Small Ruminant Research 123 (2015) 8894

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Small Ruminant Research

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Short communication

Protein and energy requirements of castrated male

Saanen goats

Angela Cristina Dias Ferreira, Enrique Alejandro Ynez,

Ariosvaldo Nunes de Medeiros, Kleber Tomas de Resende, J.M. Pereira Filho,
Mrcia Helena Machado da Rocha Fernandes, Amlia Katiane Almeida,
Izabelle Auxiliadora Molina de Almeida Teixeira
UNESP, Univ Estadual Paulista, Department of Animal Science, Jaboticabal, SP 14884-900, Brazil

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 2 July 2014
Received in revised form 29 October 2014
Accepted 30 October 2014
Available online 8 November 2014
Keywords:
Body composition
Comparative slaughter
Efciency
Gain
Maintenance

a b s t r a c t
A comparative slaughter trial was conducted to determine the energy and protein requirements for growth of castrated male Saanen goats weighing from 20 to 35 kg body weight
(BW). Regarding maintenance requirements, 36 castrated male Saanen goats with an initial BW of 20.7 0.5 kg, and aged 3.3 0.6 months, were used. Nine animals were randomly
chosen and slaughtered at the beginning of the experimental phase (BW of 21.0 0.4 kg),
representing the baseline (BL) group. The 27 remaining castrated male goats were pairfed into nine groups (blocks) of three animals each, fed either ad libitum or restricted to
30 or 60% of ad libitum intake. A group was slaughtered when the animal fed ad libitum
reached 35 kg BW. Regarding requirements for gain, 27 castrated male Saanen goats were
fed ad libitum and nine were slaughtered at 21.0 0.4 kg BW, nine at 27.7 0.5 kg BW and
nine at 35.1 0.3 kg BW. The BL and ad libitum-fed animals used to determine maintenance
requirements were also used to estimate gain requirements. The net energy (NE) requirement for maintenance was 261.5 kJ/kg0.75 BW. The metabolizable energy (ME) requirement
for maintenance was 404.2 kJ/kg0.75 BW; therefore, the partial efciency of use of ME for NE
was 0.65. The minimal endogenous N losses were 262 48.4 mg N/kg0.75 empty BW (EBW),
corresponding to a net protein requirement for maintenance of 1.39 0.257 g/kg0.75 BW.
The net energy for gain increased by approximately 40% (from 12 to 17 MJ/kg EBW gain)
and the net protein for gain slightly decreased by 3% (from 166 to 160 g/kg EBW gain) as the
BW increased from 20 to 35 kg. Our study contributes to the improvement of goat nutrition
because it provides estimates of the protein and energy requirements of castrated male
Saanen goats.
2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Corresponding author at: Faculdade de Cincias Agrrias e Veterinria

UNESP, Via de acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane s/n, CEP 14884-900
Jaboticabal, Brazil. Tel.: +55 16 3209 7437; fax: +55 16 3209 2682.
E-mail address: izabelle@fcav.unesp.br (I.A. Molina de Almeida
Teixeira).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2014.10.017
0921-4488/ 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The National Research Council (NRC, 2007) has recommended different energy and protein requirements for
the growth of goats according to their productive purpose
(dairy, meat and indigenous biotypes). This recommendation was based on studies using empirical models to assess
the requirements by regressing intake of metabolizable
energy or protein against response, such as body weight

A.C. Dias Ferreira et al. / Small Ruminant Research 123 (2015) 8894

change (Sahlu et al., 2004). Because the nutritional requirements for gain are directly related to body composition,
Lofgreen and Garrett (1968) proposed the comparative
slaughter technique, which can address net requirements
and is largely used to establish nutritional guidelines for
cattle (NRC, 2000); however, few studies with goats have
utilized this method (Fernandes et al., 2007; Bompadre
et al., 2014).
As an economic activity, goat production aims to
maximize efciency and protability. In a dairy herd,
the castration of male goats is a common management
practice for preventing inbreeding, avoiding unwanted
pregnancies, reducing gamey avor and enhancing farm
protability by selling goat meat. In addition to sanitary
and reproductive management, an adequate nutritional
program helps animals convert nutrients into meat more
efciently, which avoids economic losses and reduces environmental impact.
Castration has been reported to greatly inuence the
proportion of muscle, fat and bone in the carcass, which
will affect the total nutritional requirements. However, the
effect of castration on total fat content has not been consistent in goats. Body fat of castrated male goats were either
higher (Ruvuna et al., 1992; Zamiri et al., 2012), unchanged
(Tahir et al., 1994) or lower (Koyuncu et al., 2007) compared
to intact male goats. NRC (2007) assumed that castrated
males and females have similar requirements, different
from those of intact males; however this difference was
based on experiments with beef cattle (NRC, 2000). In addition, Luo et al. (2004a,b), on which studies NRC (2007) was
based, stated that the gender effect on requirements for
goats is still unclear.
Therefore, a comparative slaughter trial was carried out
to determine the energy and protein requirements for the
growth of castrated male Saanen goats weighing from 20
to 35 kg body weight (BW). Our results will directly assist
farmers to formulate optimal diets for castrated male goats
to maximize protability of goat production and also can
contribute to improve the database of future feeding systems.
2. Materials and methods
The experiment was conducted at the Goat Facility of Univ Estadual
Paulista/Jaboticabal (UNESP, Sao Paulo, Brazil). Humane care and handling
procedures were conducted in accordance with the Universitys Animal
Care Committee (Comisso de Etica e Bem Estar Animal CEBEA) under
protocol number 004972-09.

