Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T07:15:14.720Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Hay intake, milk production and rumen fermentation in British Saanen goats given concentrates varying widely in protein concentration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

M. S. Badamana  and
J. D. Sutton
M. S. Badamana
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, Hurley, Maidenhead SL6 5LR
J. D. Sutton
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, Hurley, Maidenhead SL6 5LR
Get access

Abstract

About 8 weeks after parturition six multiparous British Saanen goats with permanent rumen fistulas were allocated to three dietary treatments in a random sequence for three successive 30-day periods. The treatments were perennial ryegrass hay ad libitum with 1000 glday of concentrates containing 112 (low-protein, LP), 182 (high-protein, HP) or 255 (very high protein, VHP) g crude protein (CP) per kg dry matter (DM) daily. The CP concentration was increased by substitution of soya-bean meal for cereals. From day 19 of each period, when measurements were made, concentrate allowance was reduced to 850 glday and hay intake was offered at proportionately 0·10 more than consumption in the previous 6 days. Hay intake and milk yield increased linearly with CP in the concentrates, but differences between HP and VHP were small and non-significant. Milk composition was unaffected by the treatments, so yields of milk solids followed the same trends as yields of milk, but these were only significant for solids-not-fat. The digestibility of neutral-detergent fibre, acid-detergent fibre and nitrogen (N) all increased with increasing CP, but significantly so only for N; the digestibility of DM and organic matter was unaffected.

The digestibility of the hay incubated in the rumen was unaffected by the treatments. With increasing N intake, faecal, urine and milk N increased linearly as did apparently digested N but N retention did not follow a consistent pattern. Rumen volatile fatty acids and pH were unaffected but concentration of rumen ammonia and blood urea increased with increasing CP as did rumen fluid dilution rate. The results suggest that, with lactating goats given diets of moderate quality grass hay and concentrates containing soya-bean meal, responses to concentrations of CP greater than about 180 g/kg DM in the concentrates or 140 g CP per kg DM in the total diet are likely to be small.

Keywords

digestiongoatshaymilk productionprotein intake
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 54 , Issue 3 , June 1992 , pp. 395 - 403
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Badamana, M. S., Sutton, J. D., Oldham, J. D. and Mowlem, A. 1990. The effect of amount of protein in the concentrates on hay intake and rate of passage, diet digestibility and milk production in British Saanen goats. Animal Production 51: 333–342.Google Scholar
Binnerts, W. T., Van't Klooster, A. Th. and Frens, A. M. 1968. Soluble chromium indicator measured by atomic absorption in digestion experiments. Veterinary Record 82: 470.Google Scholar
Broster, W. H. and Alderman, G. 1977. Nutrient requirements of the high yielding cow. Livestock Production Science 4: 263–275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broster, W. H. and Thomas, C. 1981. The influence of level and pattern of concentrate input on milk output. In Recent advances in animal nutrition — 1981 (ed. Haresign, W.), pp. 49–69. Butterworths, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ciszuk, P. 1980. Nitrogen balance and digestibility in lactating goats on rations with varied nitrogen and energy sources. Report 53, Swedish University of Agricultural Uppsala.Google Scholar
Ciszuk, P. and Lindberg, J. E. 1988. Responses in feed intake, digestibility and nitrogen retention in lactating dairy goats fed increasing amounts of urea and fish meal. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica 38: 381–395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krohn, C. C. and Andersen, P. E. 1980. Different energy and protein levels for dairy cows in the early weeks of lactation. Livestock Production Science 7: 555–568.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leng, R. A. 1990. Factors affecting the utilization of ‘poor-quality’ forages by ruminants particularly under tropical conditions. Nutrition Research Reviews 3: 277–303.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lindahl, I. L. 1955. Goat feeding investigation. Annual Report of the Animal and Poultry Husbandry Research Agricultural Research Service. US Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC (cited by Morand-Fehr and Sauvant, 1978).Google Scholar
Lindahl, I. L. 1956. Goat feeding investigation. Annual Report of the Animal and Poultry Husbandry Research Agricultural Research Service. US Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC (cited by Morand-Fehr and Sauvant, 1978).Google Scholar
Lu, C. D., Inglesias, T. I., Nelson, R. R., Rubin, J. L. and Teh, T. H. 1984. Response of lactating dairy goats to dietary protein and energy levels. Journal of Dairy Science 67: suppl 1, pp. 132–133.Google Scholar
Marsh, W. H., Fingerhut, B. and Miller, H. 1965. Automated and manual methods for the determination of blood urea. Clinical Chemistry 44: 624–627.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDonald, I. 1981. A revised model for the estimation of protein degradability in the rumen. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 96: 251–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merry, R. J., Smith, R. H. and McAllan, A. B. 1982. Glycosyl ureides in ruminant nutrition. 1. Preparation and estimation of lactosyl urea and other glycosyl ureides. British Journal of Nutrition 48: 275–286.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland and Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland. 1975. Energy allowances and feeding systems for ruminants. Technical bulletin 33. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Morand-Fehr, P. and Sauvant, D. 1978. Nutrition and optimum performance of dairy goats. Livestock Production Science 5: 203–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morand-Fehr, P. and Sauvant, D. 1980. Composition and yield of goat milk as affected by nutritional manipulation. Journal of Dairy Science 63: 1671–1680.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ørskov, E. R. and McDonald, I. 1979. The estimation of protein degradability in the rumen from incubation measurements weighted according to rate of passage. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 92: 499–503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skjevdal, T. 1981. Effect on goat performances of given quantities of feedstuffs, and their planned distribution during the cycle of reproduction. In Nutrition and systems of goat feeding, vol. 1. (ed. Morand-Fehr, P., Bourbouze, A. and Simiane, M. De), pp. 300–318. ITOVIC-INRA, Tours, France.Google Scholar
Sutton, J. D. and Johnson, V. W. 1969. Fermentation in the rumen of cows given rations containing hay and flaked maize or rolled barley in widely different proportions. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 73: 459–468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar