Je. Huston et al., EFFECTS OF SUPPLEMENTATION ON INTAKE, GROWTH-RATE, AND FLEECE PRODUCTION BY FEMALE ANGORA KID GOATS GRAZING RANGELAND, Journal of animal science, 71(11), 1993, pp. 3124-3130
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 an
d 1990, respectively. The goats were either not supplemented (negative
control, NC) or fed isoenergetic amounts of corn (C), a corn/cottonse
ed 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 provid
ed 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. In
takes of supplement and forage were measured using a dual-marker techn
ique. Forage intake was not increased with supplemental feeding ( P =
.21), but tended ( P = .08) to be greater with high-protein supplement
s than with C. Total digestible DMI was greater (P < .01) for suppleme
nted goats and was not affected by supplement type. Supplemental feedi
ng increased BW gain (P < .01) and clean fleece weight (CFW; P < . 0 1
). High-protein supplements increased BW gain (P < .01), CFW (P = .07)
, fiber diameter (FD; P < .01), and staple length (P < .01) compared w
ith 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). Supplemen
tal feeding increased total digestible DMI by partial substitution (co
rn) for forage or addition (high-protein supplements) to forage, and b
oth energy and protein increased BW gain and CFW and influenced mohair
traits.