2.1. Requirements for maintenance

2.1.1. Animals and management
Thirty-six castrated male Saanen goats with an initial BW of
20.7 0.5 kg, and aged 3.3 0.6 months, were used. Animals were surgically castrated on the second week of life. Nine animals were randomly
chosen and slaughtered at the beginning of the experimental phase (BW of
21.0 0.4 kg), representing the initial body composition or baseline (BL)
group. The 27 remaining castrated male goats were randomly assigned
into 9 groups (blocks) of 3 animals according to treatments dened based
on the dry matter intake (DMI): ad libitum or restriction to 30 or 60% of
ad libitum intake. The daily intake of the restricted-fed animals within a
group was determined by the DMI of the animal fed ad libitum within
the same group on the previous day. Each group was slaughtered when
the animal fed ad libitum in the group reached 35 kg BW. Animals were

89

weighted weekly during the experimental period and daily when target
BW was approaching.
During the experimental phase, the animals were individually housed
in 1-m2 pens that were protected from rain and wind with free access to
fresh water. The experimental diet (Table 1) was formulated to meet the
nutritional requirements according to the AFRC standard (1998) for a gain
of 150 g/day (d) and consisted of dehydrated corn (Zea mays) (Fernandes
et al., 2007), cracked corn grain, soybean (Glycine max) meal, molasses,
soybean oil, limestone and mineral supplement. The diet was provided
twice a day (8.00 and 15.00 h), and the orts were removed prior to morning
feeding, weighed, sampled and further analyzed.
2.1.2. Metabolism essay
When castrated male goats fed ad libitum reached 29.5 0.6 kg BW,
a metabolism assay was carried out to determine the digestible energy
(DE), metabolizable energy (ME), energy metabolisability of the diet (q)
and digestibility coefcient of nutrients using 18 animals separated into
six groups with three animals, one of which was allocated to a level of
intake (ad libitum or restricted to 30 or 60% of ad libitum intake), during
5 d after a 3-d adaptation period to the metabolic cages. These animals
were part of those used for estimation of maintenance requirements. The
animals were individually housed in metabolic cages in a randomized
complete block design. The feed, orts, feces and urine were collected daily
for 5 d, and a 10% sample was collected and stored at 20 C. The urine
was acidied daily with 20 mL of 6 M (6 N) HCl. The feed, orts and feces
samples were dried at 60 to 65 C for 72 h and ground through a 1-mm
screen using a Wiley mill. The urine samples were ltered through a sieve.
The energy losses by gas production were estimated according to Blaxter
and Clapperton (1965).
2.1.3. Slaughter procedures and body composition
The BW was measured immediately before feed and water were withdrawn. Shrunk BW (SBW) was measured immediately before slaughter. At
slaughter, the animals were stunned and killed by exsanguination using
conventional humane procedures. The blood was weighed and sampled.
The gastrointestinal tract was weighed, cleaned and weighed again to
obtain the empty body weight (EBW), which was computed as the SBW
minus the digestive tract content. The empty whole body was initially
frozen at 6 C and then cut into small pieces that were ground with
a large screw grinder through a plate with 0.32-cm holes. After grinding and homogenization, the samples were collected, frozen again, and
freeze-dried to determine the dry matter (DM). These samples were further analyzed for fat, protein, ash and gross energy (GE) contents.
2.1.4. Laboratory analyses
The feed ingredients, orts, feces, urine and body were analyzed for DM
content (AOAC, 1997; method number 930.15), fat (by loss in weight of
the dry sample upon extraction with petroleum ether in a Soxhlet extraction apparatus for 6 h; AOAC, 1997; method number 930.39), protein (N
analysis via Dumas combustion using LECO FP-528 LC (Etheridge et al.,
1998)), ash (complete combustion in a mufe furnace at 600 C for 6 h;
AOAC, 1997; method number 924.05) and GE using a bomb calorimeter
(Parr Instrument Co., Moline, IL). The feed ingredients, orts and feces were
also analyzed for neutral detergent ber with amylase and without sulphite (Mertens, 2002) and acid detergent ber (ADF; AOAC, 1997, method
number 973.18).
2.1.5. Calculation of initial body composition
The initial empty body composition (fat, protein and energy) of the
animals slaughtered at the end of experiment was estimated from the BL
group, using the relationship between body composition and EBW of these
animals. The initial EBW of the animals slaughtered at the end of experiment was computed from the SBW (Eq. (1), R2 = 0.60; residual standard
deviation (RSD) = 0.41; P = 0.01).
EBW, kg = 1.85(5.73) + [0.93(0.28) SBW, kg]

