‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌Effect of feeding different levels of concentrate on the yield and chemical composition of milk in Damascus goats in Iraq

Abstract

The trial was carried out on four groups of Damascus does, each group consists of four does which were isoproductive and their in the third lactation to study the effect of feeding four levels of concentrate (namely 0.75, 1.0, 1.25 or 1.5 kg per 3kg of milk production) on milk yield and composition. The concentrate mixture consisted of 67% ground barley, 20% wheat bran, 10% soybean meal, 2% limestone and 1% salt. A good alfalfa hay as a roughage was fed ad libitum to all does. The group feeding for each group regime was followed. The experimental period was divided to two stages, the first is preliminary 3 weeks and the last two weeks as experimental stage. Roughage and concentrate intake and daily milk yield were recorded daily and milk samples for each does were taken 7 times throughout the experiment period for chemical analyses. The results indicated that there is a significant increase in milk production when concentrate levels was increased in the ration to 1.5 kg/3kg milk, but differences were not significant among the other treatments. The differences of milk fat percentage were not significant between the three first treatments but the differences are significant between the 4th and the other three treatments. The percentages of (SNF) were increased insignificant with increasing of the concentrate levels in the diet. The percentages of milk protein were increased levels between the treatments.