Physical Form of Concentrate for Lactating Murciano‐Granadina Dairy Goats: Feed Intake and Sorting, Milk Production, and Blood Metabolites

Global demand for goat milk and its products is increasing. Goat producers are urged to improve feed effi-ciency and farm economics. Physical form of concentrate was hypothesized to affect lactating dairy goats’ responses in feed intake and sorting, milk production, and blood metabolites. The objective of this study was to determine effects of different physical forms of concentrate [mashed (M), pelleted (P), or textured (T)] on feed intake and sorting, milk production, and selected blood metabolites of lactating Murciano-Granadina dairy goats. Thirty Murciano-Granadina dairy goats in mid-lactation (87±6 days in milk; 2±0.04 kg/d milk yield) were used in a completely randomized design study and assigned to the three forms of concentrate (10 goats per treatment). Goats were fed the experimental diets as totally mixed rations (TMR). The data were analyzed using mixed models of SAS program. The dry matter intake (DMI) and yields of raw milk; fat-corrected milk; milk fat, protein, lactose, and solids not fat (SNF); and cheese as well as feed efficiency were improved (P<0.01) by feeding T instead of M and P. Feeding P vs. M improved milk pro-duction and feed efficiency (P<0.05). The milk percentages of fat, protein, lactose and blood concentrations of glucose, albumin, and non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) were unaffected by treatments. Feed sorting oc-curred less for T than for the other physical forms of concentrate. Therefore, under the conditions of this experiment, feeding lactating Murciano-Granadina dairy goats TMR with textured concentrate compared to mashed and pelleted concentrates increased milk production and cheese yield estimates, and improved feed efficiency.