Weaning stress management in Beetal kids under stall-fed conditions

Abstract

With an objective to reduce the weaning stress through improved body reserves, 24 Beetal kids weighing 3–4 kg, ageing 5 days, were randomly distributed in three treatments i.e. W_2:3 (Soybean oil at 3% of concentrate feed of up to 2 months and by-pass fat at 3% thereafter for 3 months), W_3:2 (Soybean oil up to 3 months and by-pass fat for 2 months at same dose of W_2:3) and W_0:0 (No additional supplementation, Control). Different observations like milk, feed, fodder intake and body weight were recorded for 150 days. The concentrate feed intake was significantly (P < 0.01) higher in W_2:3 and W_3:2 group than control. Average daily gain (ADG) was 22.98% and 15.53% higher in W_2:3 and W_3:2 over control (W_0:0), respectively. The feed conversion ratio (FCR) was slightly higher in control than other two treatment groups. It was concluded that supplementing diet with soybean oil for 2 months and by-pass fat for 3 months from birth at the rate of 3% of feed could be a suitable strategy for improving the body reserve of kids as well as for getting better performance in terms of body weight, ADG and FCR.

Keywords:

• weaning
• stress
• kids
• by-pass fat
• oil

1. Introduction

Indian goat production system, with highest population of 157.00 million in the world (FAOSTAT 2012), is observing fast transformation from extensive to stall-feeding system for a variety of reasons (Argüello 2011). Probably some of them are shrinkage of natural grazing land caused by changed cropping pattern, urbanization, industrialization, etc. Goat production under stall-fed conditions requires standardization of different goat husbandry practices. Weaning, an unavoidable husbandry practice, generally results in weaning shock (Lynch et al. 2010), lesser feed intake, slower growth rate, coccidiosis, enteritis, pneumonia, pneumo-enteritis, etc. (Chandrahas 2011). Possible reasons may be breakage of dam-kid bond, change of diet from nutritious milk to solid feed, poor feed intake, gradual body reserve depletion, reduced immunity, growth of opportunistic microbes, etc. The consequences of this stressful post-weaning period depends on kid nutritional status and body conditions during pre-weaning which sometimes persists up to 2 months after weaning. To overcome various weaning-induced problems some strategies, which could improve kid's body reserves during pre-weaning period for subsequent utilization during post-weaning period, need to be developed. Feeding high-energy diets usually results in more deposition of fat in adipose tissues. Carbohydrates, fats or oils are the main sources of energy in the animals’ diet. Excessive use of readily available energy source i.e. carbohydrate may leads to acidosis and death. Fat or oils has 2.25 times higher energy content than the carbohydrates. Therefore, fat or oils can be added to the creep or grower ration of the kid for production of more energy in the body and its subsequent deposition in the adipose tissue as body reserve. However, fat or oil over 6–8% of total diet usually leads to digestive problems, diarrhoea, reduced feed intake, slower growth rate, etc. (Bauman et al. 2003) may be due to immobilization and death of ruminal microflora by excessive fat. To avoid such situations, supplemented fat or oils should cross the rumen unaltered to small intestine so that it may not affect the developing microflora in growing rumen during the transitional phases of pre- and post-weaning period. It was, further, hypothesized that higher body reserves developed through feeding of energy rich fat and oil during pre-weaning period could minimize weaning shock and, higher growth rate may be achieved in kids. Since information on improving body reserve of kids is scanty, this study was planned to assess the body reserves and its effect on weaning through performance of kids by the use of soybean oil and by-pass fat in various proportions.

