Abstract   

    A study was undertaken to look into the reproductive performance of female Dwarf goat. The serum progesterone profile was used to monitor various reproductive parameters including length of postpartum period, the resumption of cyclicity, gestation period, pre-partum period, parturition, litter size and kidding interval. Most of the animals conceived within 20-65 days of postpartum period. During gestation period, higher levels of progesterone were maintained with wide variations falling in the range of3-13 ng/ml. Notable feature was the fluctuation of progesterone level in the higher limits (> 3 ng/ml) throughout the gestation. However, a few days before parturition a decline was noticed in all the animals. This decline started at 6 + 0.4 days of prepartum and dropped to the lowest level of 0.1 ng/ml after the completion of parturition process. The length of gestation period was found to be 145.5+1.1 days. A very short kidding interval (204 + 19 days) and a big litter size was observed. All the parturitions were normal and a considerable weight gain (8.2 + 0.3 kg) was recorded during pregnancy. The initial birth weight of kids was 2.1 + 0.53 kg. All the animals of the lot conceived at first or second oestrous, indicating the high prolificacy of the breed.

Key words: Progesterone, oestrous cycle, gestation, postpartum cyclicity, goat.