Effects of melatonin implantation on cashmere yield, fibre characteristics, duration of cashmere growth as well as growth and reproductive performance of Inner Mongolian cashmere goats

Table 1 Effect of melatonin implantation on productive parameters of Inner Mongolian cashmere goats¹

Item	Treatment		S.E.M²	P-value
Item	Control	Melatonin	S.E.M²	P-value
Initial body weight³, kg	32.7	33.1	1.53	0.757
Final body weight³, kg	37.0	37.9	2.17	0.655
Average daily gain, g	11.9	13.3	3.05	0.648
Cashmere yield, g	553.7^b	745.0^a	52.78	<0.01
Maximum length, mm	95.2^b	115.4^a	4.55	<0.01
Cashmere fibre diameter, μm	14.6^a	14.0^b	0.25	0.026

¹Values are means of nine replicates per treatment. Means with different superscripts (a and b) within the same row differ (P < 0.05)
²S.E.M = Standard error of the mean
³Initial body weight taken when implants were inserted (i.e. April 30) and final body weight was taken when cashmere production ceased

ISSN: 2049-1891