Meat Goat Production in Virginia

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Small Ruminant Production Systems Stephan
Wildeus Virginia State University
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Breed Resource Evaluation at Virginia State
University

• Species comparison of meat goat and hair sheep
  breeds
• Evaluation of breed types within species
• Goats Nubian, Spanish, Myotonic, Pygmy, Boer x
  Spanish, and Boer and Kiko terminal sire kids
• Sheep Barbados Blackbelly, Katadhin, St. Croix

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Program history

• Initiated as Meat Goat Program in 1992
• Changed to Small Ruminant Program 1997
• introduced breeding flocks of Katahdin in 1997
• Barbados Blackbelly in 1998
• St. Croix hair sheep in 1999
• Emphasis on breed evaluation and forage-based,
  low-input production systems

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Animal resources hair sheep
Barbados Blackbelly
Katahdin
St. Croix
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Animal resources goats
Boer cross
Pygmy
Myotonic
Spanish
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Reproductive performance in goats
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Kidding performance of goat breeds under a
forage-based, accelerated mating system
(1996-2000)
Myotonic Nubian Spanish
Pregnancy rate, 66.1 76.5 79.9
Kids born/doe kidding 1.76 1.90 1.69
Kids weaned/doe kidding 1.28 1.01 1.32
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Effect of breeding season on pregnancy rate in
meat goat breeds
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Effect of breeding season on prolificacy in meat
goats during two breeding cycles
Cycle 1
Cycle 2
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Effect of breeding season on pregnancy rate in
meat goat breeds
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Effect of breeding season on prolificacy in meat
goats during two breeding cycles
Cycle 2
Cycle 1
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Reproductive performance in hair sheep
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Effect of breeding season on pregnancy rate in
hair sheep breeds
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Effect of season and breed on pregnancy, lambing
and weaning rate in hair sheep breeds
Katahdin
Blackbelly
St. Croix
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Effect of breeding season on prolificacy in hair
sheep
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Effect of production cycle on pregnancy rates
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Effect of production cycle on lamb weaned as
ewe body weight
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Estimated annualized performance under
accelerated mating
BB KA SC
lambs born/ewe lambing/yr 2.36 2.49 2.77
lambs weaned/ewe lambing/yr 2.04 2.12 2.33
litter wt. weaned/yr 63.0 63.2 61.7
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Effect of season on pregnancy rate of replacement
ewes

• Reduced pregnancy rates in 11 mo old replacement
  ewes in July and March

Nov
Nov
Jul
Jul
Mar
Mar
Nov
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Forage-based feeding trials at VSU
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Daily gain (lbs/d) in Spanish and Boer goats fed
alfalfa hay diets in two different trials
alfalfa grass
Spanish, 7 mo, conc. _at_1.5 BW, 16.8 CP , 102 days 0.302 0.172
Boer, 10 mo, conc. _at_1 BW, 15.2 CP, 84 days 0.348 0.262

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Forage DMI in goats and hair sheep pen-fed fescue
hay and 2 BW concentrate
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Body weight and daily gain in goats and hair
sheep fed fescue hay and concentrate (2 BW)
Goat Sheep
Starting wt, lb 36.6 47.8
Final wt, lb 73.9 99.9
Daily gain, lb 0.236 0.320

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Live grade and ultrasonic backfat and rib eye in
goats and hair sheep fed high forage diets
Goat Sheep
Live grade Choice 0 Choice 30
Backfat, cm 0.18 0.42
Rib eye area, cm2 8.58 11.39

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Nutritional quality of hay types and forage
intake (Trial 2)
Alfalfa Fescue
protein 16.3 13.5
NDF 51.0 56.1
ADF 36.1 37.9
IVOMD 55.2 45.2
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Growth rates of hair sheep lambs and meat goats
kids fed alfalfa and grass hay (Trial 2)
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Starting and final weights, and daily gain in
goats and hair sheep fed forage-based diets
(Trial 2)
Goat Goat Sheep Sheep
alfalfa grass alfalfa grass
Starting wt, lb 31.7 29.8 51.4 49.6
Final wt, lb 58.4 48.7 90.6 82.7
Daily gain, lb 0.271 0.194 0.401 0.324
Live grade Choice 40 Choice 20 Prime 40 Prime 20
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Trial A

• 36 weaned ewe and wether lambs (12/breed)
• Fescue pasture alfalfa hay
• Hay group 6 pens 3 animal/pen balanced by
  breed
• 0.75 body wt concentrate supplement

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Trial B

• 72 weaned ewe and wether lambs (24/breed)
• Fescue pasture mixed grass hay
• Hay group 6 pens balanced by breed
• Concentrate supplementation at 1.5 body wt
• Two levels of protein in concentrate (16.8 vs.
  24.3)

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Nutritional quality of pasture and hay
Pasture Alfalfa hay Grass hay
Crude protein 12-17 16.6 15.1
NDF 66-69 60.3 67.6
ADF 36-38 45.2 36.7
IVOMD 34-60 57.6 54.2
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Body weight changes in three hair sheep breeds
reared on pasture or in pens (Trial A)
BB 0.12 lb/d KA 0.19 lb/d STX 0.17 lb/d
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Carcass characteristics in three hair sheep
breeds after forage feeding
Blackbelly Katahdin St. Croix
Backfat, cm 0.171 0.449 0.241
REA, cm2 10.7 12.1 9.1
Yield grade 1.07 2.15 1.34
Quality grade 9.6 11.2 10.1

