Market
access of smallhold goat raisers can now be enhanced through
the production of good quality slaughter/market animals such
as triple cross goats.
Triple
cross or three-way cross goats can be produced through the
mating of a two-breed crossbred doe or an upgraded doe (e.g.
Anglo-Nubian x Native doe) with a terminal third breed buck
(e.g. Boer).
Three-breed
crossbreeding maximizes the performance potentials of the
three breeds resulting in triple cross goats with better performance
potential than single-breed or two-breed crossbred goats.
“Triple
cross goats have an advantage in terms of growth performance,
carcass yield, dressing percentage, and meat quality over
upgraded and native goats raised under CLSU and off-campus
conditions,” reported Dr. Emilio M. Cruz, leader of
the research component of the project “Rural enterprise
development through innovative goat production systems (RED)”
and director of the Small Ruminant Center - Central Luzon
State University (SRC-CLSU)
In this project, triple cross goats posted higher birth weight
(3.34 kg vs. 2.62 kg), weight at three months old (13.27 kg
vs. 10.25 kg), weight at eight months old (22.74 kg vs. 19.87
kg), and average daily gain (80 g vs. 71.87 g) compared with
Anglo-Nubian upgrades.
In producing triple cross goats, selection of the breeds to
be used should be given utmost consideration. An Anglo-Nubian
buck and a native doe are recommended to be the grand parental
lines because of their known traits.
Compared
with exotic breeds, the Philippine native goats are smaller
in size but are more adapted to Philippine conditions. They
have early sexual maturity, higher fertility, shorter kidding
interval, good mothering ability, and are capable of multiple
births. These traits make the native does superior to exotic
breeds.
Anglo-Nubian is a meat and milk-type breed. Therefore, the
crosses between the Anglo-Nubian and native goats would produce
more milk, an important trait when giving birth to twins and
triplets. The offspring does (Anglo-Nubian x Native) are expected
to inherit the qualities of their parents.
On the other hand, Boer is a meat-type breed, making it the
breed of choice for terminal buck. It has high growth potential,
gaining more than 200 g/day from birth to 100 days.
Triple cross goats can command a higher market price (P 2,500/head
vs. P1,500/head) at six months old because of their higher
body weight and meat quality compared to their counterparts.
Returns may even be higher if the animals are sold on a per
liveweight or carcass weight basis.
The RED project is a collaborative undertaking of the International
Livestock Research Institute, the Department of Agriculture
– Bureau of Agricultural Research, and PCARRD.
Triple cross goat production is fully discussed in the Primer
on Triple Cross Goat Production available at PCARRD (tel.
nos.: [049] 536-0014 to 20; Fax No. [049] 536-0016 / 0132;
E-mail: pcarrd@pcarrd.dost.gov.ph). (Elaine F. Lanting, S&T
Media Service).
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