Sustainable production of meat goats: grazing strategies and forage utilization

In the Southeastern USA, meat goats (Capra hircus hircus) are becoming increasingly important contributors to the income of many small producers. Meat goats frequently obtain more than 50% of their daily ration from browse but will perform well in grazing situations if management practices match their grazing behavior. This “generalist” feeding behavior represents a clear advantage in the ability to utilize a variety of landscapes and plant communities. Furthermore, if managed to match goat nutritional demands, these plant communities, composed of pasture and browse species, can provide an abundant, low-cost feed supply supplanting the need for expensive feed supplements that represent the highest expense of any meat goat operation. This can be achieved by developing a year-round forage program allowing for as much grazing as possible throughout the year. In addition, goats can be very effective biological control agents in beef cattle pastures invaded by woody vegetation and broadleaf weeds, in view of environmental concerns and elevated costs of other control methods such as mechanical cutting and herbicide applications. This presentation describes grazing/browsing behavior, grazing strategies and forage utilization research results obtained with meat goats at North Carolina State University using cool-season and warm-season perennial forages as well as summer and winter annual forages

Use of goats to control undesirable vegetation

The benefits of using goats (Capra hircus hircus) to control undesirable vegetation in many different environmental situations are well documented by research data. Nonetheless, this approach is severely underutilized. Environmental concerns and the increased costs of herbicides and mechanical control methods provide new opportunities to use goats as biological agents for the control of unwanted vegetation. The goat lends itself to conservation grazing better than any other domestic livestock species when utilized in a sustainable manner. Goats can be quite destructive, however, but any environmental hazard associated with goats is essentially a failure inadequate management by man

Use of an herbal dewormer for the control of gastric intestinal tract nematodes in meat goats

Two trials were conducted to determine the efficacy of a commercial herbal dewormer (HDC) to decrease fecal eggs per gram (EPG) in goats grazing either Festuca arundinacea (Trial 1) or Lolium multiflorum (Trial 2) pastures. In trial 1, EPG of goats orally-dosed with HDC decreased and leveled out at 742 EPG. In trial 2, oral fenbendazole and one or two weekly doses of HDC had no effect on EPG. Within the confines of these trials, HDC was mostly ineffective in reducing EPG in goats grazing pastures infected with GIT nematodes. (Spanish

The Influence of Growing Degree Days on \u3cem\u3eRobinia Pseudoacacia\u3c/em\u3e Browse Quality and Productivity in the Southeastern USA

The possibility of estimating browse quality and productivity of black locust (BL; Robinia pseudoacacia L.) herbage from accumulated air temperature heat units (growing degree days, GDD) could be a valuable tool for researchers and graziers in efficient allocation of feed resources. Accumulated air temperature heat units (GDD) above a 10° C base have been used to predict several forage quality constituents (Onstad & Fick ,1983)

Alternatives to traditional anthelmintics to control gastrointestinal nematodes in grazing meat goats

Studies were conducted to determine the efficacy of a commercial herbal dewormer (HDC, Studies 1 and 2) and a tanniferous perennial legume (Study 3) to reduce fecal egg counts (FEC) in grazing goats (Capra hircus). Goats grazed Festuca arundinacea (Study 1), Lolium multiflorum L. (Study 2), and Lespedeza cuneata or Tripsacum dactyloides (Study 3). In study 1, the eggs per gram (EPG) of feces from goats orally-drenched weekly with HDC decreased from 1,006 to 758 by Day 33, then stabilized at a mean of 740 EPG until the end of the trial (Day 103). Conversely, FEC of goats drenched with ivomectin (IVO) decreased from 935 EPG to 163 EPG by Day 26, then steadily increased to 646 by Day 103. The EPG differed between IVO and HDC on Day 12, 19, 26, 33, 40 (P <0.0001), 47 (P <0.007), 54 (P <0.07), 61 (P<0.002), 68 (P <0.04) and 89 (P<0.09). In Study 2, neither oral fenbendazole nor one or two weekly doses of HDC had an effect on FEC, an indication of resistance to fenbendazole by gastrointestinal nematodes. In Study 3, FEC of goats grazing L. cuneata and T. dactyloides for 5 wk had decreased from 860 to 500 EPG for the former and increased from 1630 to 2310 EPG for the latter (P <0.06). Thereafter, FEC of goats switched from T. dactyloides to L. cuneata decreased to 1595, 1120 and 410 during the following 3 wk, whereas FEC of goats switched from L. cuneata to T. dactyloides still decreased to 220, 195, and 70 EPG (P <0.007, P <0.02, and P <.09, respectively). Within the confines of studies 1 and 2, HDC showed some or no effectiveness in reducing FEC in goats grazing infected pastures, whereas there was a significant reduction in FEC of goats grazing L. cuneata

