Effect of castration on feedlot performance and some serum metabolites of Nubian male kids

Ten male Nubian kids, 6 months old, were used to investigate the effect of castration on production performance and some blood metabolites (glucose, total cholesterol, total protein, albumin, globulin, urea and uric acid). Five males were castrated using Burdizzo method, while equal number and weight of animals remained intact. The kids were individually accommodated and fed ad libitum on a concentrate diet and roughage. The examined traits were taken from both of the experimental groups for two weeks adaptation period followed by eight weeks experimental period. Independent student t-test was used to examine the significance of differences between the intact and castrated Nubian kids. The study showed no significant differences between the two experimental groups on most of the examined feedlot performance traits and blood metabolites. Intact kids had significant higher weight gain and blood urea. Blood glucose level was significantly higher for the castrated kids. The study concluded that castration of goats exerted no effect on feed consumption and metabolism. The study gave encouraging highlights on castrating bucks to fulfill goat meat market options.