2. Materials and methods

The experiment was conducted from September to January, 2013 at Goat Research Farm, Department of Livestock Production Management, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana. The said study was undertaken after permission of the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee. After completion of colostrum feeding at 10% body weight or 100 ml/kg (Argüello et al. 2004) for five days, 24 kids farm born Beetal kids of almost equal weight (3–4 kg), litter size and dam parity, ageing five days with equal number of males and females, were randomly distributed in three treatments (eight kids in each) i.e. W_2:3, W_3:2 and W_0:0. Group supplemented with Soybean oil at 3% of concentrate up to 2 months and by-pass fat at 3% of concentrate, thereafter, for 3 months was designated as W_2:3; Soybean oil at 3% up to 3 months and by-pass fat at 3% thereafter for 2 months as W_3:2 and with no supplementation as W_0:0 and designated as control. All kids, irrespective of groups, were offered with creep feed (up to weaning period of 90 days), grower ration (after weaning) and seasonal green fodder (from 15th day onwards) as per their requirement and reared under similar management conditions. Different observations like milk, feed, fodder intake and body weight were recorded as per standard procedure for 150 days. The samples of experimental feed and fodder were taken at monthly intervals for analysis of proximate principles as per the analytical procedure of Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC, 1997). Recorded body weight was used for calculation of different growth indices like Average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) using standard formula. In calculation of FCR, milk DM (g) was added to total DM after multiplying milk intake (ml) by a factor 0.13, the total DM of goat milk, as per ICAR (2002).

The collected data were subjected to statistical analysis using Software Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 16.0). The recorded data were subjected to one way analysis of variance (ANOVA; Snedecor & Cochran 1989) to test the difference between various treatments. The significant means between different treatments were compared by Tukey-b Test.

3. Results and discussion

Reasons for selecting kids of same litter size and dam parity were to avoid any variation among kids due to transfer of immunoglobulin (IgG) through colostrum afterbirth due to suckling. Argüello et al. (2006) concluded that the chemical and physical characteristics of colostrum in terms if IgG and nutrients were slightly affected by litter size of kids and lactation number of dam.

The data pertaining to milk, feed and fodder intake, proximate composition and ingredients of creep and concentrate feed, fed during the experimental period have been presented in Tables 1–3. During pre-weaning period, all kids were offered measured quantity of dam's milk and there was no difference in milk intake between different treatment groups (Table 1). No difference in creep feed intake under various treatment groups was observed. The concentrate feed intake was significantly (P < 0.01) higher in W_2:3 followed by W_3:2 than W_0:0 group.

Table 1. Composition of creep and concentrate feed (per 100 kg).

Composition	Creep feed	Concentrate
Maize	37.00	40.00
Soybean flakes	33.00	27.00
Wheat bran	15.00	18.00
De-oiled rice bran	12.00	12.00
Mineral mixture	2.00	2.00
Salt	1.00	1.00
Crude protein (g)	22.56	20.24
Vitamin premix	25g/100kg	25g/100kg

Table 2. Proximate composition (%) of offered feed and fodder (on DM basis).

Particulars	Creep feed	Concentrate	Green fodder
Dry matter	91.54	89.91	20.7
Organic matter	81.45	80.48	9.91
Crude protein	22.56	20.24	8.05
Ether extract	1.95	1.90	2.16
ADF	10.05	11.25	32.8
ADL	6.13	6.21	9.45
AIA	0.71	0.77	2.05
NDF	26.15	25.25	38.9
Ash	10.03	10.58	13.15

ADF, Acid Detergent Fibre; ADL, Acid Detergent Lignin; AIA, Acid Insoluble Ash; NDF, Neutral Detergent Fibre.

Table 3. Milk (ml/day) and daily dry matter consumption (g/day) by the kids.

Feed/Fodder	Period	W0:0 (Control)	W2:3	W3:2	Overall
Milk	Pre-weaning	600.67 ± 20.52	625.56 ± 21.93	645.89 ± 21.55	624.04 ± 12.33
Concentrate	Pre-weaning	51.37 ± 3.87	57.74 ± 5.31	64.13 ± 4.73	57.75 ± 2.71
	Post-weaning	182.18 ± 2.867^c	266.14 ± 7.47^a	227.00 ± 3.91^b	225.10 ± 3.95
	Overall	104.63 ± 6.02^b	142.59 ± 9.71^a	130.44 ± 7.51^a	125.89 ± 4.61
Green fodder	Pre-weaning	14.75 ± 1.01^a	8.87 ± 0.71^b	13.75 ± 0.84^a	12.45 ± 0.52
	Post-weaning	136.90 ± 5.60^a	91.85 ± 5.05^b	103.95 ± 4.13^b	110.89 ± 3.20
	Overall	64.48 ± 5.60^a	42.65 ± 4.04^b	50.47 ± 4.14^ab	52.53 ± 2.71
DMI	Pre-weaning	68.04 ± 4.73^b	67.76 ± 5.99a^b	79.68 ± 5.40^a	71.83 ± 3.09
	Post-weaning	319.08 ± 7.65^b	357.99 ± 8.39^a	331.91 ± 6.89^b	335.99 ± 4.57
	Overall	170.25 ± 11.26	185.93 ± 13.02	181.97 ± 11.29	179.38 ± 6.85

Note: Means with different superscripts within a row differ significantly (P < 0.01).

The green fodder intake, which comprised of maize, jowar, bajra (September, October and November) and oats (December and January), during pre-weaning period was significantly (P < 0.01) lower in W_2:3 than control and W_3:2 groups. During post-weaning period, the green fodder intake was significantly higher (P < 0.01) in control group than other two treatment groups. Similarly, during entire study period the green fodder intake was significantly higher (P < 0.01) in control group as compared to W_2:3, whereas, value of W_3:2 was in between the two. Total dry matter intake (DMI) during pre-weaning period was significantly higher (P < 0.01) in W_3:2 than other two treatment groups. During post-weaning period it was significantly higher (P < 0.01) in W_2:3 than control and W_3:2 groups. During entire study period, no difference existed for total DMI. As per report of Engstrom et al. (1994) addition of fat through canola oil in barley-based diet of cross-bred steers had no effect on DMI. Salvador et al. (2009) also observed non-significant differences between groups of Carora cows in terms of voluntary consumption of feed. Non-significantly higher creep, concentrate and total DMI under treatment groups may be predicted for the reason of faster rumen development caused by supplementation of oil and fat rich diet over control. White et al. (1992) reported similar DMI in oil or fat supplemented group as compare to control groups. Similar observations for feed and fodder intake were reported by Titi et al. (2011). This may again be due to better digestibility of nutrients in oil and fat-treated groups which might have helped to maintain the appetite of animals under treatment groups. Abou Ward et al. (2008) reported that adding fat in the diet of lambs, significantly (P < 0.05) improved organic matter digestibility in the range of 9.3–18.3% in tallow or cotton seed oil supplemented groups, respectively. Improved digestibility and nutritive value of diet after addition of fat in ruminant ration may be due to the effect of high energy of fat which converted efficiently to net energy and higher Crude Protein (CP) content of diet might have minimized the adverse effect of fat supplementation on rumen bacteria (Kowalczyk et al. 1977). Bayourthe et al. (1993) reported that digestibility of nutrients increased with supplemented fat, while Benchaar et al. (2007) recorded no changes attributable to the administration of oils for nutrient digestibility, end products of ruminal fermentation and microbial counts, which may be due to the variation in ration composition. This may further be due to species variation or age group difference of above experiment.

There were no significance differences between pre-weaning and post-weaning body weight (Figure 1). However, weaning body weight, at 90 days, was 15.22% and 8.51% higher in W_2:3 and W_3:2 groups, respectively, over control. Similarly fifth month body weight was 17.21% and 12.55% higher in W_2:3 and W_3:2, respectively, over control, however difference was non-significant. The ADG as depicted in Table 4 indicates trend of higher growth rate in both treatment groups over control, though difference was non-significant. However, overall ADG during entire study period was 22.98% and 15.53% higher in W_2:3 and W_3:2 over control (W_0:0), respectively. Similarly, irrespective of treatments, the ADG of male kids was higher than females during different months of study period (Figure 2) though difference was non-significant. At the end of study period, the male kids grew up by 20.93% in W_2:3 and 15.36% in W_3:2 over control. Similarly, female kids of W_2:3 group gained 25.20% and of W_3:2 gained 15.71% higher body weight than control animals during entire study period (Figure 2). The FCR, as depicted in Figure 3, indicated that pre-weaning FCR was far efficient than post-weaning period. There were non-significant differences among FCRs under various treatment groups throughout the study period. The pre-weaning FCR was non-significantly lower in W_2:3 group (0.56:1) than control (0.76:1), whereas, during post-weaning period, it was non-significantly and slightly higher in control (5.01:1) than W_2:3 (4.56:1) and W_3:2 (4.18:1). The overall FCR was slightly higher in control than other two treatment groups.

