PRODUCTIVE TRAITS AND EXTERIOR PARAMETERS OF OFFSPRING FROM SAANEN GOATS SIRED BY BREEDING BUCKS OF RUSSIAN AND DUTCH SELECTION

Abstract

Research aimed at assessing the productivity and exterior characteristics of offspring sired by Saanen breeding bucks in Russia and the Netherlands was conducted in 2024-2025 at Logro LLC in the Kuibyshevsky District of the Rostov Region. The objective of the study was to compare the productivity and exterior characteristics of doe kids and buck kids sired by Russian and Dutch bucks and Saanen does. A total of 140 Saanen does aged 3 to 4 years were selected for the study, randomly divided into two groups of 70 animals each. The goats of the first group were inseminated with semen ♂ No. 001 of Russian selection, the goats of the second group – ♂ No. 16 854 of Dutch selection, purchased from the Goat Dairy Complex (GDC) Nadezhdinsky LLC. The fertility and fecundity rates of the goats did not differ significantly and amounted to 81,4 and 161,4% in the first group, and 82,9 and 162,1% in the second group, respectively. In terms of live weight at birth, doe kids and buck kids obtained from ♂No. 16854 exceeded their herdmates obtained from ♂ No. 001 by 10,8 and 4,8%. At the age of 60 and 120 days, the dominance in live weight was: for doe kids – 4,7 and 4,1%, for buck kids – 3,2 and 3,4%, respectively. According to body measurements at the age of 60 days, doe kids and buck kids obtained from ♂ No. 16854 were ahead of their herdmates: in height at the withers – by 3,8 and 3,5%; in chest depth – by 5,5 t. 13,9% (p ≤ 0,001); in chest width – by 10,8% (p ≤ 0,05) and 0,8%. At the age of 120 days, the superiority in height at the withers maintained for doe kids by 1,6%, for buck kids – by 2,1%; by chest depth – by 6,3 and 7% (p ≤ 0,05); by chest width – by 11,5 and 12,2% (p ≤ 0,05).