(1)

where EBW is empty body weight and SBW is shrunk body weight.
The initial empty body protein (Eq. (2), R2 = 0.65, RSD = 0.01, P = 0.008)
and energy (Eq. (3), R2 = 0.42; RSD = 0.039, P = 0.05) were estimated as
follows:
Log protein, g = 2.28(0.33) + [0.97(0.27) Log EBW, kg]

(2)

Log energy, kJ = 2.69(1.06) + [1.97(0.87) Log EBW, kg]

(3)

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A.C. Dias Ferreira et al. / Small Ruminant Research 123 (2015) 8894

Table 1
Ingredients (DM basis) and chemical composition of the diet.
Ingredient

%a

% DM

Corn plant hayb

Soybean meal
Corn grain
Molasses
Soybean oil
Mineral supplementd
Limestone
Diet composition

46.88
19.32
25.91
4.29
0.81
1.99
0.80
100.00

91.83
91.14
92.29
87.56
100.0
94.2
99.8
91.81

% of dry matterc
GE

CP

Fat

NDF

ADF

16.77
17.98
16.96
12.65
38.73

16.5

6.96
50.61
9.66
3.4

15.69

0.8
0.62
3.22
0.61
100

1.33

71.84
12.17
20.95

41.46

18.47
5.96
1.65

10.24

Dietary proportion in dry matter basis.

See Fernandes et al. (2007).
c
GE = gross energy, MJ/kg DM; DM = dry matter, CP = crude protein, NDF = neutral detergent ber, ADF = acid detergent ber.
d
Mineral supplement composition per kg: Ca: 190 g; P: 73 g; Na: 62 g; Cl: 92 g; Mg: 44 g; S: 30 g; Zn: 1350 mg; Cu: 340 mg; Mn; 940 mg; Fe: 1064 mg;
Co: 3 mg; I: 16 mg; Se: 18 mg; F Max: 730 mg.
b

The initial empty body fat was estimated from the average proportion
of this nutrient in the baseline animals (Fat, kg = 0.0892 EBW, kg).
2.1.6. Energy partitioning
The heat production (HP, kcal/kg0.75 of EBW) was calculated as the
difference between the ME intake (MEI, kcal/kg0.75 of EBW) and retained
energy (RE, kcal/kg0.75 of EBW). The MEI was calculated using ME content
of the diet obtained in the metabolism essay. The mean of the antilog
of the condence interval values of the intercept of the linear regression
between the log of HP and MEI was used to estimate the requirement for
NEm (kcal/kg0.75 EBW; (Lofgreen and Garrett, 1968; Eq. (4))).
0.75

Log(HP, kJ/kg

0.75

EBW) = a + b MEI(kJ/kg

EBW)

(4)

where HP is heat production and MEI is the metabolizable energy intake.

The maintenance requirement for ME (MEm , kcal/kg0.75 EBW) was
computed by iteratively solving the semilog linear regression equation
until the HP was equal to MEI. The efciency of use of ME for maintenance
(km ) was computed as NEm /MEm . The slope of the regression of RE on MEI
(Eq. (5)) was assumed to be the partial efciency of energy utilization for
growth (kg ).
0.75

RE(kJ/kg

0.75

EBW) = a + b MEI(kJ/kg

EBW)

(5)

where RE is the retained energy in; and MEI is the metabolizable energy
intake.
The partial efciencies of energy utilization, i.e. the efciencies with
which the metabolizable energy is used for protein synthesis and fat were
calculated by adjusting a multiple regression equation of MEI as a function
of energy retained as protein (REprot ) and fat (REfat ), as shown in Eq. (6).
0.75

