A Comparison of Goat Genotypes in Terms of Their Kid Recognition and Suckling Behavior

In mammalian, providing the kid with the colostrums soon after the birth, discriminating one's own offspring from other offspring, and protecting and raising it are the most important duties of motherhood. This study investigated the mother–offspring relationships in three different goat genotypes (Gökçeada, Maltese and Turkish Saanen) on the basis of their discrimination of their kids from other kids and their ability to suckle. The goats and kids that were apart during the day were brought together during the evening suckling. For kid selection, the goats were taken individually into a paddock where 12 to 18 kids at 9 to 38 days of age were present and which was observed both by means of a camera and direct observation. The goat-kid interaction was observed within the period from goats' discrimination of their own kids to suckling them. It was observed that more than half of the Turkish Saanen genotype failed to discriminate and suckle their own kids within the observation period (5 min) (P≤0.05). It was seen that the goats belonging to the Gökçeada and Maltese genotypes did not suckle alien kids and moved more when doing so, whereas the majority of the goats belonging to the Turkish Saanen genotype were not disturbed by being suckled by alien kids while suckling their own kid and less frequently displayed aggressive behavior towards alien kids (P≤0.05). This might be because the milk yield of the Turkish Saanen genotype is higher than that of the other genotypes and therefore it is a genotype which has specialized in milk yield.