Descriptive study of the morphometric and genital characteristics of goats in Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The study aimed to determine zootechnical and reproduction characteristics of female (n = 1311) and male (n = 346) goats slaughtered in Lubumbashi. Height at withers, body length and live weight were 53 cm, 77 cm and 20.5 kg in females, and 53 cm, 71 cm and 19 kg in males, respectively. The left and right testicular weights, diameter of testes and scrotal perimeter were 67.3 g, 66.9 g, 12 cm and 21.1 cm, respec­tively. The mean length of the genital tract from the vulva to the end of the horn was 30.3 cm. The mean weight of ova­ries, length and width of left and right ovaries were 1.1 g, 1.8 x 1.3 cm and 1.7 x 1.3 cm, respectively. No cystic struc­ture was observed on the ovaries. Forty-four percent of the slaughtered females were found pregnant. From the compari­son of the number of corpora lutea and of embryos or fetuses in the womb, embryonic mortality was estimated at 19.2%