Effect of hydric stress on intake, growth performance and nutritional status of Nguni goats

Abstract

Limited water intake affects livestock. Though small ruminants are more resilient to suboptimum water intake compared to other species of livestock, tolerance abilities differ among breeds. This study was aimed at investigating the effect of water deprivation levels on intake, growth performance and nutritional status of Nguni goats. Thirty-six Nguni goats (initial weight, 18 ± 3.2 kg) were assigned to one of three treatments: without water deprivation, water deprivation for 24 and 48 h in a completely randomised design for 40 days. Performance traits, body condition score (BCS), faecal egg count (FEC) and FAffa MAlan CHArt (FAMACHA) were determined weekly while blood metabolites were determined on the last day of the experiment and analysed with PROC GLM of SAS software. The average daily water intake (WI) and feed intake (FI) increased (p < .05) with increased period of water deprivation. The average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) declined (p < .01) with increased period of water deprivation. Final body weight, BCS and FAMACHA decreased (p < .05) while faecal egg count, glucose and creatine increased (p < .05) with increased period of water deprivation. Water deprivation period had negative correlations with ADFI, WFR, ADG, FCR, FAMACHA, BCS and BW. The correlation of BW was negative with FEC and positive with serum glucose. It was concluded that water deprivation impacts negatively on the nutritional status, blood metabolites and growth performance of Nguni goats. HIGHLIGHTS Limited water intake in small ruminants decreases body weight and body condition score. Rehydration, after prolonged dehydration of 48 h in small ruminants, results in increased average daily water and feed intake. Under dehydration effect, bodyweight positively correlates with body condition scores and negatively correlates with faecal egg count.

Physiological response of WAD sheep fed different combinations of Guinea grass and ensiled Alternanthera brasiliana (L.) O. Kuntze based diets: Intake, haematology and serum biochemical indices

“…A decrease in cholesterol concentration for an extended period could be attributed to the presence of phytochemicals in forages, such that the synthesis and absorption of cholesterol are reduced ( Saxena, Saxena, Nema, Singh & Gupta, 2013 ). However, higher levels could indicate dehydration ( Mpendulo, Akinmoladun, Ikusika & Chimonyo, 2020 ) or feeding ruminants with carbohydrates-rich diets ( Alabi & Ososanya, 2017 ).…”

Intake, nutrient digestibility, nitrogen, and mineral balance of water-restricted Xhosa goats supplemented with vitamin C

“…Such resilience by ruminants to dehydration effects is because of the improvements in feed intake digestibility, lower energy deficiency induced by dry matter (DM) intake reduction, and the rumen capacity to conserve water up to 15% body weight for use during scarcity (Al-Ramamneh et al 2012). Despite this adaptive mechanism, exposure of ruminants to limited water intake portends a stressful condition, negatively impacting on body weight, and production performances in animals (Mpendulo et al 2020).…”