DETERMINATION OF THE TOXICITY OF MOLASSES IN NUBIAN GOATS

Molasses at 10, 30 or 50% of the diet for 12 w was not toxic to goats and could be used as an inexpensive substitute for sorghum grain. No a nimals showed signs or lesions of illness attributable to feeding mola sses. There were no differences among treatment groups in any of the f ollowing parameters : WBC, RBC , PCV , Hb, MCV, MCHC, GOT, uric acid, urea, cholesterol, and zinc. Serum creatinine, total protein, iron. co pper, magnesium and calcium varied between groups but remained within the ranges for normal goats. Feedlot performance indicated that utiliz ation of molasses energy for body weight gain was a function of intake ; feeding 50% dietary molasses did not produce economic weight gain.