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Body weight changes in three hair sheep breeds
reared on pasture or in pens (Trial B)
BB 0.16 lb/d KA 0.24 lb/d STX 0.19 lb/d
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Body weight, growth and DM intake in lambs fed
alfalfa hay (17.6 CP) with no supplement
BB KA SC
Starting wt. (lb) 52.4 80.5 64.2
Final wt. (lb) 64.4 98.6 80.5
Daily gain (lb/d) 0.192 0.289 0.259
Intake ( body wt.) 3.31 2.93 3.10
Feed gain 10.53 9.11 8.73
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Nitrogen use efficiency in lambs fed alfalfa hay
BB KA SC
N intake (g/d) 24.1 33.6 25.5
Absorbed N ( N intake) 67.7 72.3 69.4
Retained N ( N intake) 11.3 16.1 8.9
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Growth of terminal sire Boer and Kiko crossbred
kids
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Performance of terminal sire kids pen-fed grass
hay diets
supplement level supplement level sire breed sire breed dam breed dam breed
2 3 Boer Kiko Myotonic Spanish
Initial wt, kg 15.1 15.0 15.8 14.3 14.7 15.4
Final wt, kg 25.0b 28.4a 27.0 26.4 25.8 27.6
ADG, g/d 101b 137a 114 122 113 124
Live grade Choice 23 Choice 30 Choice 34d Choice 18c Choice 34d Choice 18c
a,bvalues with unlike superscripts in same row within main category differ (Plt.001). c,dvalues with unlike superscripts in same row within main category differ (Plt.05). a,bvalues with unlike superscripts in same row within main category differ (Plt.001). c,dvalues with unlike superscripts in same row within main category differ (Plt.05). a,bvalues with unlike superscripts in same row within main category differ (Plt.001). c,dvalues with unlike superscripts in same row within main category differ (Plt.05). a,bvalues with unlike superscripts in same row within main category differ (Plt.001). c,dvalues with unlike superscripts in same row within main category differ (Plt.05). a,bvalues with unlike superscripts in same row within main category differ (Plt.001). c,dvalues with unlike superscripts in same row within main category differ (Plt.05). a,bvalues with unlike superscripts in same row within main category differ (Plt.001). c,dvalues with unlike superscripts in same row within main category differ (Plt.05). a,bvalues with unlike superscripts in same row within main category differ (Plt.001). c,dvalues with unlike superscripts in same row within main category differ (Plt.05). a,bvalues with unlike superscripts in same row within main category differ (Plt.001). c,dvalues with unlike superscripts in same row within main category differ (Plt.05). a,bvalues with unlike superscripts in same row within main category differ (Plt.001). c,dvalues with unlike superscripts in same row within main category differ (Plt.05).
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Forage and total DMI of crossbred kids
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Gastrointestinal Parasitism
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Species differences in goats and hair sheep in
mean FEC and PCV during the grazing season1
goats sheep P
FEC, eggs/g 669 376 .001
PCV, 26.5 31.9 .001
Deworming int., d 32 143 .001
1animals were dewormed at FEC composites of 1000 egp 1animals were dewormed at FEC composites of 1000 egp 1animals were dewormed at FEC composites of 1000 egp 1animals were dewormed at FEC composites of 1000 egp
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Breed differences in goats and hair sheep in mean
FEC and PCV during the grazing season1
Myotonic Nubian Pygmy Spanish
FEC, eggs/g 412b 1035a 359b 865a
PCV, 26.4b 28.4a 25.5c 25.8bc
Deworming int., d 44a 26d 32b 27c
1animals were dewormed at FEC composites of 1000 egp 1animals were dewormed at FEC composites of 1000 egp 1animals were dewormed at FEC composites of 1000 egp 1animals were dewormed at FEC composites of 1000 egp 1animals were dewormed at FEC composites of 1000 egp
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Effect of breed and feeding system on changes in
fecal egg counts in lambs (2001 data)
breed x feeding system Plt.05
deworm
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Effect of breed and feeding system on changes in
packed blood cell volume (2001 data)
breed Plt.01 feeding system Plt.01
deworm
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Worm burden in three hair sheep breeds reared in
pasture or in pens (2001 data)
Abomasum H contortus Small intestine Trichostrongyle spp.
Breed Blackbelly Katahdin St. Croix 451 316 115 139 568 144
Management Pasture Pen 239 349 413 154
a,bvalues within main effect with unlike superscripts differ (Plt0.05) a,bvalues within main effect with unlike superscripts differ (Plt0.05) a,bvalues within main effect with unlike superscripts differ (Plt0.05) a,bvalues within main effect with unlike superscripts differ (Plt0.05)
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Changes in fecal egg count in three hair sheep
breeds reared on pasture or in pens (2003 data)
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Changes in packed cell volume in three hair sheep
breeds reared on pasture or in pens (2003 data)
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Worm burden in three hair sheep breeds reared in
pasture or in pens (2003 data)
Abomasum H contortus Small intestine Trichostrongyle spp.
Breed Blackbelly Katahdin St. Croix 240 233 160 92 119 98
Management Pasture Pen 310a 112b 131a 74b
a,bvalues within main effect with unlike superscripts differ (Plt0.05) a,bvalues within main effect with unlike superscripts differ (Plt0.05) a,bvalues within main effect with unlike superscripts differ (Plt0.05) a,bvalues within main effect with unlike superscripts differ (Plt0.05)
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