Carcass traits of hardy tropical goats

The purpose of this chapter is to review the fitness and meat production potential of hardy indigenous goats compared with modern single-purpose breeds, which are widely used in the developing tropics and need modern methods of husbandry. Meat production is discussed based on the reproductive performance of goats. The major variations in carcass traits between diverse breeds and husbandry conditions are reviewed. Case studies are presented based on the Creole goat of the Caribbean and Dhofari breed of Oman in order to support the views presented in the chapter.