intensive goat rearing is the high level of mortality of kids, which can affect the economic viability of commercial goat farming. Several factors have been reported as potential causes of kid mortality viz, litter size, sex, birth, season etc. The kid mortality before weaning is the single major cause of economic loss to goat farmers, which need to be reduced by making improvements in the management strategies. Very little work has been done on the causes of morbidity & mortality and the influence of improved management practices to reduce them so this work is highly informative to the goat farmers.