Goat meat production in Thailand

Meeting: Goat Meat Production in Asia, 13-18 Mar. 1988, Tando Jam, PKIn IDL-198

Phosphorus metabolism in ruminants. 2. Effects of inorganic phosphorus concentration upon food intake and digestibility

Four sheep, prepared with bilateral re-entrant parotid duct catheters, ruminal fistulas and abomasal catheters, were offered a pelleted high-calcium low-phosphorus diet. By infusing saline or phosphate solutions into the abomasum with or without diversion of the parotid saliva, three treatments were created: low ruminal, low blood; high ruminal, high blood; and low ruminal, high blood inorganic phosphorus concentrations. The organic matter intake of the sheep on the low-blood treatment was 34% less than on either of the high-blood treatments. Although there were no differences between treatments in organic matter digestibility, the digestibility of the neutral-detergent fibre fraction on both low-ruminal treatments was 5% lower than on the high-ruminal treatment. There were no differences between treatments in ruminal fluid volume, but there was a tendency for the retention times of ruminal fluid and caeco-colic digesta to be greater and the rate of flow of fluid from the rumen and daily parotid saliva secretion to be lower when less food was eaten. It is concluded that although phosphorus deficiency may depress microbial digestion, the reduced food intake of the sheep was not due to a depression in microbial digestion and that the primary factor limiting food intake was due to some nondigestive tract disturbance, possibly a disturbance of intracellular metabolism

The secretion of gonadotrophins, insulin and insulin-like growth factor 1 by Merino rams supplemented with different legume seeds

Supplementing mature rams with lupin seed (Lupinus angustifolius, a highly digestible source of energy and protein) increases gonadotrophin secretion within 5-10 days. When sheep receive a post-ruminal supplement of protein and energy equivalent to that in the lupin supplement, LH secretion is increased but not to the same extent as with lupin seed itself. This suggests that lupin seed contains a specific mixture of nutrients or an unknown component that exerts effects on the brain centres that control gonadotrophin secretion. This hypothesis was tested by comparing the responses to isonitrogenous and isoenergetic supplements of 3 legumes: lupins, cowpeas, and soybeans. Rams were fed the supplements for 10 days and blood was sampled every 20 min for 24 h on days -1, 5, and 10 relative to the start of supplementation. The plasma was assayed for LH, FSH, and the metabolic hormones insulin and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). Both the cowpea and the lupin supplements increased LH pulse frequency and the mean concentrations of insulin and IGF-1 on days 5 and 10 compared with day -1 (P < 0.05). The soybean supplement did not affect LH pulse frequency or the concentrations of insulin or IGF-1. Only the cowpea supplement increased the mean concentration of FSH. The nutritional stimulation of the reproductive centres of the brain appears not to be specific to lupins, because the diet supplemented with cowpeas evoked similar responses. The lack of response to soybean seed suggests that the effects of diet on secretion of metabolic and gonadotrophic hormones are not due simply to the total energy and protein content of the diets, but to subtle differences in their chemical constituents

Glycogen metabolism and ultimate pH of muscle in Merino, first-cross, and second-cross wether lambs as affected by stress before slaughter

This experiment compared the metabolism of muscle glycogen and the ultimate pH (pHu) of muscle in Merino and crossbred lambs fed the same diet but subjected to different levels of stress pre-slaughter. Twenty- five Merino, 24 first-cross (Merino dam × Poll Dorset sire), and 23 second-cross (Border Leicester × Merino dam and Poll Dorset sire) wether lambs (6 months old, 30 kg liveweight) were maintained for 8 weeks on a complete pelleted diet based on lupin seed, straw, and barley grain (metabolisable energy, 10.8 MJ/kg; protein, 17.4% in dry matter), with a feed intake of 1.3 kg dry matter /day for each breed. At Week 6, muscle biopsies were taken from 15 lambs of each breed, and at Week 8, 5 animals from each breed were slaughtered at an experimental abattoir 10 min after removal from their pens (low pre-slaughter stress). The remaining lambs, separated into breeds, were transported for 2 h and slaughtered after 24 h lairage at a commercial abattoir. Muscle samples were taken at slaughter, and assayed with the biopsy samples for glycogen concentration (corrected for lactate concentration), myoglobin concentration, and citrate synthase activity. The pHu of muscle was measured 48 h post slaughter. Compared with commercially slaughtered lambs, the muscle tissues of lambs subjected to low pre-slaughter stress had higher glycogen concentrations post mortem, lower pHu, and no significant loss of glycogen between pen and slaughter. Breed had no effect on glycogen, pH, or the colour of muscle under low-stress slaughter conditions or when the muscle biopsy was taken. In contrast, breed had a significant influence under commercial slaughter conditions, the muscle of Merino lambs having the lowest glycogen concentration post portem, and the highest pHu and loss of glycogen between pen and slaughter. Irrespective of stress, second-cross lambs had higher myoglobin concentrations and citrate synthase activities than the Merino lambs, indicating greater pigmentation of muscle in the second-cross animals. We conclude that higher proportions of Merino genes are associated with a greater sensitivity to stress in lambs destined for slaughter

Follicle development, endocrine profiles and ovulation rate in adult Merino ewes: effects of early nutrition (pre- and post-natal) and supplementation with lupin grain

