nutrient requirement and feeding habbits of goats

7/28/2019 Nutrient Requirement and Feeding habbits of Goats

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Nutrient Requirement and Feeding of Goats

Feeding habits of goats:

Due to rustic and hardly qualities they enable them to withstand with dryenvironment much better than other livestock.

Goats require very less quality of feed where compared with dairy cow feed(1/5th to 1/8th). Dairy goat provides stable is income to farmer in spite of alladverse condition through milk, meat, hide and manure. Manure is a good sourceof fertilizers as it contains nutrients in higher quantity leads to increasing soilfertility. A large variety of tree leaves serve as promising feed resource for goats.

By means of their mobile upper lips and very prehensile tongue, goats are able tograze on very short grasses and to browse on foliage not normally eaten by otherdomestic livestock. They thrives on herbs, all sorts of weeds, wild plants,peelings of vegetable and fruits and even all kitchen washes which are not

normally relished by other livestock. Goats have fastidious eating habits and they will accept wide variety of feed,

appreciate it and thrive on it but it is seen that what is acceptable to one goat isnot always acceptable others. Goats are fond of leguminous fodders. They donot relish fodder like silage or straw sorghum, maize etc. In general goat willrefuse any kind of food which has been soiled by himself of by any other animal.

As goats are selective feeders they will consume certain species of fodders atdefinite stapes of maturity and reject them at other times. Goats relish eatingaromatic herbs in scarcity that's why they can deeply migrated into the desert.Goat can distinguish bitter, sweat, salty and sour tastes and goats have highertolerance for bitter taste than cattle.

In case of goats kids rumen is not developed at birth which becomes fullyfunctional at 3 to 4 months but young kids start picking grass at 2 to 3 weeks ofage. In general, digestive efficiency of goats is more efficient to digest crude fiberand lignin.

The rumen metabolic reaction with NH3 and total volatile fatty acids production ishighest in goats, lowest in cattle and intermediate in sheep. The basal metabolicrate and thyroxin production in goats are higher than sheep and cattle i.e. thereason that goats require somewhat greater maintenance ration thanrecommended for sheep and cattle.

Goats have early age of maturity, short gestation period, milk production at earlyage i.e. within 10-12 months when fed well and properly managed than other

livestock. Goats are prolific breeder; they can give birth to twins or triplets.Kidding occurs three times in two years.

Mostly the goats are kept with the sheep in mixed flocks where sheep graze thegrass cover and goats browse the shrubs. They do not compete for feeds.Pastures/ forages are the cheapest feed sources for both sheep and goatproduction.

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Dry matter intake:In Indian goat DMI is 35-80g/WO.75 kg with a mean of 70 g/WO.75 kg. It is 3.2% of

the body weight. The dry matter intake in the goats varies according to the energydensity of the diet and the physical character of the diet and the physical character ofthe roughage. The dry matter in the growing kids ranges between 35-50 g/W

0.75kg

whereas in lactating Jamunapari goat it ranges between 120-140 g/kg W0.75

.

Nutrient requirements for maintenance:The DCP and CP requirement is 112 g and 260g per 100 kg body weight. Energy

requirements vary from 113-125 kcal ME/WO.75 kg. An average of 119 kcal of ME/kgWO.75 Kg was taken to calculate the energy requirement for mature goats. Kearl hasreported a value of 6.7 kcal ME/ g gain. Whereas for 1 kg 4 percent fat corrected milk,milk energy required is 1240 Kcal /kg of milk. A small breed of 30 Kg have required980g DM, 543g TDN and 52 g DCP as maintenance ration whereas a large breed of 45kg body weight has 1362 g DM, 756 g TDN and 72 g DCP as maintenance requirement.

Feeding standards of goat:No systematic study appears to have been reported in the literature regarding

nutrients requirements for various physiological stages of goats. However, on the basisof several feeding trials it has been observed that the dry matter intake of goat is higher

in comparison to large farm animal which is about 3-4 percent of live weight. On thebasis of work done in the country and NRC requirement for sheep feeding, tentativerequirements of goats feeding have been shown as:

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A balanced feeding program for goats should contain forages, hay, grains andbrowse and shrub plants. Relative to feeding the breeding herd, young kids and yearlingkeep in mind the following points.

A ration that is modified whenever necessary to meet the requirements of the

animals during different stages of their reproductive cycle is usually moreeconomical. The amount of feed allowed should be accurately adjusted to the requirement of

the animal at each stage of the reproduction cycle. Feeds of similar nutritive value can be interchanged in the ration in order to

obtain essential nutrient from the cheapest available source.

