Body content and mineral requirements of dairy goats in early lactation

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the dynamics mobilization of body macrominerals and estimate dairy goats' maintenance and lactation requirements at the beginning of lactation. Fifty-one goats were slaughtered to estimate the body macromineral of the animals. Three goats (baseline) and forty-eight goats, with an initial body mass of 57.19 ± 8.4 kg, were assigned to a completely randomized design in eight weeks of lactation. Six goats were slaughtered per week. The intake of dry matter and minerals presented a quadratic behavior (P < 0.05) as the lactation advanced, except for the Mg intake. Milk yield and minerals were affected throughout the 56 days of lactation. Macrominerals decreased linearly in the empty body weight (EBW) (P < 0.05) with the advance in lactation. The weeks of lactation affected only the maintenance requirement of Mg (P = 0.021) and Na (P = 0.017). When analyzing lactation requirements, macrominerals decreased (P < 0.05) over the 56 days of lactation. However, only the total P and K requirements were not affected (P > 0.05). In conclusion, dairy goats in early lactation mobilize on average 12.1 ± 0.3 g Ca, 5.7 ± 0.2 g P, 0.9 ± 0.1 g Mg, 9.1 ± 0.2 g K, and 3.4 ± 0.1 g Na from EBW/day. cc