128 Effects of Level of Brackish Water and Salinity on Feed Intake, Digestion, and Heat Energy in Growing Boer Goat Wethers and Mature Boer Goat and Katahdin Sheep Wethers. (1st March 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Yirga, H; Puchala, R; Tsukahara, Y; Tesfai, K; Sahlu, T; Mengistu, U L; Goetsch, A L
• Is Part Of: Journal of animal science. Volume 96(2018)Supplement 1
• Page Start: 68
• Page End: 69
• Publication Date: 2018-03-01
• Subjects: Water quality -- Small ruminants -- Feed intake; Livestock -- Periodicals; Livestock; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 636.005
• DOI: 10.1093/jas/sky027.128
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-8812

Abstract

Abstract: Effects of the level of a brackish water source (BRW; 5, 600 mg/L total dissolved salts; TDS) and higher levels of TDS through the addition of NaCl on feed intake, digestion, and heat energy in growing Boer goat wethers (GRO-G) and mature Boer (MAT-G) and Katahdin sheep wethers (MAT-S) were determined. Five GRO-G (22 ± 2.5 kg; 0.76 ± 0.121 yr of age), MAT-G (52 ± 5.0 kg), and MAT-S (66 ± 4.2 kg) were assigned to three simultaneous 5 × 5 Latin squares with 3-wk periods. Treatments within squares were ad libitum intake of fresh water (0-BRW), 50% fresh water and 50% BRW (50-BRW), 100% BRW (100-BRW), 100-BRW plus 3, 450 mg/L NaCl (Low-SLW), and 100-BRW plus 6, 900 mg/L NaCl (Mod-SLW). Total water intake was not influenced by TDS level with GRO-G or MAT-S but increased linearly with increasing TDS (P=0.004) for MAT-G (952, 1, 087, 1, 284, 1, 192, and 1, 372 g/d for 0-BRW, 50-BRW, 100-BRW, Low-SLW, and Mod-SLW, respectively; SEM=147.7). Intake of OM was not influenced by water treatment with GRO-G but changed quadratically as TDS increased (P=0.049) with MAT-G (744, 749, 785, 732, and 703; SEM=76.3) and linearly (P=0.065) with MAT-S (870, 867, 835, 788, and 694 g/d for 0-BRW, 50-BRW, 100-BRW, Low-SLW, and Mod-SLW, respectively; SEM=80.0). Total tract OM digestion in MAT-G and MAT-S was not influenced by water TDS level but decreased linearly (P=0.004) and changed quadratically (P=0.054) in GRO-G (59.3, 55.5, 47.8, 47.0, and 49.5% for 0-BRW, 50-BRW, 100-BRW, Low-SLW, and Mod-SLW, respectively; SEM=4.67). Intake of ME decreased linearly with increasing TDS for MAT-G (P=0.014; 458, 458, 441, 449, and 381; SEM=34.2) and MAT-S (P=0.045; 384, 361, 328, 317, and 289; SEM=33.2) and increased linearly and changed quadratically (P≤0.031) for GRO-G (519, 402, 321, 319, and 363 kJ/kg BW 0.75 for 0-BRW, 50-BRW, 100-BRW, Low-SLW, and Mod-SLW, respectively; SEM=54.5). Similarly, recovered energy (RE) decreased linearly with increasing TDS for MAT-G (P=0.037; 0.73, 0.66, 0.18, 0.96, and -0.86; SEM=0.534) and MAT-S (P=0.042; -0.58, -1.54, -2.20, -2.02, and -2.67; SEM=0.645) and increased linearly and changed quadratically (P≤0.048) for GRO-G (0.56, -0.63, -1.40, -1.01, and -0.51 MJ/d for 0-BRW, 50-BRW, 100-BRW, Low-SLW, and Mod-SLW, respectively; SEM=0.576). In conclusion, ME intake and RE for growing goats were more adversely affected by increasing BRW level compared with mature small ruminants because of decreased digestibility. Conversely, decreases in ME intake and RE for MAT-S with increasing TDS primarily related to decreasing feed intake, with relatively small effects for MAT-G associated with the Mod-SLW treatment.