DAIRY GOATS FEEDING AND NUTRITION This page intentionally left blank DAIRY GOATS FEEDING AND NUTRITION Edited by Antonello Cannas and Giuseppe Pulina Department of Animal Science University of Sassari Italy Technical editor and reader of the English translation Ana Helena Dias Francesconi Department of Animal Science University of Sassari Italy CABI is a trading name of CAB International CABI Head Office CABI North American Office Nosworthy Way 875 Massachusetts Avenue Wallingford 7th Floor Oxfordshire OX10 8DE Cambridge, MA 02139 UK USA Tel: +44 (0)1491 832111 Tel: +1 617 395 4056 Fax: +44 (0)1491 833508 Fax: +1 617 354 6875 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.cabi.org CAB International 2008. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronically, mechanically, by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owners. Original edition published in Italian under the title: L’alimentazione delle capre da latte Avenue Media 2005, Bologna, Italy. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library, London, UK. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dairy goats feeding and nutrition / edited by Antonello Cannas and Giuseppe Pulina; technical editor and reader of the English translation, Ana Helena Dias Francesconi. p. cm. “Original edition published in Italian under the title: L’alimentazione delle capre da latte, Avenue Media 2005, Bologna, Italy.” ISBN 978-1-84593-348-7 (alk. paper) 1. Goats--Feeding and feeds. 2. Goats--Nutrition. I. Cannas, Antonello. II. Pulina, Giuseppe. III. Francesconi, Ana Helena Dias. IV. Title. SF384.3.D35 2008 636.3'9142--dc22 2007024282 ISBN-13: 978 1 84593 348 7 Typeset by AMA DataSet Ltd, UK. Printed and bound in the UK by Biddles, King’s Lynn. Contents Contents Biographical Details of the Authors vii 1 Nutrition and Quality of Goat’s Milk 1 G. Pulina, A. Nudda, G. Battacone, S. Fancellu and A.H.D. Francesconi 2 Mathematical Modelling of Goat Lactation Curves 31 N.P.P. Macciotta, C. Dimauro, R. Steri and A. Cappio-Borlino 3 Lipids of Goat’s Milk: Origin, Composition and Main Sources of Variation 47 M. Mele, A. Buccioni, A. Serra, M. Antongiovanni and P. Secchiari 4 Protein Components of Goat’s Milk 71 G.F. Greppi, P. Roncada and R. Fortin 5 Aromatic and Nutritional Quality of Goat’s Milk 95 V. Fedele 6 Energy and Protein Requirements of Goats 118 A. Cannas, A.S. Atzori, F. Boe and I.A.M.A. Teixeira 7 Feed Intake 147 M. Avondo, L. Biondi, R.I. Pagano, A. Bonanno and L. Lutri 8 Foraging Behaviour and Intake of Goats Browsing on Mediterranean Shrublands 161 M. Decandia, M.D. Yiakoulaki, G. Pinna, A. Cabiddu and G. Molle v vi Contents 9 Grazing Management of Dairy Goats on Mediterranean Herbaceous Pastures 189 A. Bonanno, V. Fedele and A. Di Grigoli 10 Feeding Management of Dairy Goats in Intensive Systems 221 L. Rapetti and L. Bava 11 Goat Nutrition for Fibre Production 238 A. Di Trana and L. Sepe 12 Metabolic and Nutritional Diseases 263 C. Stelletta, M. Gianesella and M. Morgante Index 289 Biographical Details of the Authors Biographical Details of the Authors Mauro Antongiovanni ([email protected]) is Full Professor of Animal Nutrition and Feeding at the Department of Animal Science of the University of Florence, Italy, where he teaches a course on Animal Nutrition and Feeding. He has degrees in Chemistry and Agricultural Science from the University of Florence. He has conducted research on the associative effects among feeds in the diet of ruminants, using the comparative slaughter (Thomson and Camell) and gas production techniques, and on the modifica- tion of the fatty acid profile of milk and its products in dairy animals. He has also evaluated the in vivo digestibility and estimated the nutritional value, using the INRA method, of the most common ruminant feeds in Italy. Alberto Stanislao Atzori ([email protected]) has a degree in Agricultural Science and Technology and a PhD in Animal Husbandry from the University of Sassari, Italy. He has conducted research mainly on feeding of small ruminants and nutrient requirements of sheep and goats. He also had training on breeding and productive characteristics of the Iberian deer at the Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC, Experimental Institute on Cynegetic Resources), Section of Albacete (UCLM, University of Castilla-La Mancha), Spain, and on breeding systems of Sarda dairy sheep at the Istituto Zootecnico e Caseario della Sardegna (IZCS, Sardinian Institute for Animal Husbandry and Dairy Farming), Italy. Marcella Avondo ([email protected]) is Full Professor of Animal Husbandry at the Faculty of Agricultural Science of Catania, Italy. Her main areas of research are methods to improve silage quality from forages and agro-industrial by-products, and the feeding behaviour of sheep and goats in extensive and semi-extensive systems, with particular interest in the factors that influence pasture intake and diet selection. At present, she is studying the effects of diet selection on sheep’s and goat’s milk quality. Gianni Battacone ([email protected]) is Researcher at the Department of Ani- mal Science of the University of Sassari, Italy. He has a degree in Agricultural vii viii Biographical Details of the Authors Science from the University of Sassari and a PhD in Animal Husbandry from the University of Perugia, Italy. His research focuses on the relationship between animal feeding and the safety and quality of animal products such as milk and meat. Luciana Bava ([email protected]) has a PhD in Animal Feeding and Technology and is Researcher in Animal Genetics and Breeding at the Depart- ment of Animal Science of the University of Milan, Italy. The main focus of her research has been the relationships between feeding systems, husbandry and milk quality of dairy goats and cows. She has also been involved in the evaluation of milk emission and milking hygiene. Luisa Biondi ([email protected]) is Associate Professor at the University of Catania, Italy, and has a PhD in Science and Technology of Animal Produc- tion in Disadvantaged Areas from the University of Bari, Italy. Her main research field is the relationship between animal production systems and product quality in sheep. Particular emphasis has been given to the use of local feed resources and their effects on the nutritional and nutraceutical char- acteristics of milk and meat. Filippo Boe ([email protected]) has a degree in Agricultural Science and a PhD in Animal Husbandry from the University of Sassari, Italy. He had a fellowship from the Department of Animal Science, University of Sassari, to work on the nutrition of ruminants in organic farms. His research focuses on feeding and nutrition of small ruminants and on mathematical models for animal husbandry. Adriana Bonanno ([email protected]) is Associate Professor of Animal Sci- ence at the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Palermo, Italy. Over time her research has dealt with various themes regarding dairy cows, sheep and goats of local breeds, and rabbit production. Her main fields of interest in small ruminants have been artificial insemination and oestrus synchronization, energy and nutritional value of conventional sources and by-products in lamb feeding, and the quality characteristics of dairy and meat products evaluated as a function of management system and feeding regimen. At present, her experimental activities are focused on studying the effects of conventional or organic grazing systems on selectivity behaviour, feeding intake, welfare status and quality of dairy products of sheep and goats. Arianna Buccioni ([email protected]) has a degree in Chemistry and a PhD in Animal Science from the Department of Animal Science of the Uni- versity of Florence, Italy, where she currently has a research contract. She has conducted research on animal feeding and nutrition, with emphasis on the lipid metabolism of the rumen and the lipid components of milk and cheese from sheep, goats and cattle. Andrea Cabiddu ([email protected]) has a degree in Agricultural Science from the University of Piacenza, Italy, where he carried out studies on rumen metabolism, especially on fibre and protein degradation. He is Researcher at the Department of Animal Production of AGRIS Sardegna, the Research Agency of the Sardinian Region. He is presently working on the relationship between sheep and goats nutrition and milk composition, with particular attention to the fatty acid composition and other nutraceutical components of the milk. Biographical Details of the Authors ix Antonello Cannas ([email protected]) is Full Professor of Animal Science at the Department of Animal Science of the University of Sassari, Italy. He has a degree in Agricultural Science from the same university, and an MSc and PhD in Animal Science from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA. He works on several aspects related to feeding and nutrition of small ruminants, includ- ing feed evaluation techniques and energy and protein requirements, with main focus on: the development of prediction equations and models to esti- mate requirements and animal performances; rumen turnover and its predic- tion; urea as a nutritional indicator; and comparative nutrition of small and large ruminants. He led the development of the Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System for Sheep and of the Small Ruminant Nutrition System for sheep and goats. At present he teaches courses on sheep and goat production and on feed processing and evaluation at the Faculty of Agriculture of the Uni- versity of Sassari. Aldo Cappio-Borlino ([email protected]) is Associate Professor of Animal Breeding and Genetics at the Department of Animal Science of the University of Sassari, Italy. His main scientific interest lies in the mathematical modelling of the regular and continuous component of some dynamic processes of great importance in the field of animal science, such as the temporal evolution of milk production and rumen degradation of feeds.