Fattening performance of Iranian goats under intensive feeding system

ABSTRACT
Goat population in Iran is more than 25 million with 9 different identified breeds which represents a very significant component of livestock production potential over the country. Although goat keeping is a multi- purpose activity (milk, fiber and meat), meat is the most important product of these animals in many parts of the world, particularly in Iran, where the main purpose of goat keeping is being shifted to meat production. During the last decade, demand for meat has been increasingly grown and will continue to rise in Iran and its northern neighbored countries due to growth in their population and per capita income. Therefore the optimized management of the existing resources tends the perfecting of appropriate analysis models of production systems throughout needful information. A plenty national research works has been done to find out the performance and meat production potentials of kids from various goat types since last years. This paper, presents the results of works done on the growth performance and meat production of some Iranian Kids under intensive feeding system.