The 2008 Joint Meeting of the Society for Range Management and the America Forage and Grassland Council. |
Thursday, January 31, 2008 - 10:20 AM
Effects of Protein Supplementation on Juniper Consumption by Goats
Chad George1, Cody B. Scott1, Charles A. Taylor Jr.2, Corey J. Owens1, Michael W. Salisbury1, and Brian J. May1. (1) Department of Agriculture, Angelo State University, Box 10888, ASU Station, San Angelo, TX 76909, (2) Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Box 918, Hwy 55, Sonora, TX 76950
Redberry juniper (Juniperus pinchotii Sudw.) is a common invasive plant species in west central Texas . The use of goats to slow encroachment onto rangelands has become a popular method of control; however, redberry juniper consumption is limited by monoterpenoids found in the plant. The focus of this study was to determine if protein supplementation would increase juniper consumption. In this experiment, recently weaned Boer-cross goats (n = 47) were randomly placed into 5 treatments. Treatments 1, 2, 3 and 4 received a protein supplement and juniper for 1 hour daily for 14 days, along with a basal diet of alfalfa pellets (2% BW daily). Treatment 5 received only a basal diet of alfalfa pellets and juniper. All supplements were isonitrogenous (37% CP). Protein sources differed among supplements. Treatment 1 contained cotton seed meal, Treatment 2 contained cottonseed meal and corn distiller’s grain, Treatment 3 contained soybean meal and Treatment 4 contained soybean meal and corn distiller’s grain. Refusals were weighed daily to determine intake. Supplementation with soybean meal or soybean meal and distillers grain did not influence juniper intake. Conversely, goats supplemented with cotton seed meal and distiller’s grain ate more (P<0.05) juniper apparently because more amino acids escaped rumen digestion. Landowners should consider using goats as a biological control of juniper especially when goats are supplemented with a protein supplement containing cotton seed meal and distillers grain.
Key Words: isonitrogenous, mixed-function oxidase reactions, redberry juniper, monoterpenoids, biological brush control