Abstract

This study was carried out to assess the reproductive performance of cycling West African Dwarf does as well as to assess the efficacy of medroxyl-progestrone acetate, an estrus synchronizing drug, that has the advantage of beingadministered orally and intramuscularly. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design using 40 cycling does divided into five experi-mental treatment groups. The results of the experiment show that estrus behavior in the does was significantly (P<0.05) influenced by the dosage and route of drug administration. On the other hand, other reproductive traits asse-ssed such as gestation length (days), litter size at birth, birth weight of kids (Kg) and weaning weight (Kg) were not significantly (P>0.05) affected by the drug. These results show that there is good prospect in the use of medroxyl-progestrone acetate orally and intramuscularly in synchronizing estrus in cycling WAD does.

Key words: Reproductive performance, estrus synchronization, medroxyl-progesterone acetate, goat.