Effects of oil and grape seed tannin extract on intakes, digestibility, milk yield and composition of Saanen goats

Abstract

An experiment was conducted as a 4×4 Latin square design using 4 lactating Saanen goats, 19 months old and 47.9±1.04 kg of body weight, to evaluate the effect of oil and grape seed tannin extract (GSTE) supplementation on feed intake, digestibility, milk yield and milk composition. Each experimental period lasted for 21 days including 16 days for adjustment and 5 days for sampling. Goats were fed a control diet (Ctrl) consisting of 60% concentrate and 40% fresh Para grass (dry matter, DM, basis) while other 3 treatments were supplementation of 2.5% soybean oil (SO); 2.5% soybean oil + tuna fish oil at 3:2 w:w (SFO); 2.5% soybean oil + tuna fish oil at 3:2 w:w + 0.8% GSTE (OCT). The results showed that oil and GSTE did not affect feed intake, digestibility, milk yield and composition of goats (P > 0.05). However, digestibility of EE was higher (P < 0.05) in SFO and OCT diets (85.4% and 84.7%, respectively) compared with Ctrl (76.2%). Combined data suggested that feeding 2.5% oil blend with or without 0.8% GSTE increased EE digestibility in goats without affecting intake, animal performance and milk composition.