Substituting ground woody plants for cottonseed hulls in kid goat feedlot diets: growth performance and blood serum chemistry

Rumen fermentation and microbiota in Shami goats fed on condensed tannins or herbal mixture

BACKGROUND

Phytochemical compounds can modify the rumen microbiome and improve rumen fermentation. This study evaluated the impact of supplementation with tannin and an herbal mixture containing ginger (Zingiber officinale), garlic (Allium sativum), Artemisia (Artemisia vulgaris), and turmeric (Curcuma longa) on the rumen fermentation and microbiota, and histology of rumen tissue of goats. Eighteen Shami male goats were divided into three groups (n = 6): non-supplemented animals fed the basal diet (C, control); animals fed basal diet and supplemented with condensed tannin (T); and animals fed basal diet and supplemented with herbal mixture (HM). Each animal received a basal diet composed of Alfalfa hay and a concentrate feed mixture.

RESULTS

Group HM revealed higher (P < 0.05) rumen pH, total volatile fatty acids (VFA), acetic, propionic, isobutyric, butyric, isovaleric, and valeric. Principal Co-ordinate analysis (PCoA) showed that rumen microbial communities in the control group and supplemented groups were distinct. The supplementation increased (P < 0.05) the relative abundances of phylum Bacteroidota and Proteobacteria and declined (P < 0.05) Firmicutes and Fibrobacterota. Additionally, the dominant genus Prevotella and Rikenellaceae RC9 gut group were increased (P < 0.05) and the family Ruminococcaceae was declined (P < 0.05) due to the supplementation. The supplementation decreased (P < 0.05) the archaeal genus Methanobrevibacter and increased (P < 0.05) Candidatus Methanomethylophilus. Tannin supplementation in T group shortened the rumen papillae.

CONCLUSIONS

The results revealed that the herbal mixture might be used to alter the rumen microbiota to improve rumen fermentation.

Influence of tannin-rich pine bark supplementation in the grain mixes for meat goats: Growth performance, blood metabolites, and carcass characteristics

The objective was to evaluate the use of condensed tannin (CT)-rich ground pine bark (PB) in grain mixed diets on meat goat growth performance, blood metabolites, and carcass characteristics. Twenty four Kiko crossbred (Capra aegagrus hircus) growing male kids (BW = 36.9 ± 2.5 kg) at approximately 8 months of age were assigned randomly to 2 treatments with 3 replicates per treatment and 4 goats per replicate. The goats were fed grain mixed diets composed of either 30% bermudagrass hay (BGH) plus concentrate (control) or 30% PB plus concentrate. Diets were fed at 1.2% of BW. In addition, all goats grazed a crabgrass/bermudagrass (CB)-based pasture. The feeding trial lasted for 55 d. Using ground PB as a supplement did not negatively affect BW, average daily gain (ADG), carcass characteristics, meat pH, and meat color compared to the control diet. Plasma gamma-glutamyl transferase (P = 0.03), glucose (P < 0.01) and Ca concentrations (P = 0.04) were higher for PB than for BGH, respectively. The 30% PB supplementation does not negatively affect animal performance, blood metabolites, and carcass parameters.

Effects of Decreasing Dietary Crude Protein Level on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestion, Serum Metabolites, and Nitrogen Utilization in Growing Goat Kids (Capra hircus)

Simple Summary

Reducing the dietary protein content could potentially reduce losses of nitrogen from ruminant farms and mitigate pressure on the protein ingredient supply. However, there is little information in the literature on the effect of low-protein diets in growing Anhui white goat kids. We demonstrated that decreasing the dietary crude protein level in Anhui white goat kids affected growth performance, improved nitrogen utilization, and reduced environmental nitrogen pollution. The key finding of this study was that a diet containing 13.4% crude protein supplied adequate protein to improve nitrogen utilization in white goat kids without any adverse effect on growth performance.

Abstract

The effects of decreasing dietary crude protein (CP) level on growth performance, nutrient digestion, serum metabolites, and nitrogen utilization in growing goat kids were investigated in the current study. Thirty-six male Anhui white goat kids were randomly assigned to one of three CP content diets: 14.8% (control), 13.4%, and 12.0% of dry matter, respectively. Diets were isoenergetic. The experiment lasted for 14 weeks, with the first two weeks being for adaptation. Results showed that the low-CP diet decreased average daily gain, feed efficiency, digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, and fiber. No significant changes were observed in dry-matter intake. With a decrease in dietary CP level, fecal nitrogen excretion (% of nitrogen intake) increased linearly, whereas CP intake, blood urea nitrogen, urinary nitrogen excretion (% of nitrogen intake), and total nitrogen excretion (% of nitrogen intake) decreased. Serum glucose concentration decreased, while concentrations of low-density lipoproteins and non-esterified fatty acids increased with the low-CP diet. In conclusion, decreasing the dietary CP level decreased goats’ nitrogen excretion, but with restrictive effects on growth performance. A diet containing 13.4% CP is optimal for reducing nitrogen excretion without any adverse effect on growth performance of Anhui white goat kids. This concentration is 1.4% points lower than the NRC recommendations and thus is also environmentally beneficial on the input side because it decreases the use of feed (soy) protein.