Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-qs9v7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-09T12:53:33.990Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effects of infrequent drinking on the nitrogen metabolism of Bedouin goats maintained on different diets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

A. Brosh ,
A. Shkolnik  and
I. Choshniak
A. Brosh
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel
A. Shkolnik
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel
I. Choshniak
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The effect of infrequent drinking on nitrogen metabolism was studied in Bedouin goats, a breed herded in the extreme deserts of the Middle East. The goats were given water either daily or only once every 4 days, while being maintained on roughages of different quality: lucerne hay (19% protein), Rhodes grass (10% protein) or wheat straw (3·7%). On lucerne hay and Rhodes grass the goats kept their body mass constant, whether given water daily or only once every 4 days. When on wheat straw the body mass was maintained constant only when given water once every 4 days. Infrequent drinking was found to hamper considerably the food intake of the goats when fed on high quality roughage. When on the wheat straw, the nitrogen intake of the goats (only 12% of that recorded when fed lucerne hay and given water daily) was, however, not affected by the drinking regime. Infrequent drinking improved nitrogen digestibility on all the diets, but more so on those of low quality than on the lucerne hay.

When tested on the low quality feeds, urea excretion was low and urea retention and recycling were maintained at high rates. Infrequent drinking had no adverse effect on these capacities.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 109 , Issue 1 , August 1987 , pp. 165 - 169
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arman, P., Hopcraft, D. & McDonald, I. (1975). Nutritional studies on East African herbivores. 2. Losses of nitrogen in the faeces. British Journal of Nutrition 33, 265–276.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Association Of Official Agricultural Chemists (1970). Methods of Analysis. Washington, D.C.: A.O.A.C.Google Scholar
Brosh, A., Choshniak, I., Tadmor, A. & Shkolnik, A. (1986). Infrequent drinking, digestive efficiency and particle size of digesta in black Bedouin goats. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 106, 575–579.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brosh, A.Shkolnik, A. & Choshniak, I. (1986). Metabolic effects of infrequent drinking and low quality feed on Bedouin goats. Ecology 67, 1086–1090.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brosh, A., Sneh, B. & Shkolnik, A. (1983). Effect of severe dehydration and rapid rehydration on the activity of the rumen microbial population of black Bedouin goats. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 100, 413–421.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Choshniak, I. & Arnon, H. (1985). Nitrogen metabolism and kidney function in the Nubien Ibex (Capra ibex nubiana). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 82 A (1), 137–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Choshniak, I. & Shkolnik, A. (1978). The rumen as a protective osmotic mechanism during rapid rehydrationin the black Bedouin goat. In Osmotic and Volume Regulation, Alfred Benson Symposium XI, Munksgaard 1978, pp. 344–359.Google Scholar
Cocimano, M. R. & Leng, R. A. (1967). Metabolism of urea in sheep. British Journal of Nutrition 21, 353–370.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Engelhardt, W. V. (1978). Adaptation to low protein diets in some mammals. Proceedings of the Zodiac Symposium on Adaptation. Wageningen: Netherlands Center for Agricultural Publishing.Google Scholar
Erikson, L. & Valtonen, M. (1982). Renal urea handling in goats fed high and low protein diets. Journal of Dairy Science 65, 385–389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foster, L. B. & Hochholzer, J. M. (1971). A single reagent manual method for directly determining urea nitrogen in serum. Clinical Chemistry 17, 921–925.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leng, R. A. & Nolan, J. V. (1984). Nitrogen metabolism in the rumen (review). Journal of Dairy Science 67, 1072–1089.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Musa, H. M., Ali, K. E. & Hume, I. D. (1983). Effects of water deprivation on urea metabolism in camels, desert sheep and desert goats fed dry desert grass. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 74 A, 715–720.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osman, H. E. & Fadlalla, B.(1974). The effect of level of water intake on some aspects of digestion and nitrogen metabolism of the ‘desert sheep’ of the Sudan. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 82, 61–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, L. (1981). Nitrogen metabolism in indigenous Malawi goats. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 76, 347–351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmidt-Nielsen, K. (1964). Desert Animals: Physiological Problems of Heat and Water. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Shkolnik, A. & Choshniak, I. (1984). Physiological response and productivity in goats. In Stress Physiology in Livestock vol. 2, Ungulates(ed. Yousef, M. K.), pp. 39–55. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press.Google Scholar
Utley, P. R., Bradley, N. W. & Boling, J. A. (1970). Effect of restricted water intake on feed intake, nutrient digestibility and nitrogen metabolism in steers. Journal of Animal Science 31, 130–135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zilversmith, D. B. (1960). The design and analysis of isotope experiments. American Journal of Medicine 29, 823–848.Google Scholar