Creep feeding:The size of adult goat is much variable and it ranges from 25 kg to 50 kg according

to the breed. Therefore, a wide variation in the birth weight of kids is recorded.Depending upon the breed and the nutritional status of the pregnant doe, birth weight ofkid ranges from 1 to 5 kg. Feeding of kids should starts on creep ration immediately

after 1-2 weeks of age. To spare the goat milk for human consumption and to get afaster gain in kids it is required to provide them a balance starter feed known as creepration up to 10 weeks of age. After nursing the kids for 4-7 days on colostrums and milk,kids should be separated from their dams and kept away on starter ration. They shouldbe allowed restricted suckling 2 to 3 times a day or should be bottle-fed a definiteamount of milk. Free choice legume hay, mineral and drinking water should be madeavailable along with the starter ration. A few examples of starter/creep rations calculatedto supply about 12 to 18 percent DCP and 70 to 78 percent TDN have been given inTable.

Substitution or replacement of some feed ingredient with other feed ingredients mayalso be done. The alternate feed ingredients should be locally available and cheep.Linseed cake, sesame cake, kusum cake or mustard cake may be used to replaceground nut cake. Jowar, bajra and ragi may be used to substitute 1/3 of cereal grains.Rice bran, small millets may be used to replace wheat bran on weight by weight basis.

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Feeding schedule of kids:It is essential that the kids receive colostrums within one hour after birth.

Colostrums feeding should be carried out for 3-4 days. Kids can nurse by the dams or

be fed the dam's milk by bottle or pan. In a larger herd, the weaning should be practicedjust after birth. The milk should be boiled and fed after cooling at body temperature. Useof antibiotics in prescribed dose in water will give the kids additional protection againstbacterial infection. The kids should be fed thrice daily for first week and then feeding ofmilk may be restricted to twice daily. With multiple births, weaker kids often requirespecial attention particularly at the time of suckling. Overfeeding of milk should beavoided otherwise it may cause diarrhea. The following feeding schedule for kids andadult goats is followed at NDRI, Karnal given below.

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Total intake of colostrum per day for first 2-3 days should be 250-500 ml dependingupon body size of kids. Both under feeding and overfeeding of milk are harmful to healthas well as growth of kids. Large volume may be divided into multiple small volumedoses. Early consumption forage and concentrate must be encouraged which isessential for the early development of rumen and digestion of forage and concentrate.

Grower feeding ration:A complete ration providing 9-10% DCP and 60 to 65% TDN with 20 to 25% DM fromgood quality roughage will meet the requirements. Fodders containing less protein andenergy are to be balance with the concentrate mixture. Two to six months of period isconsidered to be the active growth period for the goats. A 500 g green fodder + 100-200 g dry fodder + 250-300 g concentrate mixture along with 6 hour grazing is sufficientto meet out the nutrient requirement of growers.

At 6-9 months of age:0.5-1.0 kg green fodder + 200-250 g dry fodder + 250-300 g concentrate mixture alongwith 6 hours grazing is required for better growth.At 9-12 months age:1.5-2.0 kg green fodder + 200 g dry fodder+ 300-350 g concentrate mixture + 6 hourgrazing will meet out all essential nutrient requirements.

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Maize can be replaced by jowar and rice polish. Dal chunies may be replaced by pea,gram and lobia etc., a mixture of any cereal grains and wheat/rice bran in 1:1 ratio willsupply the required amount for growing kids. To substitute any feed ingredients, itsavailability and cost should be taken into account before ration formulation.

Finisher ration for goats:Generally, one third gains in body weight are achieved during finishing period.

According to market demand feeding regime has to be regularized in the finishingperiod. For fatty carcass cereal based energy rich feeds are required to be fed. Theroughage should constitute about 20-25 percent DM for fatty finish and 30-40 percentfor lean carcass production. A complete ration providing 5-6 percent DCP and 60-65percent TDN is quite satisfactory for finishing period. In general, nutrient requirementsof goats are summarized as:

Formulation of concentrate mixture:While preparing a concentrate mixture for goats, it must be kept in mind that it should bepalatable and contain all essential nutrients in adequate amount. It should be preparedby using the cheap and. locally available feed ingredients.

Concentrate mixture for adultsBarley /maize/bajra 32Ground nut cake/Lin seed cake/Til cake 30Wheat/rice bran 15Pulse chuni 15Mineral mix + common salt 03

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Feeding of yearling does:Most of the female and a few male kids arc reared for breeding purposes. For themfeeding is so adjusted that sexual maturity and body size of 15-25 kg live weight in smallbreeds and 20-25 kg in large breed are achieved at about one year of age. When goodpastures and high quality forages are available, concentrate feeding is not essential to

the growing yearling doe. However, concentrate feeding can increase growth rate,decrease the age at first breeding and increase overall lifetime performance.

