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The effect of the length and severity of feed restriction on weight, carcass measurements and body composition of goats

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

O. Mora ,
A. Shimada  and
F. J. Ruiz
O. Mora
Affiliation:
Coordinatión de Estudios de Posgrado, Facultad de Estudios Superiores-Cuautitlán, Universidad National Autónoma de México, Cuautitlán-Izcalli, Estado de México, México
A. Shimada
Affiliation:
Coordinatión de Estudios de Posgrado, Facultad de Estudios Superiores-Cuautitlán, Universidad National Autónoma de México, Cuautitlán-Izcalli, Estado de México, México Centro National de Investigatión en Fisiología y Mejoramiento Animal, División Pecuaria, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias, Ajuchitlán, Querétaro, Apartado Postal 2–29, 76020 México
F. J. Ruiz
Affiliation:
Centro National de Investigatión en Fisiología y Mejoramiento Animal, División Pecuaria, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias, Ajuchitlán, Querétaro, Apartado Postal 2–29, 76020 México
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Summary

Two experiments were done in Mexico (1992–93) to determine the response of goats to different periods of feed restriction on liveweight, organ weights and tissue composition. In each, the weight, body condition and daily dry matter intake (DM1) of two groups of 12 female, adult, non-lactating, non-pregnant, Nubian crossbred goats were recorded for 7 weeks (stabilization period; SP), to allow the animals to reach and maintain their liveweight and body condition. At the end of the SP the animals in Expt 1 (RP1) were feed restricted for 18 weeks and for 36 weeks in Expt 2 (RP2). Animals were divided into three groups receiving either 100 (FL1), 80 (FL2) or 60% (FL3) of the levels of DM1 previously observed. At the end of each experimental period all animals were slaughtered, carcass weights were recorded and viscerae were weighed.

A sample of the soft tissues was chemically analysed. There were no significant changes in body condition in either experiment (P > 0·05). None of the feeding levels had an effect on carcass weight or the chemical composition of soft tissues (P > 0·05). Liver weights (as a proportion of slaughter weight) were significantly different among goats fed at different feeding levels in both experiments. The results of this study show the adaptation capacity of adult goats to medium and long term malnutrition, and the importance of the liver as a source for the generation of energy and for sustaining protein turnover. This could be especially important for goats grazing in arid and semiarid zones where dry periods can last for months and feed availability is therefore sometimes limited.

Type
Animals
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 127 , Issue 4 , December 1996 , pp. 549 - 553
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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