Abstract :
The objective of this study was to investigate growth patterns of goats utilizing data froma
crossbreeding programinvolving the exotic German Fawn(GF) and the indigenous Kambing
Katjang (KK) goats. Growth curve models and growth curve parameterswere compared and
analyzed for different genotypes and litter types. A total of 20,393 weight–age data from
208 female goats belonging to various crossbreeding genotypes were individually fitted
to four growth curve models (Brody, Bertalanffy, Gompertz and Logistic). The goodness of
fit was highest in the Brody model in most cases. A comparison of R2 among genotypes
showed that they were highest for KK. There were no significant differences of genotypes
for estimated matureweight in the Brody model. The estimated matureweights for KKwere
significantly lower (P < 0.05) than for GF×KK (F1), backcrosses with 75% GF genes (BC) and
F1 ×F1 (F2) in the other models. The correlations between estimated mature weights and
the maturing rateswere lowest for BC. The genotype significantly (P < 0.01) affected the age
at the constant degree of maturity (67% and 90% of mature weight) in all models. The BC
genotype was the youngest at maturity and KK the oldest. All models well expressed the
growth pattern of the target animals when theywere older than 2.5 years of age. The results
from the present study showed that the growth pattern may be altered by crossbreeding of
KK with the GF breed.
