Concentrate supplementation of female goat kids grazing on Urochloa brizantha cv. MG 5

• Main Authors: Luiz Juliano Valério Geron, Jocilaine Garcia, Fabiana Gomes da Costa, Sheslei Ribeiro Pereira, Ana Paula da Silva, Sílvia Cristina de Aguiar, Gregory Duarte Juffo, Wemili Grazielli Santana, Joilma Toniolo Honório de Carvalho, Lucas Silva Roberto, Kallynka Samara Martins Coelho
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto de Zootecnia 2016-01-01
• Series: Boletim de Indústria Animal
• Subjects: consumo; ganho médio diário; matéria sexa; peso corporal
• Online Access: http://revistas.bvs-vet.org.br/bia/article/view/28944

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of concentrate supplementation of female goat kids grazing on Urochloa brizantha cv. MG 5 pasture at levels of 0%, 0.8% and 1.6% of their body weight (BW) on nutrient intake from the supplement and animal performance (average daily gain – ADG, total weight gain – TWG, feed conversion – FC, and feed efficiency – FE). Twelve female goat kids of undefined breed, with a mean BW of 15.43 ± 0.2 kg, were divided into three batches of 4 animals each and maintained in a MG 5 paddock measuring 0.6 ha. The supplement was offered to the animals daily, always in the afternoon. The concentrate supplement contained approximately 18% crude protein (CP) and 80% total digestible nutrients. A completely randomized design consisting of three experimental treatments (supplementation at 0%, 0.8% and 1.6% of BW) was used, with 4 repetitions per treatment. The supplement intake and animal performance data were submitted to analysis of variance and differences were tested by regression analysis at a probability of 5%. The intake of dry matter, organic matter, CP, ether extract and neutral detergent fiber, expressed as %BW and g/kg0.75, increased linearly (P<0.05) with increasing level of concentrate supplementation in the total diet of pasture-fed goats. The levels of concentrate supplementation did not alter (P>0.05) the ADG of pasture-fed goats. However, the different levels of concentrate supplementation (0%, 0.8% and 1.6% of BW) offered to goats altered FC in a linear manner. A quadratic effect was observed for FE, with a maximum value of 0.18 for the 1.0% level of concentrate supplementation. Concentrate supplementation up to 1.6% of BW does not alter the ADG or TWG of female goat kids grazing on MG 5 pasture.