Morbidity and mortality rates of Ganjam goats of Odisha in field condition

The present study deals with morbidity and mortality in Ganjam goats of Odisha due to different diseases and examining the effects of age, sex and season on morbidity and mortality rates using suitable statistical techniques. Morbidity and mortality data of 5819 Ganjam goats of 71 goat keepers from four clusters of Ganjam district were recorded from April 2018 to March 2019, divided into three seasons: summer (March-June), rainy (July-October) and winter (November-February). These goats were divided into three groups: kids (0-3 months), young stocks (3-12 months) and adults (above one year) based on age. The diseases observed were coded as respiratory diseases, digestive diseases, specific infectious diseases and accidents/predation/theft. Overall morbidity and mortality rates were 26.07% and 5.38%, respectively. Morbidity and mortality due to respiratory and digestive diseases were higher as compared to other disease categories. Morbidity was the highest in kids whereas mortality was more prominent among young stocks. Both morbidity and mortality occurred mostly in rainy season than winter followed by summer and were more prominent in male goats than females. Chi-square analysis revealed that morbidity and mortality had significant (p