MEI(kJ/kg

0.75

EBW) = a + b REprot (kJ/kg

0.75

+ c REfat (kJ/kg

EBW)

EBW)

(6)

where MEI is the metabolizable energy intake, REprot is the energy retained
as protein and REfat is the energy retained as fat.
2.1.7. Protein for maintenance
Body retained N was calculated by the difference between body N
content at different BW. A linear regression of the daily-retained N in
EBW (g of N/kg0.75 EBW) against the daily N intake (g of N/kg0.75 EBW) was
used to calculate the net protein requirement for maintenance (NPm; Eq.
(7)). The intercept of the regression was assumed to be the endogenous
and metabolic losses of N, which was assumed to be the maintenance
requirement for net protein (NPm ).
NR(g of N/kg

0.75

EBW) = a + b NI(g of N/kg

0.75

EBW)

(7)

where NR is the Nitrogen retained in the gain and NI is the N intake.

2.1.8. Statistical analyses
The data were analyzed as a randomized block design using a mixed
model with the xed effects of levels of intake (Degrees of freedom, df = 2),
the random effect of the slaughter groups (df = 8) and the random residual error using the PROC MIXED of SAS (SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC). When
signicant, the means across the levels of intake were compared using
Fishers protected LSD (i.e. the DIFF option of the LSMEANS statement).

The regression analyses were performed using PROC MIXED with the
REML convergence method. The residuals were plotted against the predicted values to verify the model assumptions for the homocedasticity,
independence, and normality of the errors. For baseline animals, the data
were analyzed as a completely randomized design and linear regressions
analysis using PROC REG of SAS (SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC).
2.2. Requirements for gain
2.2.1. Animals and management
Twenty-seven castrated male Saanen goats with an initial BW of
20.5 0.6 kg, and aged 3.3 0.6 months, were used. Nine animals were
randomly chosen and slaughtered at the beginning of the experimental
phase (21.0 0.35 kg BW), nine were slaughtered at 27.7 0.51 kg BW and
nine were slaughtered at 35.1 0.28 kg BW. The animals were fed ad libitum. The BL and ad libitum-fed animals used to determine maintenance
requirements were also used to estimate gain requirements. The management, slaughter procedures and laboratory analyses were similar to those
previously described for Experiment of requirements for maintenance.
2.2.2. Requirements for gain
The logarithms of the allometric equations (Eq. (8)) were calculated to
predict the nutrient and energy concentration from the EBW (ARC, 1980).
Log10 (component, g or kJ) = a + [b log10 (EBW, kg)]

(8)

where component represents the nutrient or energy amount in the EBW,

and EBW is empty body weight.
Eq. (6) was differentiated based on the EBW to compute estimates of
the composition of the gain at various EBW (Eq. (9)).
[Component, g or kJ] = b 10a EBW(b1)

(9)

where [Component] is the nutrient or energy concentration per unit of

empty BW gain (EWG) in g/kg EWG; EBW is in kg; and a and b are parameters determined from a linear regression (Eq. (8)).
2.2.3. Statistical analysis
The data obtained from the growth trial were analyzed as a completely
randomized design and linear regressions analysis using PROC REG of
SAS (SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC). The residuals were plotted against the predicted values to verify the model assumptions for the homocedasticity,
independence, and normality of the errors.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Energy requirements for maintenance and energy
partitioning
As expected, the DMI, MEI, average daily gain (ADG),
EWG, RE and HP were higher for animals consuming an
ad libitum diet compared to those on a restricted diet
(Table 2). The average daily gain of animals fed ad libitum

A.C. Dias Ferreira et al. / Small Ruminant Research 123 (2015) 8894

91

Table 2
Final body composition and energy balance of castrated male Saanen goats subjected to three levels of feed intake (ad libitum, AL, and restricted to 30% or
60% of the ad libitum intake).
Itema

No. of kids
Days on feed
BW, kg
SBW, kg
EBW, kg
Fat, % EBW
Protein, % EBW
Water, % EBW
Ash, % EBW
ADG, g/d
EWG, g/d
FIG, % EWG
PIG, % EWG
DMI, kg/d
DMI, g/kg0.75 EBW
ME intakeb
Retained energyb
Heat productionb
EBW/SBW

Levels of feed restrictiona

AL

30%

60%

SEM

9
68
35.1a
32.7a
28.2a
18.2a
17.6
58.4b
5.8
198.2a
178.7a
30.5
17.3
1.17a
115.6a
1146.4a
280.0a
866.0a
0.86

