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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #166804
Title: ENERGY AND PROTEIN REQUIREMENTS OF GOATS: SUMMARY

Author
item SAHLU, T - LANGSTON UNIVERSITY, OK
item GOETSCH, A - LANGSTON UNIVERSITY, OK
item LUO, J - NW SCI-TECH UNIV, CHINA
item NSAHLAI, I - UNIV OF NATAL, S. AFRICA
item MOORE, J - UNIV FLORIDA, GAINESVILLE
item GALYEAN, M - TEXAS TECH UNIV, LUBBOCK
item OWENS, F - PIONEER HI-BRED INTERNAT.
item Ferrell, Calvin
item JOHNSON, Z - UNIV. OF ARKANSAS

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Experiment Station
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/5/2004
Publication Date: 4/2/2004
Citation: Sahlu, T., Goetsch, A.L., Luo, J., Nsahlai, I.V., Moore, J.E., Galyean, M.L., Owens, F.N., Ferrell, C.L., Johnson, Z.B. Energy and protein requirements of goats: summary. In: Proceedings of the 19th Annual Goat Field Day, April 24, 2004, Langston, Oklahoma, p. 168-170.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Because of the considerable period of time since nutrient requirements of goats have been evaluated, and existence of a considerable number of goat feeding and nutrition reports in the literature, a database of treatment mean observations was constructed and used to develop nutrient requirement expressions for goats. Requirements for metabolizable energy and protein were developed by regression analyses for different ages and biotypes of goats and for various physiological functions such as maintenance, tissue growth, milk production, and mohair fiber growth. In some instances simple linear regression with a factorial approach was employed, and in other cases requirements were determined via multiple regression. When the size and nature of particular databases were adequate, they were split into sets for equation development and evaluation. Development data set equations were used for prediction with the evaluation data set, and observed values were regressed against predictions to assess prediction accuracy and potential bias. Also, when insufficient data were available to directly determine requirements, such as energy and protein needs for pregnancy and the grazing activity energy cost, means of addressing until additional information becomes available were suggested. Because of the large amount of data on which the developed expressions were based, application of these estimates, in conjunction with appropriate adjustments for particular conditions, may lead to feeding of diets that will yield desired levels of performance by goats.