Breed differences in adaptation of goats
- Publikations-Art
- Buchbeitrag
- Autoren
- Gall,C.F.
- Erscheinungsjahr
- 1991
- Veröffentlicht in
- Genetic Resources of Pig, Sheep and Goat
- Herausgeber
- K. Maijala
- Verlag
- Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. , Amsterdam, Oxford, New York, Tokyo
- Serie/Bezeichnung
- World Animal Science
- Seite (von - bis)
- 413 - 429
Goats excel by their adaptation to a wide spectrum of environmental conditions. A great plasticity seems to be typical of goats: breeds have proven their adaptation to cold and hot climate, to grazing sparse pastures and to using rations rich in nutrients. By contrast to this observation, there are only a few proven characteristics of adaptation by which individual breeds are superior to other breeds. Scientific investigations have in the past concentrated more on analysing capabilities of goats to withstand extreme conditions and on the underlying physiological mechanisms. Direct breed comparisons are rare, and in the few cases numbers have been too small to draw definite conclusions. Even measurements of intra-breed or between-breed variation which would allow assumptions on genetic differences are hard to come by. Thus, at present it is very difficult to identify particular breeds, which would be a genetic resource for specific environments. Most of the investigations on adaptation have concentrated on goats adapted to desert conditions. While it has often been inferred that the characteristics measured were breed-specific and taken as a proof of adaptation to the particular environmental conditions, the direct proof based on breed comparisons is lacking. However, the indications from the few available data strongly suggest that breed differences do exist. Past investigations have revealed some remarkable adaptive traits of goats. It should be rewarding to screen a number of breeds for variation in these, by now fairly well established, traits. If experimental procedures were standardized, breeds could be compared for such characteristics even if results were not obtained in comparative trials. It is important that animals be given sufficient time to adjust to treatment conditions, otherwise true breed differences in adaptation may be confounded with differences in immediate reaction to environmental changes.