Effect of a diet high in energy and protein on growth, carcase characteristics and parasite resistance in goats.

The effects of a high-energy and high-protein diet on growth, parasite resistance and carcase characteristics were studied using local goats with an average initial body weight (BW) of 12.0 (SD = 0.7) kg. Thirty-two animals were allocated to a completely randomized factorial design, with four animals of each sex per treatment. The factors were: two diets (diet H with high content of crude protein (CP) and metabolizable energy (ME), and diet L with low content of CP and ME) and deworming (DW) or non-deworming (NDW). The highest dry matter (DM) intake was obtained for goats fed diet H combined with DW, but there was no significant difference between DW or NDW for goats fed diet H. The goats fed diet L and DW had significantly better total DM intake than NDW goats. The average daily gain of animals fed diet H was 86 and 92 g/day compared to 27 and 40 g/day for diet L, for NDW and DW animals, respectively. Feeding diet H resulted in higher slaughter weight and consequently also higher empty BW, carcase weight and dressing percentage and lower feed conversion ratio. Dewormed animals had significantly higher empty BW than NDW animals. There were significant effects of diet and parasite control on Faecal egg count (FEC: number of parasite eggs per gram of faeces (e.p.g.)), with NDW animals fed diet L having higher FEC than animals fed diet H.