Effects of soybean meal alternatives on Boer-type goat growth and related costs

Abstract

The goat population, both in the US and abroad, has greatly increased in the past years, despite the lack of research that producers can use to make decisions for their herd. Currently there is little research on how feed impacts a goat’s growth and how cost can come into play. This study was conducted to evaluate corn dried distiller’s grains with solubles (DDGS) and corn gluten feed (CGF) as replacements for soybean meal (SBM) in a Boer-type grower ration. Seventy-five Boer-type goat were sorted into 25 pens with 3 goats per pen. The goats were approximately 70 d old with an average BW of 26.9 0.2 kg and were fed for 35 d. Treatment was randomly assigned to pen, therefore the pen served as the experimental unit. The treatments were; 1) SBM control, 2) 100% DDGS/0% CGF, 3) 66% DDGS/33% CGF, 4) 33% DDGS/66% CGF, 5) 0% DDGS/100% CGF. The treatments were isocaloric and isonitrogenous but varied in protein source. Goats and feeders were weighed weekly, to calculate ADG, ADFI, and G:F. There was no detected influence of DDGS or CGF replacing SBM on the final BW, ADG, ADFI, G:F, or feed cost ($) per kg of gain (P>0.05). However, the difference in treatments did influence the feed cost ($) per goat (P=0.0008), with the SBM control being a greater cost than the other treatments per goat per day. These results suggest that producers could chose a diet dependent on their goal for their herd; a certain amount of growth within a period of time, fastest growth possible, largest amount of growth, or growth with no deadline or minimum weight.