Effects of supplementation on intake, growth rate, and fleece production by female Angora kid goats grazing rangeland.

ABSTRACT

Ninety-eight and 88 female Angora kid goats (6 mo of age) were grazed/browsed on Edwards Plateau rangeland in 92- and 88-d trials in 1989 and 1990, respectively. The goats were either not supplemented (negative control, NC) or fed isoenergetic amounts of corn (C), a corn/cottonseed meal/molasses mixture (C/CSM), or a corn/cottonseed meal/fish meal/molasses mixture (C/CSM/FM). The C/CSM and C/CSM/FM supplements provided equal CP but different amounts of ruminally undegraded protein (UDP). The goats were allowed to graze/browse in a common pasture and were separated into treatment groups three times each week for feeding. Intakes of supplement and forage were measured using a dual-marker technique. Forage intake was not increased with supplemental feeding (P = .21), but tended (P = .08) to be greater with high-protein supplements than with C. Total digestible DMI was greater (P < .01) for supplemented goats and was not affected by supplement type. Supplemental feeding increased BW gain (P < .01) and clean fleece weight (CFW; P < .01). High-protein supplements increased BW gain (P < .01), CFW (P = .07), fiber diameter (FD; P < .01), and staple length (P < .01) compared with C. Greater amounts of UDP (C/CSM/FM) did not increase BW gain (P = .99) but tended to increase CFW (P = .12) and FD (P = .15). Supplemental feeding increased total digestible DMI by partial substitution (corn) for forage or addition (high-protein supplements) to forage, and both energy and protein increased BW gain and CFW and influenced mohair traits.