9
68
28.6b
27.7b
23.6b
12.9b
18.4
62.7a
6.0
124.7b
110.5b
22.7
20.6
0.81b
86.7b
838.5b
150.6b
687.4b
0.85

9
68
22.1c
21.1c
17.2c
10.3c
18.5
64.6a
6.6
31.1c
20.0c
22.1
12.7
0.47c
56.9c
536.8c
35.1c
501.7c
0.82

0.3
0.3
0.5
0.9
0.5
1.2
0.2
6.6
8.1
5.5
2.7
0.02
2.3
23.8
12.1
19.7
0.02

P-value

<0.0001
<0.0001
<0.0001
<0.0001
0.46
0.0034
0.059
<0.0001
<0.0001
0.40
0.15
<0.0001
<0.0001
<0.0001
<0.0001
<0.0001
0.15

Within a row, means without a common letter (ac) differ (P < 0.05). SBW = shrunk BW, EBW = empty BW, ADG = average daily gain, BW = body weight,
DMI = dry matter intake, EWG = empty weight gain, FIG = fat in gain, PIG = protein in gain, MEI = ME intake, RE = retained energy, HP = heat production,
SEM = standard error of mean.
a
Animals of each group were slaughter when the ad libitum kid reached 35 kg.
b
DMI is g/kg0.75 EBW and MEI, RE, and HP are kJ/kg0.75 EBW, on a daily basis.

(200 g/d, Table 2) was 33% greater than the expected gain
(150 g/d), which was estimated according to AFRC (1998).
This difference may be a consequence of the greater DMI
observed (5% BW) compared to the 4% of BW DMI predicted by AFRC (1998). Consistent with our results, Teixeira
et al. (2011) demonstrated that the AFRC equation underpredicted the DMI and suggested that the AFRC prediction
could be greatly improved by considering ADG in the model
of DMI prediction.
Increasing the level of feed restriction decreased the fat
concentration and increased the water concentration in the
empty body, although it did not inuence the protein concentration in the body or the proportion of protein (PIG)
and fat (FIG) deposited in the gained empty body mass
(Table 2).
Feed restriction did not affect the energy apparent
digestibility coefcient, but it did inuence the dry matter
digestibility, which was lower when animals were fed 70%
of ad libitum intake (Table 3). On average, the metabolizable
energy content was 9.7 MJ/kg DM.
Because changes in the body energy content were measured at three levels of MEI, the maintenance energy
requirements and partial efciencies of ME utilization for
the maintenance and growth were calculated via extrapolation (details in Section 2). The linear regression of the log
of HP on MEI (P < 0.0001, R2 = 0.94, RSD = 0.026) is shown in
Eq. (10).
Log(HP) = 2.493 0.0165 + 0.0004 0.00002MEI
kJ/kg0.75

(10)

where HP is heat production in

EBW, and MEI
is the metabolizable energy intake in kJ/kg0.75 EBW.
Thus, the estimated NEm was 311.4 kJ/kg0.75 EBW or
261.5 kJ/kg0.75 BW, which is similar to those reported for
intact Boer crossbred males (Fernandes et al., 2007) and

castrated Boer crossbred males (Tovar-Luna et al., 2007).

In addition to the physiological conditions (age, gender,
physiological activity and temperature; NRC, 2007), variations in the energy requirement for maintenance have been
related to differences in the body composition because the
metabolic activity is more pronounced in muscle tissue
than in adipose tissue (Seve and Ponter, 1997); consequently, a high level of fat deposition should reduce the
maintenance requirements. Although the body fat concentration of castrated males fed ad libtum in this study (18%
EBW) was greater than those of intact males (15% EBW;
Fernandes et al., 2007), the body protein concentrations
of both studies were similar, leading to the similarities
in the net energy requirements for maintenance in both
studies (castrated intact males). In accordance with our
results, Luo et al. (2004a) reported a NEm of 298 kJ/kg0.75
EBW for goats, using a multiple regression model with eight
goat genotypes, and AFRC (1998) recommended a value of
315 kJ/kg0.75 EBW based on 9 studies conducted from 1906
to 1990, irrespective of sex condition. This nding might
suggest that the increase in the energy requirements by
15% for males, which was taken into account by NRC (2007)
for goats, and is based on the NRC (2000) for beef, would
not be applicable to goats.
The MEm was calculated by iteration assuming HP is
equal to MEI at maintenance and resulted in 481.2 kJ/kg0.75
EBW or 404.2 kJ/kg0.75 BW, which was slightly lower than
the value reported by NRC (2007) for female and wether
growing dairy goats (537 kJ/kg0.75 BW) and female and
wether growing dairy goats (501 kJ/kg0.75 BW). Likewise,
the research group from the E(Kika) de la Garza Institute for
Goat Research (Sahlu et al., 2004) proposed requirements
for major goat genotypes: meat (>50% Boer), dairy, native
and Angora, recommending 580 kJ/kg0.75 BW of MEm for

