Energy Requirements for Maintenance of Growing Korean Indigenous Goats (Capra hircus coreanae)

This study was conducted to determine the energy requirements for maintenance of growing Korean native goats (black goat: Capra hircus coreanae). The experiment had a replicated 5×5 Latin square design, using five growing wethers [24.13±2.55 kg body weight (BW)]. Each wethers was individually housed in a metabolic cage and first given 10 days for diet adaptation prior to 7 days of experimental measurements. The goats received timothy (12%), tall fescue (28%), cornflake (30%), concentrates (20%) and one of the following five energy level treatments that were based on recommended metabolizable energy for maintenance, Mem (NRC, 2007): MEm-7% (trial 1), MEm (trial 2), MEm+10% (trial 3), MEm+20% (trial 4), MEm+30% (trial 5). Intakes of dry matter were similar across all diets by restricting feed supply at 2% of BW for all wethers. Average daily gains (ADG) were -14.22, 3.06, 18.06, 31.62, and 37.16 g/day for each treatment. Higher maintenance energy intake (MEI) led to higher ADG. By simple regression analysis, the following equation was defined between ADG and MEI: Y(MEI)=0.2735X(ADG)+112.19. The findings indicate that the estimated maintenance energy requirement for growing black goats is 112.19 kcal/kgBW^0.75. The estimated value of MEm can be further managed and improved with precision feeding system for black goats.