Figure 1. Average body weight (kg) of kids at fortnightly intervals in different treatments.

Figure 2. ADG (g) of male and female kids under various treatments.

Figure 3. FCR of kids at monthly intervals and during pre- and post-weaning periods.

After weaning, there was continuously reduced body weight gain by the kids of all three groups which is clear from close scrutiny of ADG (Table 4). This may be due to weaning shock, where young one undergoes various kinds of stresses due to abrupt change of readily digestible diet of higher biological value i.e. milk to concentrate feed and roughages. However, after weaning, ADG of kids in W_2:3 and W_3:2 were non-significantly higher than control during fourth and fifth months. This may be due to better body reserves in the kids of treatment groups than control ones. Non-significantly higher ADG in W_2:3 than W_3:2 may be due to one month by-pass fat feeding before weaning period which might have better utilization after passing of fat in un-degraded form through developing rumen during second to third months. Therefore, supplementation of readily available energy sources in form of oil and fat certainly improved all the production indices in treatment groups than control kids. Addition of high-energy fat or oil in diet might have improved nutrient utilization which converted efficiently to net energy which might have helped in better growth of kids.

Table 4. ADG (g) of kids at monthly intervals during study periods.

	Treatment
Month	W0:0 (Control)	W2:3	W3:2	Overall
First	60.21 ± 14.02	61.43 ± 10.58	79.76 ± 15.17	66.82 ± 7.66
Second	137.08 ± 8.18	155.71 ± 13.54	136.42 ± 8.97	142.80 ± 5.98
Third	66.50 ± 16.30	106.90 ± 23.02	76.66 ± 7.51	82.59 ± 9.97
Fourth	68.70 ± 30.00	79.04 ± 15.06	79.28 ± 10.77	75.36 ± 11.90
Fifth	58.95 ± 12.36	78.34 ± 20.81	80.13 ± 15.17	72.47 ± 8.91
Overall	78.29 ± 9.43	96.28 ± 10.46	90.45 ± 7.55	88.34 ± 5.33

Abou Ward et al. (2008) also observed higher ADG in lambs supplemented with cotton seed oil, followed by 4% tallow and grease-supplemented group, over control. EL-Bedawy et al. (1996) reported that feed efficiency in terms of kg DMI per kg gain was highest in cotton oil supplemented group than grease or tallow-supplemented group in calves. Furthermore, the results of present study were confirmed by the findings of Bock et al. (1991) for sheep fed on 3.5% tallow or soybean oil, Hutchison et al. (2006) in steers fed with diets containing 4% tallow or 4% grease and Brandt et al. (1992) for steers supplemented with grease who referred the improved feed efficiency to the significant intensification of energy of fat diets. Higher ADG of male kids in the present study compared to females would mostly be due to the fact that males usually have higher body weight at birth and continues to grow with more efficiency due to hormonal set-up. Higher gain in male kids was also confirmed by Titi and Fataftah (2013). Absence of clear trend regarding body weight changes due to fat supplementation has been reported by Chilliard et al. (2003) which may be due to breed, environment or methodology variation. Engstrom et al. (1994) also reported no effect on feed to gain ratio after addition of fat in steer diet. Similarly Haddad and Younis (2004) observed no differences in weight gain of Awassi lambs fed with protected fat in concentrate fattening diet. Islam et al. (2009) observed that the growth performance of goat was not significantly affected by the use of palm oil and soybean oil. From the present study, it can be concluded that supplementing diet with soybean oil for 2 months and by-pass fat for 3 months from birth at the rate of 3% of feed could be a suitable strategy for improving the body reserve of kids as well as for getting better performance in terms of body weight, ADG and FCR.

Acknowledgement

The financial assistance received from Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University is thankfully acknowledged.