Abstract
Forty four Emirati goat kids were used in a feeding trial to study the effect of feeding diets containing various level of halophyte Distichlis grass hay on growth, feed and water intakes and body composition. Animals were randomly allocated to four dietary treatment groups, which were initially formulated to have 100%, 66.7%, 33.3% or 0.0% Distichlis grass hay as a source of forage. The kids receiving 0.0 Distichlis grass hay (100% Rhodes grass hay) served as the control. Feed and water were offered ad libitum. Male kids were slaughtered at the end of feeding trials. The average daily feed intake was significantly (P< 0.05) higher for the animals fed the diet with 100% Distichlis grass hay than those animals fed the diet with 0.0% Distichlis grass hay (100% Rhodes grass hay). The feed conversion ratio (FCR), i.e., kg feed/kg BW, improved (P< 0.05) by feeding a high level of Distichlis grass hay. The goats fed a diet with 100% Distichlis grass hay had a heavier (P< 0.05) carcass weight and higher (P< 0.05) dressing percentage but lower (P< 0.05) intestine-content than the kids fed a diet with 0.0% Distichlis grass hay. The average proportions of non-carcass components were not affected by the treatment diets. This study indicated that Distichlis grass hay has better potential for feeding goats than Rhodes grass hay.
Highlights
Goats are an important meat producing animals in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Under semi-intensive systems, goat production depends primarily on feeding Rhodes grass hay and concentrate, and, as a result, Rhodes grass production consumes nearly 50% of the total water used for agriculture in UAE, which has led to a reduction in groundwater levels, and, at the same time, caused drastic increases in the salinity of groundwaters
Animals fed 100% Distichlis grass hay consumed 8% more than animals fed the control diet (100% Rhodes grass hay)
Summary
Goats are an important meat producing animals in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In 2005, there were 1.55 million goats out of 3 million livestock in UAE (Ministry of Environment and Water, 2005). Under semi-intensive systems, goat production depends primarily on feeding Rhodes grass hay and concentrate, and, as a result, Rhodes grass production consumes nearly 50% of the total water used for agriculture in UAE, which has led to a reduction in groundwater levels, and, at the same time, caused drastic increases in the salinity of groundwaters. Salt-tolerant forage, especially grasses that grow well under saline conditions would be a potentially valuable alternative forage resource for grazing livestock, or as components of mixed rations. Such plants and grasses could play a major role in sustaining livestock production in UAE and many other countries (Gihad and El Shaer, 1994; Masters et al, 2007)
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