Table 7. Definitions for goat mortality indicators reported in peer-reviewed literature.
| Indicator | Definition/Rationale | Country | Income level a | System (if available) | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early mortality | Mortality during first 48 hours | Israel | HIC | Semi-extensive | Rattner et al., 1994 |
| Perinatal mortality | Mortalities within 48 hours of birth | Jordan | LMIC | Transhumant and sedentary systems | Al-Khaza'leh et al., 2020 |
| Death of live-born animals within 48 hours of life | Ethiopia | LMIC | Mixed crop-livestock, pastoral/
agropastoral, & market-oriented urban/ peri-urban dairy production |
Fentie et al., 2020 | |
| Total losses caused by abortions, stillbirths, and
neonatal mortality (to 14 days of age) in one breeding season/Sum of aborted, stillborn and kids born alive |
Jordan | LMIC | Extensively managed | Aldomy et al., 2009 | |
| Neonatal mortality | Number of mortalities between birth and 14 days of
age/Total number of kids born alive |
Jordan | LMIC | Extensively managed flocks | Aldomy et al., 2009 |
| Mortality between 48 hours to 1 month of age | Jordan | LMIC | Transhumant and sedentary systems | Al-Khaza'leh et al., 2020 | |
| Deaths of newborn animals between 48 hours
and 1 month of age |
Ethiopia | LMIC | Mixed crop-livestock, pastoral/
agropastoral, & market-oriented urban/ peri-urban dairy production |
Fentie et al., 2020 | |
| Pre-weaning mortality | Mortality between 48 hours and 70 days | Israel | HIC | Semi-extensive | Rattner et al., 1994 |
| Overall kid mortality
rate |
Abortion rate + pre-weaning (<3mo) mortality rate | Sudan | LMIC | Traditional pastoralism | El-Hassan El-Abid & Nikhaila, 2009 |
| Number of deaths/Average number of kids from
birth to weaning age (3 months) during one-year period. i.e. half of death was subtracted from live births as no other losses were encountered before weaning. |
Jordan | LMIC | Transhumant and sedentary systems | Al-Khaza'leh et al., 2020 | |
| Number of deaths in kids younger than six months/
Total number of kids born |
Mali | LMIC | Traditional system | Ba et al., 1996 | |
| Number of deaths between birth and 12 months of
age/Total number of kids born |
Ghana | LMIC | Traditional/semi-intensive | Turkson, 2003 | |
| Preweaning mortality | Number of deaths until 90 days of age/Total births | Ethiopia | LMIC | Smallholder farms using tethered feeding
or pastoralist systems |
Deribe et al., 2014 |
| Mortality from birth until weaning at 3 months of
age |
Sudan | LMIC | Traditional pastoralism | El-Hassan El-Abid & Nikhaila, 2009 | |
| Mortality between 1-3 months | Jordan | LMIC | Transhumant and sedentary systems | Al-Khaza'leh et al., 2020 | |
| Early pre-weaning
mortality |
Deaths of young stock between 1-3 months of age | Ethiopia | LMIC | Mixed crop-livestock, pastoral/
agropastoral, & market-oriented urban/ peri-urban dairy production |
Fentie et al., 2020 |
| Mortality rate of
suckling stock |
Deaths in 0–6-month-old stock/ Animal-
days*365*100 |
Malawi | LMIC | Crop/livestock smallholder farms | Chikagwa-Malunga & Banda, 2006 |
| Mean annual birth-to-
weaning young stock mortality |
Number of deaths of young stock (up to 6 months
for goats) in the study for one year/Number of live births within that particular study year |
Ethiopia | LMIC | Mixed crop-livestock, pastoral/
agropastoral, & market-oriented urban/ peri-urban dairy production |
Fentie et al., 2020 |
| Post-weaning mortality | Mortality between 70 – 180 days | Israel | HIC | Semi-extensive | Rattner et al., 1994 |
| Late pre-weaning
mortality |
Death of young stock between 3–6 months of age | Ethiopia | LMIC | Mixed crop-livestock, pastoral/
agropastoral, & market-oriented urban/ peri-urban dairy production |
Fentie et al., 2020 |
| Young stock mortality | Number of kids that died aged 12 months or
younger in one calendar year/Total number of kids born in the same calendar year |
Afghanistan | LMIC | Not specified | Bartels et al., (2017) |
| Young animal mortality | Number of goats <12 months that died during the
observation period/ number of young animals bon in the same period |
Afghanistan | LMIC | Village production systems | Schreuder et al., 1996 |
| Mortality rate of
rearing males |
Deaths in 6-18-month-old males/ Animal-
days*365*100 |
Malawi | LMIC | Crop/livestock smallholder farms | Chikagwa-Malunga & Banda, 2006 |
| Mortality rate of
rearing and breeding females |
Deaths in females aged 6 months and older/
Animal-days*365*100 |
Malawi | LMIC | Crop/livestock smallholder farms | Chikagwa-Malunga & Banda, 2006 |
| Annual adult mortality | Number of adult (>12 months old or mated) goats
that died (including emergency slaughter) during a one-year observation period/ number of adult animals present at the start of the year |
Afghanistan | LMIC | Village production systems | Schreuder et al., 1996 |
| Mortality rate of
breeding males |
Deaths in >18 month-old males/ Animal-
days*365*100 |
Malawi | LMIC | Crop/livestock smallholder farms | Chikagwa-Malunga & Banda, 2006 |
a As classified by The World Bank Group: LMIC = low- and middle-income country; HIC = high-income country
All studies are from low- and -middle income countries practicing mainly traditional forms of production.