In adult ewes, we tested whether ovarian function, including the response to short-term supplementation, was affected by the nutrition of their mothers during the pre-/post-natal period. A 2×2 factorial design was used with nutrition in early life (low or high) and a 6-day supplement (with or without) as factors. All ewes received three prostaglandin (PG) injections 7 days apart, and the supplement (lupin grain) was fed for 6 days from 2 days after the second until the third PG injection.We measured reproductive and metabolic hormones, studied follicle dynamics (ultrasonography), and evaluated granulosa cellnumbers, aromatase activity and oestradiol (E2) concentrations in follicular fluid in healthy follicles at days 3 and 7 of supplementation. Ovulation rate was increased by 25% by exposure to high pre-/post-natal nutrition (1.5 vs 1.2; P<0.05), in association with a small decrease in FSH concentrations (P=0.06) and a small increase in insulin concentrations (P=0.07). The number of healthy antral follicleswas not affected. Acute supplementation increased the number of granulosa cells (3.7±0.2 vs 3.0±0.2 million; P<0.05) in the largest follicle, and the circulating concentrations of E2 (4.6±0.3 vs 3.9±0.3 pmol/l; P<0.05) and glucose (3.4±0.03 vs 3.3±0.03 mmol/l; P<0.01). Both early life nutrition and acute supplementation appear to affect ovulation rate through changes in glucose-insulin homoeostasis that alter follicular responsiveness to FSH and therefore E2-FSH balance

Effect of teeth eruption on growth performance and meat quality of sheep

Two hundred and forty sheep of about 15 months of age were used in this experiment to investigate the impact of dentition category on objective and sensory meat quality. The lambs were categorised into 3 dentition classes (category 1, milk teeth; category 2, partial eruption of permanent teeth; and category 3, both permanent teeth fully erupted to the height of the central lateral milk teeth). The study was conducted on 3 farms with flocks representing the 3 genotypes that contribute to the prime lamb industry in Australia: Farm A (Merino x Merino), Farm B (first cross, Border Leicester sire x Merino ewe), and Farm C (second cross, Poll Dorset sire x Border Leicester-Merino ewe). Of the 19 meat quality attributes assessed in sheep from the 3 farms, only 1 attribute in sheep from 1 farm showed a significant deterioration in meat quality as a result of lambs progressing from dentition category 1 to 2. This was an increase in myoglobin content in lambs from Farm B (P<0.05). Many of the attributes assessed showed changes that could be considered as positive for meat quality as the lambs progressed from milk teeth to partially erupted and even to fully erupted teeth. Lambs from dentition category 3 had heavier carcass weights and higher dressing percentages compared with lambs from dentition categories 1 and 2 (P<0.05). The M. longissimus dorsi et lumborum (LD) of lambs from dentition category 3 had a lower surface lightness (L*) value, a higher myoglobin content and a lower cooking loss compared with lambs from dentition categories 1 and 2 (P<0.05). Consumer sensory assessment found the LD from lambs in dentition category 1 to have a lower acceptability score for tenderness compared with the LD from lambs in dentition category 3 (P<0.05) and a lower acceptability score for juiciness, a lower consumer rating and a lower sheep eating quality score compared with the LD from lambs in dentition categories 2 and 3 (P<0.05). The results indicate that for the range of sheep studied, meat from young sheep with partially erupted teeth is unlikely to be inferior in eating quality than the meat currently classified as lamb

Ovulation and ovulation rate in ewes under grazing conditions: factors affecting the response to short-term supplementation

The relationships between ovulation rate and nutrition remain confused, probably because of uncontrolled variation in experimental conditions. To help resolve the problem, we analyzed data from 20 experiments conducted between 2002 and 2016, in Uruguay with grazing ewes. All experiments were carried out by a single laboratory under comparable conditions of experimental design and measured variables. The studies used a total of 3 720 ewes, of purebred Corriedale, Polwarth, or East Friesian x Polwarth genotypes. In all experiments, a control group grazed native pastures and extra nutrition was provided to the treatment groups using either improved pastures or supplements. Ovulation rate was measured by counting corpora lutea using laparoscopy or rectal ultrasound or by counting foetuses at ultrasound on day 45 of gestation. For statistical analysis, data were grouped according to nutritional treatment (control or supplemented) and, within these groups, type of supplement to provide energy or protein (protected or not from rumen degradation). Across all experiments, 92–99% of the ewes ovulated and the effects of diet, length of supplementation, and initial live weight and genotype are reported. Within diets, ovulation was most affected by overall energy intake during supplementation (P < 0.01). Ewes that grazed native pastures supplemented with protein supplements had higher ovulation rates (P < 0.05) than control ewes grazing only native pastures. The addition of tannins to the protein supplement, to protect it from degradation in the rumen, did not further increase the ovulation rate. In unsupplemented ewes that had access to legume pastures, ovulation rates did not increase when the legume pasture was rich in tannins although only ewes that grazed tanniniferous legumes had marginally higher ovulation rates than the control ewes (P < 0.05). When ewes grazing native pastures were supplemented with energy, their ovulation rate did not increase above those of nonsupplemented ewes. Live weight at the start of supplementation also affected ovulation rate. We conclude that ovulation was most affected by overall energy intake, whereas the factors that affected ovulation rate during short-tern nutritional supplementation were intake of protein from highly digested supplements or dietary protein protected from ruminal degradation