The behavior of Etawah Grade goats in early and late pregnancy period in a tropical area

Abstract

The objective of the study was to identify the different behavior of Etawah Grade does in early and late pregnancy period. This research using 14 head of Etawah Grade does in pregnant conditions with an age of fewer than 2 months as the early pregnancy group and gestational age of 4 to 5 months as the late pregnancy group in Farm of Faculty Animal Science, Universitas Gadjah Mada. The method used was direct observation. The goats were observed for 24 hours. The data observed were consisted of activities including time and frequency of feeding, ruminating, standing, lying, urinating and defecating. Data behavior of goats was analyzed using T-test. The results showed that the temperature and humidity of the study ranged from 25 to 31 ºC and 65 to 90%, respectively. The heart rate frequency in late pregnancy higher (P < 0.05) than in early pregnancy conditions. There were significant differences (P < 0.05) on the behavior of early and late pregnancy of Etawah Grade does, in terms of frequency of feeding (17.11±1.33 and 13.61±2.85 times/day), and average in once feeding (10.24±1.64 and 12.88±2.36 minutes), standing duration (15.05±0.83 and 11.45±1.34 hours/day), laying duration (9.01±0.71 and 12.54±1.34 hours/day), average in once laying (31.32±3.6 and 47.89±5.68), and frequency of urination (6.56±0.34 and 9.55±2.01). The conclusion of the study is the Etawah Grade does during early pregnancy and late pregnancy has different behavior, especially on the frequency of feeding, average on once feeding, standing duration, time and average of once lying, and frequency of urination.