Milk production and hormonal profile as affected by Fenugreek supplementation in lactating goats of Kashmir valley

Abstract

ABSTRACT A decline in the milk production in dairy goats during the winter can be overcome by nutritional manipulation by the provision of galactogogues in their feed. The study was conducted on lactating goats in Mountain Research Centre for Sheep and Goat (MRCSG), SKUAST-Kashmir during the winter season. The lactating Bakarwal goats with uniform body weight and milk production were divided into two groups, namely, control and treatment. The goats in the treatment group were offered 30 g of fenugreek daily in addition to the normal feed ingredients. The blood and milk samples were collected weekly up to 6 weeks, and the data were presented as an average. There was a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in plasma cortisol concentration in treatment (18.64 ± 1.72 ng/ml) as compared to control (22.58 ± 1.25 ng/ml) group. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) showed a nonsignificant increase in the treatment group (0.45 ± 0.03 μIU/ml) as compared to the control group (0.39 ± 0.05 μIU/ml). Prolactin was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in the supplemented group (3.94 ± 0.03 ng/ml) than the control group (2.72 ± 0.02 ng/ml). Blood glucose was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in control (57.30 ± 3.40 mg/dl) than the treatment (53.52 ± 2.79 mg/dl) group. Milk components like fat, protein, lactose, solids not fat (SNF) and total solids showed a nonsignificant change after fenugreek supplementation. Finally, there was a drastic increase in the milk production of the supplemented group (559.00 ± 17.29 ml/day) than their counterparts (407.00 ± 23.59 ml/day). From the study, it could be concluded that fenugreek supplementation alters the hormone profile, enhances feed intake and thereby increases the milk production in lactating goats.