THE EFFECT OF LEVEL OF ENERGY-INTAKE ON RECTAL TEMPERATURE AND MAINTENANCE REQUIREMENTS OF WEST-AFRICAN DWARF GOATS

In two separate experiments, the digestible organic matter intake (DOM I) of adult male West African Dwarf goats was measured. Thirteen anima ls had unrestricted access to feed and 13 others a restricted diet of pelleted lucerne, ranging from 50% up to 140% of maintenance requireme nts. Four animals received ad libitum grass hay and four others had ad libitum grass straw. Every morning, rectal temperature (RT) was measu red before feeding. Plotted against DOMI, rectal temperature yielded t he following equation as estimated for all animals (s.e,m. in brackets ): RT = 37,56 (+/- 0.11) + 0.025 (+/-0.003) DOMI, n=34, r.s.d. = 0.21 , R-2=0.67. RT was not significantly (P>0.2) influenced by experiment, diet type, or system of feeding, but was by the energy intake. The lo wer RT in animals with low DOMI may be related to a decrease in mainte nance requirements of these animals.