Yearling does should be fed enough for maintenance and growth but not enough tofatten them. After weaning at 8-10 kg body weight, no supplementary feeding ofconcentrate is required on good pasture, high quality hay and good browsing conditions.However, in lean period 250 g to 500 g concentrate mixture providing 10 to 12 percentDCP and 68 to 70 percent TDN may be required.

8 hours grazing can be done for roughage requirement.

Feeding of pregnant goats:The nutrient requirement during pregnancy is increased due to increased body weightand fetal growth. Young replacement does being bred for the first time will needadditional supplementation so that they can continue to grow and develop during thisperiod. Hence, special care should be taken during feeding of pregnant does.Therefore, particularly during the last month of pregnancy the goat should be fedleguminous fodder in ad-libitum quantity and concentrates at the level of400g1 goat forsmaller and large breeds may be given in addition to the maintenance requirement.

Amount of supplementation will vary with the quality and quantity of available forage.The additional requirement for late pregnancy is important, because of the rapid growthof the fetus during this period. Underfed animals at late stage of pregnancy may sufferfrom pregnancy toxemia which may lead to stress and abortions. Free access to good

pasture and roughage plus concentrate at a level of 0.2 to 0.7 kg per day (dependingupon the condition of doe) is usually recommended for pregnant dry does.

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Feeding of lactating goats:The most important factors to be taken into considerations while formulating the rationof lactating does are body weight and stage of gestation, milk yield and fat percentagein milk, availability of forages, their feeding values and cost of feed ingredients. Inlactating goats 400g/ day/goat of concentrate over the maintenance ration will be

sufficient. The quantity of concentrate may be reduced or increased proportionatelyaccording to the quantity of milk produced. For example, if a dairy goat is producing 500g milk per day, it would need 200 g of concentrate mixture/ day in addition to itsmaintenance requirement.In winter season lot of body energy is wasted for body protection and thermal regulationso milk production goes down and animal also looses body weight. Therefore, in theextreme winter conditions the goat should be provided with extra ration as to protectagainst seasonal hazards. Few concentrate mixtures for lactating goats are givenbelow:

Generally, grass alone (except if highly nutritious) cannot adequately meet the energyrequirements of a lactating doe, particularly in instances where the doe has 2-3 kidsnursing. Under nutrition at this stage can cause reduced milk production, low kidsgrowth rate and excessive weight loss as the doe mobilizes her body reserves for milkproduction. Therefore, dose should be fed at 14-15 percent crude protein ration. Themost important factors to be taken into considerations while formulating the ration oflactating does are body weight and stage of gestation, litter size, milk yield and fatpercentage in milk, availability of forages, their nutritive values and cost of feedingredients.In lactating goats concentrate mixture at the rate of 400g/ day goat over themaintenance ration will be sufficient. The quantity of concentrate may be reduced or

increased proportionately according to the quantity of milk produced. For example, if adairy goat is producing 500 g milk per day, it would need 200 g of concentrate mixture/day in addition to its maintenance requirement. In winter season lot of body energy iswasted for body protection and thermal regulation so milk production goes down andanimal also looses body weight. Therefore, in the extreme winter conditions the goatshould be provided with extra ration as to protect against seasonal hazards. Fewconcentrate mixtures for lactating goats are given below.

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Feeding of dry doe:

A dry doe that has been recently been weaned from her kids can be maintained ongood quality pasture or fed high quality hay depending on her physical condition atweaning. Very thin animals are adversely affected by the stress of lactation (especiallythose that give birth to twin and triplets) may need some supplementation (extra gain orhay) in addition to forage to adequately prepare them for ensuing breeding season. Agood lactating goat cannot eat enough during her peak of production and she usessome of her reserve during lactation. Good leguminous fodders will meet itsmaintenance and other needs. However, if good fodder is not available then the goatshould be fed with 400g concentrates daily. Good nutrition during dry period will reflectinto next lactating period.

Feeding of breeding bucks:

When buck not being used for breeding then good pasture alone will maintain bucks ingood health. A buck needs only 12-14 percent protein in diet. There should be extrasupplementation of 400-500g concentrate twice protein source two weeks before andduring breeding season which gradually reduced to one time after breeding season.Breeding bucks should be fed at a rate of 3.0-3.5 percent of live weight and rationproviding 4.0-6.0 percent DCP and 50-60 percent TDN with sufficient minerals andvitamins will maintain normal health and fertility. Good pasture alone will maintain thebuck in good health when not used for breeding. Breeding bucks should be given goodquality fodder to meat out their maintenance requirements. In addition to that, each buckshould be offered concentrate mixture @ 400 g and 500 g/ day / animal for smaller andlarger breeds, respectively during active breeding season only. Avoid excessive weight

gain when buck is inactive.

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nutrient requirement and feeding habbits of goats

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