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A.C. Dias Ferreira et al. / Small Ruminant Research 123 (2015) 8894

Table 3
Body weight, apparent digestibility, N balance, digestible energy (DE), and metabolizable energy (ME) in castrated male Saanen goats in the digestibility
trial, at three levels of intake (ad libitum, AL, and restricted to 30% or 60% of the ad libitum intake).
Variable

n
BW, kg
BW0.75 , kg
DM digestibility, %
Energy digestibility, %
DE, MJ/kg DM
ME, MJ/kg DM
q
CP digestibility, %
N, g/kg0.75 BW
Intake
Fecal
Urinary
Balance

Level of intake
AL

30%

60%

SEM

P-value

6
29.5a
12.6a
68.6ab
67.5
12.6
10.0
0.53
67.3

6
24.6b
11.0b
66.4b
66.2
12.1
9.6
0.51
67.6

6
20.3c
9.6c
72.6a
72.4
13.4
9.6
0.51
73.4

0.7
0.2
1.8
1.9
0.33
0.37
0.02
1.9

<0.001
<0.001
0.05
0.07
0.07
0.67
0.67
0.08

0.05
0.04
0.06
0.06

<0.001
<0.001
0.30
<0.001

2.82a
0.92a
0.84
1.06a

2.23b
0.72b
0.73
0.78b

1.47c
0.39c
0.82
0.26c

Within a row, means without a common letter (ac) differ (P < 0.05). BW = body weight, DM = dry matter, DE = digestible energy, ME = metabolizable energy,
q = metabolisability, CP = crude protein.

growing dairy goats and 462 kJ/kg0.75 BW for mature goats,

regardless of genotype and gender (Luo et al., 2004c). The
value found in this study is closest to the latter value,
possibly because our goats may have been approaching
physiological maturity, which can be conrmed by the constant proportion of body protein as animals grew (from 20
to 35 kg). Even though, the most recent NRC (2007) distinguishes differences between intact and castrated males,
this assumption is based on recommendations for beef cattle (NRC, 2000), because of insufcient database to address
gender differences in MEm of goats. Therefore, the results of
this study can contribute to improve the database of future
feeding systems.
To convert the basic energy requirements of NE to ME,
the efciency of the utilization of ME for maintenance (km )
needs to be known, which is highly dependent on diet (ARC,
1980; Cannas et al., 2008). In this study, the partial efciency of use of MEm for NEm (km ) was 0.65. Using a similar
diet (10.2 MJ ME/kg DM), Fernandes et al. (2007) found a km
of 0.65, whereas Tovar-Luna et al. (2007) reported a slightly
higher km (0.70) for goats consuming a higher ME diet
(12.6 MJ ME/kg DM). However, the AFRC (1998) approach
for calculating km , which is based on diet metabolisability,
resulted in a value of 0.68 (an average qm of 0.52, Table 3),
which was approximately 5% greater than the iteratively
calculated value (0.65). As a consequence, MEm estimated
using km suggested by AFRC was lower (433 kJ/kg0.75 EBW
vs. 481.2 kJ/kg0.75 EBW), leading to an underestimated DMI
for a target ADG, as we highlighted earlier in this discussion. Other studies (Fernandes et al., 2007; Galvani et al.,
2008) also reported a lower km than the value reported by
AFRC (1998).
Although the knowledge of the partial efciencies of the
use of the ME for NE can improve our understanding of
the energy partition for growing animals, few studies have
reported a kg for goats (Bompadre et al., 2014; Fernandes
et al., 2007; Tovar-Luna et al., 2007), whose value varied
from 0.42 to 0.60. In this study, the kg was calculated as
0.39 (Eq. (11), P < 0.0001, R2 = 0.92 and RSD = 30.92), which
was 35% lower than that reported by Tovar-Luna et al.

