Use of Atriplex canescens and Opuntia ficus indica as feed for lactating goats during drought.

Authors

  • Jorge Urrutia-Morales Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias, Campo Experimental San Luis, México
  • Héctor Guillermo Gámez-Vázquez Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias, Campo Experimental San Luis, México
  • Sergio Beltrán-López Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Facultad de Agronomía, México
  • Marta Olivia Díaz-Gómez Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Facultad de Agronomía, México

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15517/am.v25i2.15431

Keywords:

milk production, Atriplex, cactus pad.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of saltbush (Atriplex canescens) and prickly pear (Opuntia ficus indica) in the feeding of goats and milk production during drought. During the dry season, between May and August 2005 and between May and June 2006, three experiments were conducted in the semiarid region of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. In the first, two treatments were tested: CO) kept in confinement and controlled feeding (n = 10) and AT) kept in grazing saltbush (n = 10). In the second, two treatments were applied: AT) Atriplex (n = 5) and NP) Atriplex plus cactus (n = 5). In the third, three treatments were applied: AT) Atriplex (n = 5), NP-1,0) Atriplex plus 1,0% of cactus (n = 4) and NP-1,5) 1,5% Atriplex plus 1.5% of cactus (n = 5). In the first experiment, goats maintained their weight, but milk production was reduced to about 30% in CO and less than 8,0% in TA at the end of the experiment. In the second, goats lost weight, despite the initial milk production was less than 300 g/d. The goats fed with Atriplex reduced their production to almost half of the initial production, while the inclusion of cactus maintained production relatively stable. In the third experiment, the goats fed with Atriplex maintained their body weight, but after seven weeks milk production was only 25% of the initial production, even though it was only 300 g daily. In contrast, in the cactus supplemented goats, production tended to decrease in a lesser extent, reaching 45 and 64% of the initial production. These results are important for goat producers in the semiarid region of Mexico, where the goats could maintain good body condition, as well a production of 150 to 250 g of milk daily during the critical season using saltbush and cactus.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

AOAC (Association of Official Analytical Chemistry). 2000. Official methods of analysis of the Association of Analytcal Chemists. 17 ed. Gaithersburg MD, USA.

Abu-Zanat, M.M.W., y M.J. Taba. 2004 Effect of feeding Atriplex browse to lactating ewes on milk yield and growth rate of their lambs. Small Rum. Res. 64:152- 161.

Beltrán, L.S. 1993. Análisis dimensional de costilla de vaca con fines predictivos. En: F. Rodríguez-Garza et al., editores, Memoria de la Reunión Nacional de Investigación Pecuaria. Jalisco 1993. INIFAP, Jalisco, Guadalajara, México. p. 2.

Ben Salem, H., H. Abdouli, A. Nefzaoui, A. El-Mastouri, y L. Ben-Salem. 2005. Nutritive value, behaviour, and growth of Barbarine lambs fed on oldman saltbush (Atriplex nummularia L.) and supplemented or not with barley grains or spineless cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica f. inermis) pads. Special issue: Methodology, nutrition and products quality in grazing sheep and goats. Ed. Morand-Fehr, P; Ben Salem H; Papachristou T.G. Small Rum. Res. 59:229-237.

Ben Salem, H., A. Nefzaoui, H. Abdouli, y E.R. Ørskov. 1996. Effect of increasing level of spineless cactus (Opuntia ficusindica var. inermis) on intake and digestion by sheep fed straw-based diets. Anim. Sci. 62:293-299.

Ben Salem, H., A. Nefzaoui, y L. Ben Salem. 2002a. Supplementation of Acacia cyanophylla Lindl. foliage-based diets with barley or shrubs from arid areas (Opuntia ficus indica f. inermis and Atriplex nummularia L.) on growth and digestibility in lambs. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol. 96:15-30.

Ben Salem, H., A. Nefzaoui, y L. Ben Salem. 2002b. Nitrogen supplementation improves the nutritive value of Opuntia ficus-indica F. inermis-based diets and sheep growth. En: Acta Horticulturae, editor, IV International Congress on Cactus Pear and Cochineal. 31 August 2002. Hammamet, Tunisia. p. 317-321.

Ben Salem, H., A. Nefzaoui, y L. Ben Salem. 2002c. Opuntia

ficus-indica f inermis and Atriplex nummularia L.: Two complementary fodder shrubs for sheep and goats. En: Acta Horticulturae, editor, IV International Congress on Cactus Pear and Cochineal. 31 August 2002. Hammamet, Tunisia. p. 333-341.

Ben Salem, H., A. Nefzaoui, y L. Ben-Salem. 2004. Spineless cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica f. inermis) and oldman saltbush (Atriplex nummularia L) as alternative supplements for growing Barbarine lambs given straw-based diets. Small Rum. Res. 51:65-73.

