Abstract :
The objective of this study was to compare the mean retention time (MRT): (a) between
sheep and goats when they fed in groups with the same diet, the same amount of food
and forage to concentrate (F/C) ratio and (b) between group and individual feeding in each
animal specie (the same diet, the same amount of food and F/C ratio). Twelve, 3–4 years old,
Friesian crossed dairy ewes and twelve, 3–5 years old, Alpine crossed dairy goats were used
for the experiment. The animals were fed with a diet, consisted of alfalfa hay, wheat straw
and concentrate, in two treatments. In Treatment A the animals fed on a group basis as it
is traditionally used in practise, while in Treatment B the diet was offered individually toin
each animal, in order to have fully comparable feeding level among animals and between
treatments. Each Treatment (A and B) lasted 3 weeks. The results of this study have shown
that: sheep had significantly longer rumen retention time (RRT) (30.03 vs. 14.43) and mean
retention time (MRT) (40.80 vs. 27.81), and shorter transit time (TT) (8.86 vs. 11.49) than
goats, while the caecum retention time (CRT) did not differ between the two species in
Treatment A (group feeding). The comparison between group (Treatment A) and individual
feeding (Treatment B) in goats or in sheep has shown that there were no significant differences
as RRT, CRT, TT and MRT concerns. In conclusion, animal species (sheep vs. goat) was
the main factor which affected the MRT, RRT and TT when the animals were fed in groups
with the same diet, amount of food and F/C ratio, while the feeding technique (group vs.
individual) had no effect on those parameters in both animal species.
