UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY

Background: Berberine and selenium yeast supplementation exhibited a positive effect on the growth performance of Jamunapari Goat kids by enhancing body weight and overall body weight gain.

Aims: The present study evaluated the effects of dietary berberine and selenium Yeast supplementation, either individually or in combination, on the growth performance of Jamunapari goat kids.

Study Design: A completely randomized experimental design was adopted for the study.

Place and Duration of Study: The experiment was carried out at the Livestock Research Center, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Modipuram, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India, during the period from May to August 2025.

Methodology: A total of 28 kids with an average body weight of 10.57± kg and ages ranging from 3 to 9 months were selected and randomly allocated to four treatment groups of 7 animals each under a completely randomized design. The basal diet for the 120-day feeding study was a full mixed ration. While the animals in groups T1 and T2 were supplemented with Berberine at 500mg/kg dry matter and Selenium Yeast at 3mg/kg dry matter, respectively, the animals in the control group were fed simply the basal diet. The T3 group received a combination of both Berberine and Selenium Yeast at the same supplementation levels. All experimental kids were offered a basal ration comprising concentrate, green fodder, and straw in the proportion of 50:30:20. Throughout the trial, growth performance parameters, including body weight, body weight gain (BWG), dry matter intake (DMI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR), were evaluated at fortnightly intervals.

Results: A significant treatment effect was observed on growth performance parameters. Kids in the T3 group attained a higher final body weight than those in the control group (P<0.05). Body weight gain was greatest in T1 and T3, intermediate in T2 and lowest in the control group (P<0.05). Dry matter intake increased significantly in the supplemented groups compared with the control (P<0.05). Moreover, T3 group shows better feed conversion ratio (P<0.05) as compared to other supplemented group and control group.

Conclusion: Overall, the combined supplementation of Berberine and Selenium yeast demonstrated a beneficial effect on the growth by improving body weight, body weight gain, increasing dry matter intake and enhancing feed conversion ratio.