The causes and influence of factors on preweaning mortality rate of Thai-native and Anglo-Nubian crossbred kids raised at the Small Ruminant Research and Development Centre, Faculty of Natural Resources, Prince of Songkla University, were studied. Out of 1,660 kids born during the period of study (1993-2000), 313 kids died. Major causes of death were still-birth and still-born, weak-starvation complex, accident, helminthiasis and infection. Genotype, birth weight, birth type, season and year of birth significantly (P<0.05) influenced the mortality rate (18.9%) of kids. Mortality rate for 75% AngloNubian cross-bred kids (32.4%) was higher than those for other genotypes (14.5-20.1%). Mortality rate for kids born with a birth weight of less than 1 kg was highest (62.2%) and mortality decreased as birth weight of kid increased. Kids from triple birth had the highest mortality rate (32.7%) followed by those from twin (19.3%) and single birth (9.8%). Mortality rates for kids born during the heavy rainy season (September-December) were greater (22.1%) than those for kids born during the dry season (17.8%) and light rainy season (15.0%). Mortality rates for kids born in different years varied, with the highest and lowest occurring in 1999 (37.0%) and 2000 (9.8%), respectively. The majority of the mortality occurred during one month after kidding, with 51.1% and 22.7% occurring during 0-7 day and 8-30 day postkidding, respectively.