Ben Salem, H., H.C. Norman, A. Nefzaoui, D.E. Mayberry, K.L. Pearce, y D.K. Revell. 2010. Potential use of oldman saltbush (Atriplex nummularia Lindl.) in sheep and goat feeding. Small Rum. Res. 91:13-28

Castillo, C.M., G.E. Aparicio, y M.J. Urrutia. 1989. Caracterización de la caprinocultura en cinco ejidos del municipio de Venado, S.L.P. En: Asociación Mexicana de Producción Caprina A.C., editor, Memorias de la V Reunión Nacional sobre Caprinocultura. Zacataecas, Zacatecas, México. p. 28-31.

Chagra Dib, E.P., H.D. Leguiza, T. Vera, C. Valdivia, y O.

Bazan. 2005. Utilización de Opuntia ficus indica y Atriplex nummularia en cabras criollas en lactancia. En: Asociación Latinoamericana de Producción Animal, editor, XIX Reunión de la Asociación Latinoamericana de Producción Animal. Tampico, Tamaulipas, México. BIOTAM Nueva serie. Edición

especial. p. 261-264.

Echavarría, C.F.G., L.R. Gutiérrez, R.R.I. Ledesma, V.R. Bañuelos, S.J.I. Aguilera, y P.A. Serna. 2006. Influencia del sistema de pastoreo con pequeńos rumiantes en un agostadero del semiárido Zacatecano. I Vegetación nativa. Téc. Pec. Méx. 44:203-217.

Guerrero, M., A.S. Juárez, R.G. Ramírez, R. Montoya, M. Murillo, O. La O, y M.A. Cerrillo. 2010. Composición química y degradabilidad de la proteína de forrajes nativos de la región semiárida del norte de México. Rev. Cubana Cienc. Agríc. 44:147-154.

Medina, G.G., P.G. Díaz, O.C. Loredo, A.V. Serrano, y G.M.A. Cano. 2005. Estadísticas climatológicas básicas del estado de San Luis Potosí (período 1961-2001). Libro Técnico No 2. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias, Campo Experimental San Luis. San Luis Potosí,

México.

Morlán, C.A.A., T.J. De Lucas, y L.E. Valdez. 2005. Caracterización de sistemas de producción de pequeños rumiantes en Venado y Villa de Arista, San Luis Potosí. En: Asociación Mexicana de Producción Caprina A.C., editor, Memorias de la XX Reunión Nacional sobre Caprinocultura. Culiacán, Sinaloa, México. p. 625-631.

Nefzaoui, A., y H. Ben Salem. 2002. Forage, fodder and animal nutrition. En: P.S. Nobel, editor, Cacti: biology and uses. University of California Press, Berkeley, California, USA. p. 190-210.

NRC (National Research Council). 1981. Nutrient requirements of goats: Angora, dairy, and meat goats in temperate and tropical countries. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.

Olhagaray, C.O.R. 2005. Diagnóstico del segundo año del GGAVATT-INIFAP en el Ejido Juan E. García del municipio de Lerdo, Durango. En: Asociación Mexicana de Producción Caprina A.C., editor, Memorias de la XX Reunión Nacional sobre Caprinocultura. Culiacán, Sinalo., México. p. 615-624.

Ramírez, R.G., y M.A. Núñez-González. 2006. Chemical composition, digestion and mineral content of native forbs consumed by range sheep. J. Anim. Vet. Adv. 5:1158-1164.

SAS Institute. 2000. User’s Guide: Statistics. Version 4.0.3 (Academic). SAS Inst., Cary, NC, USA.

Tegenge, F. 2002. Fodder potential of Opuntia ficus indica. En: Acta Horticulturae, editor, IV International Congress on Cactus Pear and Cochineal. 31 August 2002. Hammamet, Tunisia. p. 342-347.

Urrutia, M.J., C.A. Martínez, y D.J. Villanueva. 1989. Caracterización químico proximal de las plantas del genero Atriplex. En: Asociación Mexicana de Producción Caprina A.C., editor, V Reunión Nacional sobre Caprinocultura. Zacatecas, Zacatecas, México. p. 137-139.

Valderrábano, J., F. Muñoz, y I. Delgado. 1996. Browsing ability and utilization by sheep and gotas of Atriplex halimus L. shrubs. Small Rumin. Res. 19:131-136.

Van Soest, P.J., J.B. Robertson, y B.A. Lewis. 1991. Methods for dietary neutral detergent fiber, and non starch polysaccharides in relation to animal nutrition. J. Dairy Sci. 74:3583-3589.

Vanzant, E.S., R.C. Cochran, y E.C. Titgemeyer. 1998. Standardization of in situ techniques for ruminant feedstuff evaluation. J. Anim. Sci. 76:2717-2729.

Published

2014-07-01

How to Cite

Urrutia-Morales, J., Gámez-Vázquez, H. G., Beltrán-López, S., & Díaz-Gómez, M. O. (2014). Use of Atriplex canescens and Opuntia ficus indica as feed for lactating goats during drought. Agronomía Mesoamericana, 25(2), 287–296. https://doi.org/10.15517/am.v25i2.15431