(2007) for crossbred Boer Spanish wether goats fed a

65% concentrate diet, which was based on indirect respiration calorimetry. This approach tends to overpredict
RE, and, consequently, kg (Tedeschi et al., 2010). In contrast, Fernandes et al. (2007) found similar kg values, even
though they used crossbred Boer intact males. Thus, these
similar values may be attributed to similarities in the diet,
because the dietary energy concentration and body composition of the gained mass are the main factors affecting kg
(Tedeschi et al., 2010). According to AFRC (1998) kg estimative is based on the metabolisability of the diet. Assuming
the q of the diet to be 0.52 (Table 3), the kg estimated using
the AFRC approach was 0.41, which is similar to the value
estimated using regressions of RE against MEI (0.39, Eq.
(11)).
RE = 176.34 20.30 + 0.39 0.02MEI

(11)

where RE is the retained energy in kJ/kg0.75 EBW; and MEI

is the metabolizable energy intake in kJ/kg0.75 EBW.
While very useful, the use of a single kg could introduce
some inaccuracies into the estimation of animal performance because the composition of the gained mass greatly
affects kg (Tedeschi et al., 2010). The partial efciencies of
the utilization of metabolizable energy for the synthesis of
protein and fat (estimated from the inverse of the regression coefcients of the Eq. (12); P < 0.0001, R2 = 0.80 and
RSD = 151.4) were estimated at 0.16 and 0.68, respectively,
conrming that storing energy as protein in growing animals is energetically less efcient than storing energy as
fat.
MEI = 387.9 53.9 + 6.35 1.6 REprot
+ 1.47 0.3 REfat

(12)

where MEI is the metabolizable energy intake in kJ/kg0.75

EBW, REprot is the energy retained as protein in kJ/kg0.75
EBW and REfat is the energy retained as fat in kJ/kg0.75 EBW.
The low efciency of ME for protein accretion is due to
the cost of protein turnover because faster protein turnover

A.C. Dias Ferreira et al. / Small Ruminant Research 123 (2015) 8894

at greater accretion will increase the HP and decrease the

ME efciency (Owens et al., 1995).
3.2. Protein requirements for maintenance
According to AFRC (1998), the NPm is assumed to be
the sum of the total N endogenous losses, i.e. the endogenous urinary N, metabolic fecal N, and dermal N losses,
multiplied by a factor of 6.25; these losses are mainly
affected by sex and physiological stage. In our study, the
N retention was regressed against N intake, and the negative intercept of this regression provided an estimate of
the total endogenous losses which corresponds to NPm
of 1.63 0.302 g/kg0.75 EBW or 1.39 0.257 g/kg0.75 BW
(Eq. (13), P < 0.0001, R2 = 0.85 and RSD = 0.06). The N intake
required for maintenance, at which the retained N = 0, was
1.0 g of N/kg0.75 EBW, which corresponds to an intake of
6.25 g of CP/kg0.75 EBW. The efciency of the ingested crude
protein for the retained protein (slope) was 0.26.
NR = 0.262 0.0484 + 0.262 0.021NI

(13)

where NR is the nitrogen retained in the gain (g of N/kg0.75

EBW) and NI is the N intake (g of N/kg0.75 EBW).
The daily NPm found herein was 30% lower than the
value recommended by AFRC (1998; 2.2 g/kg0.75 BW). The
NPm recommended by AFRC (1998) was derived from studies with animals nourished by intragastric infusion; as a
result, they lacked a truly functional microbial population,
which in turn did not conserve protein by the microbial
capture of N recycled to the rumen, overestimating the
minimum protein requirements of normally fed animals
(CSIRO, 2007). Indeed, the difference between those recommendations indicates that experimental methodologies
might also affect NPm , as noted by other authors (CSIRO,
2007; Galvani et al., 2009).
3.3. Requirements for gain
The relationship between the EBW and SBW is
shown in Eq. (14) (P < 0.0001, R2 = 0.94, RSD = 1.24). The
allometric relationships between the EBW and protein
(Eq. (15), P < 0.0001, R2 = 0.93, RSD = 0.02), fat (Eq. (16),
P < 0.0001, R2 = 0.89, RSD = 0.08), and energy content (Eq.
(17), P < 0.0001, R2 = 0.91, RSD = 0.05) are shown in equations below.
EBW = 0.59(1.21) + [0.89(0.05) SBW]

(14)

where EBW is empty body weight in kg and SBW is shrunk

body weight in kg.
Log protein = 2.32(0.06) + [0.94(0.04) Log EBW]
(15)
Logfat = 0.39(0.21) + [2.27(0.15) Log EBW]

(16)

Log energy = 3.14(0.13) + [1.60(0.09) Log EBW]

(17)
where water, ash, protein and fat are their content in empty
body weight in g, energy the content in empty body in kJ
and EBW is empty body weight in kg.