Productive and reproductive performance and metabolic profiles of ewes supplemented with hydroponically grown green wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Inclusion of high levels of concentrate in the diets of late gestation and lactating ewes to improve productive and reproductive performance is a common practice. However cost-effective alternate feeding strategies for small ruminants must be developed and evaluated in order to counteract sustainability issues of feeding them concentrate feeds (Alexandre and Mandonnet, 2005). Hydroponically grown green forages are a potential high feed quality feedstuff in arid and semiarid regions of the world (Al-Faraki and Al-Hashimi, 2012). The nutritive value and fermentative characteristics of hydroponically grown forages positively influenced the performance of late gestation and lactating ewes (Herrera et al., 2010; Gebremedhin, 2015). Earlier investigations emphasized effects of dietary quality on endocrine and metabolic profiles in ewes during pregnancy and lactation (Lemley et al., 2014; Vonnahme et al., 2013). However adequate nutritional status of ewes is associated with favorable productive and reproductive performance whereby blood glucose, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) are utilized to sustain a desirable protein and energy balance in ewes during gestation and lactation (Hatfield et al., 1999). Changes in metabolic hormones, such as insulin, play an important role in metabolic adaptation to changes in body weight (BW) and body condition while providing diagnostic information to evaluate ewe nutritional status (Caldeira et al., 2007). Cortisol may be particularly important in this regard as it is the predominant glucocorticoid in sheep blood and has been used as a reliable physiological endpoint to determine ewe responses to a variety of physiological, physical and environmental stress (Moolchandani et al., 2008). A paucity of information is available with respect to the metabolic profile and performance during mating, gestation and lactation of ewes fed diets containing hydroponically grown green wheat (HGW). Thus this experiment was conducted to determine effects of replacement of dry-rolled corn (DRC) and cottonseed meal (CSM) by HGW in an oat hay-based diet on the metabolic profile as well as the productive and reproductive performance of Katahdin female lambs.Twenty six Katahdin ewes (i.e., female lambs from breeding to 2 mo of their 1st lactation) were used in a completely randomized design (13/treatment)to evaluate effects of replacement of dietary dry-rolled corn grain (DRC) and cottonseed meal(CSM) with hydroponically grown whole plant green wheat (HGW; Triticum aestivum L.) on productive parameters and blood metabolites during mating, gestation and lactation, and on body weight (BW) gain of their lambs in their 1st 60 days of age. The gestation diet contained 70% oat hay, 20% rolled corn grain and 10% cottonseed meal, while the lactation diet contained 50% oat hay, 20% DRC and 30% CSM. Treatments consisted of total replacement of DRC and CSM with HGW in the gestation diet, while in the lactation diet HGW replaced 100% of the DRC and 33% of the CSM. There were no diet effects on reproductive parameters, and substitution of DRC and CSM with HGW did not affect dry matter intake during gestation and lactation. The BW gain of the lambs that were fed HGW did not differ from controls in the first 2 months of gestation, while it was lower (P < 0.05) at the last 3 months of gestation. Feeding HGW did not affect birth BW of lambs or subsequent BW gains through 60 days of age. Plasma non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) were not affected by the diets fed during gestation, but were 56% lower (P < 0.05) at day 60 of lactation. Plasma glucose was only lower (P < 0.05) at day 90 of gestation, and blood urea nitrogen was only lower (P < 0.05) at day 30 of lactation. There were no effects of diets on plasma insulin, cortisol or progesterone during gestation and lactation. Hydroponically grown green wheat is a suitable substitute for a portion of the DRC and CSM in ewes diets during gestation and lactation without negative effects

An overview of the context of the study and the socio economic importance of the goat sector

International audienc

An overview of the context of the study and the socio economic importance of the goat sector

International audienc

Les geographes francais entre milieu et environnement

SIGLEINIST RP 185 (2498) / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc

Animal Production Systems for Pasture-Based Livestock Production (NRAES 171)

This 246 page publication (NRAES-171) was originally published by the Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service (NRAES, previously known as the Northeast Regional Agricultural Engineering Service), a multi-university program in the Northeast US disbanded in 2011. Plant and Life Sciences Publishing (PALS) was subsequently formed to manage the NRAES catalog. Ceasing operations in 2018, PALS was a program of the Department of Horticulture in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at Cornell University. PALS assisted university faculty in publishing, marketing and distributing books for small farmers, gardeners, land owners, workshops, college courses, and consumers.The book explores foraging behavior, basic animal nutrition, and parasite control for pasture-based animals with chapters devoted to beef, dairy, sheep, goat, and horse nutrition and management