Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-wq484 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T03:22:31.170Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

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

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

REFERENCES

Association of Official Analytical Chemists (1990). Official Methods of Analysis, 15th Edn. Arlington: Association of Official Analytical Chemists.Google Scholar
Aziz, N. N., Murray, D. M. & Ball, R. O. (1992). The effect of live weight gain and live weight loss on body composition of Merino wethers: dissected muscle, fat and bone. Journal of Animal Science 70, 1819–1828.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bell, A.W., Battaglia, F. C. & Meschia, G. (1987). Relation between metabolic rate and body size in the ovine fetus. Journal of Nutrition 117, 1181–1186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burrin, D. G., Britton, R. A. & Ferrell, C. L. (1988). Visceral organ size and hepatocyte metabolic activity in fed and fasted rats. Journal of Nutrition 118, 1547–1552.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burrin, D. G., Ferrell, C. L., Eisemann, J. H., Britton, R. A. & Nienaber, J. A. (1989). Effect of level of nutrition on splanchnic blood flow and oxygen consumption in sheep. British Journal of Nutrition 62, 23–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Butler-Hogg, B. W. (1984). Growth patterns in sheep: changes in the chemical composition of the empty body and its constituent parts during weight loss and compensatory growth. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 103, 17–24.Google Scholar
Drouillard, J. S., Klopfenstein, T. J., Britton, R. A., Bauer, M. L., Gramlich, S. M., Wester, T. J. & Ferrell, C. L. (1991). Growth, body composition, and visceral organ mass and metabolism in lambs during and after metabolizable protein or net energy restrictions. Journal of Animal Science 69, 3357–3375.Google Scholar
Edmonson, A. J., Lean, I. J., Weaver, L. D., Farver, T. & Webster, G. (1989). A body condition scoring chart for Holstein dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science 72, 68–78.Google Scholar
Fagan, J. M. & Tischler, M. E. (1986). Reduction-oxidation state and protein degradation in skeletal muscle of fasted and refed rats. Journal of Nutrition 116, 2028–2033.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ferrell, C. L. & Koong, L. J. (1986). Influence of plane of nutrition on body composition, organ size and energy utilization of Sprague-Dawley rats. Journal of Nutrition 116, 2525–2535.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ferrell, C. L., Koong, L. J. & Nienaber, J. A. (1986). Effect of previous nutrition on body composition and maintenance energy costs of growing lambs. British Journal of Nutrition 56, 595–605.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Instituto Nacional De Estadística, Geografía e Informática (1986). Sintesis Geográfica. Nomenclatyra y Anexo Cartográfico del Estado de Querétaro. Secretaría de Programación y Presupuesto. México, D.F., 9–12.Google Scholar
Koong, L. J., Nienaber, J. A. & Mersmann, H. J. (1983). Effects of plane on nutrition on organ size and fasting heat production in genetically obese and lean pigs. Journal of Nutrition 113, 1625–1631.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koong, L. J., Ferrell, C. L. & Nienaber, J. A. (1985). Assessment of interrelationships among levels of intake and production, organ size and fasting heat production in growing animals. Journal of Nutrition 115, 1383–1390.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ledger, H. P. & Sayers, A. R. (1977). The utilization of dietary energy by steers during periods of restricted food intake and subsequent realimentation. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 88, 11–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murray, D. M. & Slezacek, O. (1988). The effect of weight stasis on the dissected carcass composition of crossbred sheep. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 39, 645–651.Google Scholar
National Research Council (1982). Nutrient Requirements of Goats. Washington, DC: National Academic Press.Google Scholar
ørskov, E. R. (1982). Protein Nutrition in Ruminants. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
ørskov, E. R. & Ryle, M. (1990). Energy Nutrition in Ruminants. London: Elsevier Applied Science.Google Scholar
Statistical Analysis System (1988). SAS/STAT User's Guide. Release 6.03 Edition. Cary, NC: SAS Institute.Google Scholar
Schaefer, A. L. & Krishnamurti, C. R. (1984). Whole body and tissue fractional protein synthesis in the ovine fetus in ulero. British Journal of Nutrition 52, 359–369.Google Scholar
Searle, T. W., Graham, N. McC. & O'Callaghan, M. (1972). Growth in sheep. I. The chemical composition of the body. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 79, 371–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar