The effect of melatonin and bromocryptine administration on body weight and shedding fibre of Raeini goats

The effect of melatonin and bromocryptine on body weight، fibre shedding and cashmere traits was investigated. The Twenty four Raeini goats females (2-3 years old) were allotted to four treatments (n=6/group): control (C); melatonin (MI) implant (18 mg at first and repeated after 40 days); bromocryptine (B) injection، (0. 5 mg/kg BW per 3 days) melatonin and bromocryptine implant and injection (MIB). All goats were maintained under natural photoperiodic conditioned of short day photoperiod (8 h light and 18 h dark)، for 2 months. Fibre was harvested by using wooden combs and each goat was combed four times at two week intervals، from 23th February to 8th March. Combed fibers were 23. 3، 15. 7، 17. 0 and 21. 3 % for MI، B and MIB treated and C groups (P>0. 05).. Cashmere fiber diameter (CFD) for MI group (21. 4 um)، was higher than the other C، B and MIB groups 20. 2، 19. 9 and 19. 8 um (P<0. 01). The CV of CFD was significant and higher in C group compared with the other groups (P<0. 05). These results suggest that hormone treatment improve uniformity of cashmere diameter.