Growth performance and fatty acid status of goat kids fed milk replacers with different contents of linoleic and α-linolenic acid

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary α-linolenic acid (C18:3n-3, ALA) and linoleic acid (C18:2n-6, LA) on growth performance and fatty acid status of goat kids. The 5 week-feeding trial had a 2×2 factorial design with two levels of LA (5.5% and 11.2% of total fatty acids) and two levels of ALA (0.2% and 0.6% of total fatty acids) in the milk replacers. The goat kids were fed a restricted amount of milk replacer. Dietary treatments had no influence on growth performance and feed utilization. This outcome indicates that in the formulation of milk replacers for goat kids the contents of ALA and LA are not very critical. The concentration of plasma triglycerides was lowered by the high intake of ALA and LA. The dietary level of ALA or LA was reflected in the composition of these fatty acids in red blood cells, adipose tissue and liver. The milk replacer with high ratio of ALA to LA significantly increased the contents of eicosapentaenoic (C20:5n-3, EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6n-3, DHA) in liver of the goat kids. This metabolic interaction between dietary ALA and LA was observed in liver only.