Forty-eight Iranian Markhoz goats were allocated to six groups (n = 8) to study the effect of
flushing and hormonal treatments on reproductive performance. Treatments were divided into two categories including, hormonal treatments and
flushing. The goats in each group were fed the same basal ration and received one of the following treatments: Groups A and B--injection of
GnRH and equine
chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) respectively; Groups C, D and E--a supplement of barley grain,
soybean oil and
sunflower oil in
flushing diets, respectively, were offered and Group F--control (only received basal diet). In the
flushing treatments, only the source of energy was different between rations. Both hormonal treatments and
flushing treatments improved fertility and kidding rates. Treatment B with 16 and control with seven kids represented the highest and the lowest number of progeny respectively. Among
flushing treatments, group C resulted in the highest number of kids being 15. Oestrogen levels in follicular phase increased with the injection of eCG and consumption of barley grain.
GnRH injection and consumption of oil sources in the diet increased blood
progesterone levels during ovulation and post-ovulation periods. Under current market conditions, using
hormone or
flushing can be profitable for Markhoz goats farmers.