93

The body protein composition remained relatively

constant (average of 173 g/kg EBW), whereas the body
energy and fat composition increased by 40% (from 7.6
to 10.7 MJ/kg EBW) and 100% (from 91 to 189 g/kg EBW),
respectively, as castrated male goats grew from 20 to 35 kg
BW.
Net energy for gain (NEg ) increased by approximately
40% and the net protein for gain (NPg ) slightly decreased
by 3% as the BW increased from 20 to 35 kg (Table 4).
Using the kg obtained from Eq. (10), the requirement of the
metabolizable energy for gain (MEg ) increased from 30.8
to 43.6 MJ/kg EWG or 25.9 to 36.6 MJ/kg BW gain when the
BW increased from 20 to 35 kg.
A study of the tissue development of Saanen goats
et al., 2009) showed
weighing from 5 to 35 kg BW (Yanez
that the growth rate of muscle tissue remained constant during the animal development, whereas the adipose
tissue deposition rate increased from 21 kg BW, which
reduced the muscle:fat ratio and thus directly reected
the net requirements for growth. Thus, the differences in
the body composition were certainly the main reason for
the increase in the energy and decrease in the protein net
requirements for growth. Furthermore, Cannas et al. (2008)
compared the NEg and NPg values predicted by different
feeding systems for goats and reported NEg values varying from 8 to 16 MJ/kg BW gain and NPg values varying
from 140 to 180 g/kg BW gain as the BW varied from 20 to
30 kg. Our ndings suggest that the NEg (10.4 to 14.6 MJ/kg
BW gain) is similar whereas the NPg (140.7 to 135.9 g/kg
BW gain) is lower than the previously published values
for other goat breeds (Cannas et al., 2008). These results
could be attributed to differences in the relative maturity
of the animals at equal BW, which causes differences in
the body composition and, consequently, in the growth
requirements.
Using the approach of NRC (2007), the energy requirements can also be estimated by regressing the MEI as a
function of EWG (Luo et al., 2004b,c). Eq. (18) (P < 0.0001,
R2 = 0.68, RSD = 189.0) indicated that MEm is 452.0 kJ/kg0.75
EBW (when EWG = 0) and that the ME requirement for gain
(MEG ) is 35.4 kJ/g EWG. Assuming mean RE of 14.6 kJ/g
EWG (Table 4), kg would be 0.41, which is close to the kg
(0.39) obtained by regressing RE as a function of MEI (Eq.
(11)).
MEI = 452.0 62.2 + 35.4 4.0 EWG

(18)

where MEI is the metabolizable energy intake kJ/kg0.75

EBW, and EWG is the empty body weight gain in g/kg0.75
EBW.
In this study, the MEm estimated by the value at which
HP is equal to MEI (481.2 kJ/kg0.75 EBW) was 6% greater
than the MEm obtained by regressing MEI as a function
of EWG (452 kJ/kg0.75 EBW). This results indicates that
both methodologies (comparative slaughter vs. response
to feeding level) can be applied to estimate MEm ; however, we modied the E(Kika) de la Garza Institute for Goat
Research approach (Luo et al., 2004c): instead of using the
ADG, we adopted EWG to diminish the impact of the variation of gastrointestinal content in the BW measurements,
which is well known (Lawrence et al., 2012).

94

A.C. Dias Ferreira et al. / Small Ruminant Research 123 (2015) 8894

Table 4
Equations to predict energy and protein net requirements for gain at different BW.
Equation of net requirements for gaina

BW, kg

Empty BW, kg
Energy, MJ/kg EWG
Protein, g/kg EWG

20

27

35

17.2
12.2
165.6

23.4
14.6
162.5

30.6
17.2
159.9

2208.6 empty BW0.600

196.4 empty BW0.06

a
Component concentration = b10a X(b1) , where a and b are constants determined from Eqs. (15) and (17) (see text for more details).
BW = body weight.

Our study contributes to the improvement of goat nutrition because it provides estimates of the protein and energy
requirements of Saanen castrated male goats. This study
also indicates these requirements diverge from previous
studies in goats. The results of this study also help to understand the energetic efciency of protein and fat deposition
for goats. Because these efciencies directly impact the
growth requirements, they will be a useful tool for updating
future feeding systems.
In conclusion, the NE and net protein requirements for maintenance was 261.5 kJ/kg0.75 BW and
1.39 0.257 g/kg0.75 BW, respectively. The net energy for
gain increased by approximately 40% (from 12 to 17 MJ/kg
EBW gain) and the net protein for gain slightly decreased
by 3% (from 166 to 160 g/kg EBW gain) as the BW increased
from 20 to 35 kg.
Conicts of interest
All authors declare that there have no conicts of interest.
Acknowledgment
This work was nancially supported by Sao Paulo
Research Foundation (FAPESP, So Paulo-SP, Brazil, grant
#99/03963-5).
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