Feeding behavior and physiological parameters of goats fed with detoxified castor cake at different stages of pregnancy

ABSTRACT

We evaluated the influence of the substitution of soybean meal (SM) by detoxified castor cake (DCC) on the feeding behavior and physiological parameters of pregnant goats and fed with diets containing DCC by alkaline solutions in confinement regime during the stages of pregnancy (first two thirds third and final). Three diets were provided to the experimental animals: a herbal of soybean meal, and two others with detoxified castor (DCC) with calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)₂) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH). The goats fed with NaOH DCC showed the lowest fuel intake, both DM and NDFap (P < 0.05). This variation in intake of DM directly influences at the time of supply, where we observed that the goats fed with NaOH DCC spent less time in this activity, which spent more time on other activities. In relation to the gestational phase, we observed that there was no effect (P > 0.05) on the intake of DM, NDFap, feeding time, rumination, idle and other activities. The detoxified castor with sodium hydroxide reduces the dry matter intake and feed efficiency of goats during pregnancy. The physiological parameters are influenced both by the diets as the stages of pregnancy, but without negative changes indicating that animal stress or discomfort.

KEYWORDS:

• Consumption of water
• feed efficiency
• gestational age
• Ricinus communis
• alkaline solutions

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Coordenação de aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal do Nível Superior (CAPES) for financing the project and for post-graduate scholarships; to Embrapa Caprinos e Ovinos for all the technical and installation/infrastructure support; to the Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa (CNPQ) for the grants; and to Agroindústria OLVEq Ltda. for donating the castor cake for conducting the research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.