ARI REVIEW FOR 2016-2017

The effect of artificial rearing on kid growth and milk production of Cyprus Damascus goats Research on zero suckling systems in Cyprus Chios ewes and Cyprus Damascus goats continued in 2016 and 2017. Lambs and kids on zero suckling were reared artificially on milk substitute using four automatic milk- feeding machines. Yearling Damascus goats were allocated as they kidded to either Natural Suckling (NS) or were separated from their kids immediately after birth. NS goats suckled up to two kids, while separated kids were Artificially Reared (AR) on milk replacer. Colostrum was given to AR kids by bottle-feeding. All kids were weaned at 49±3 days of age. Following weaning, 15 male kids from each NS and AR groups were fattened for 70 days. AR goats were milked twice daily. NS goats were milked once daily before and twice daily after weaning. Results in 2016 and 2017 further supported findings from previous years that artificially reared kids had satisfactory pre-weaning growth, although slightly lower than that of suckling kids; however, both groups reached the same final weight at 120 days of age. Goats on zero suckling produced more marketable milk over their whole lactation period than suckling goats. Therefore, in particular to dual purpose breeds such as the Damascus one, artificial rearing may increase the farmer’s income, with no adverse effects on kid growth. ( G. Hadjipavlou ) Use of ensiled olive cake in the diet of lactating cows The project was commenced in 2016 and completed in 2017 and was a joint research project between the Agricultural Research Institute and the Cyprus University of Technology. The research objective was to investigate the addition of the ensiled olive cake (OC) in the diet of lactating cows regarding yield, composition and fatty acid (FA) profile of milk. Twenty-four Holstein-Friesian lactating cows were allocated into two groups of 12 animals (homogenous for age, milk yield, period of lactation and body weight) and given the following iso-energetic and iso-nitrogenous feeding regimes: (a) no inclusion of ensiled olive cake (control group), and (b) inclusion of 5 kg/day/cow (OC group). Measurements of milk yield, milk content (fat, protein, lactose) and FA profile were taken. The results showed no significant differences in milk yield between the two groups. Regarding milk composition, only fat was affected by the treatment. Thus, milk obtained from the OC group was higher ( P<0.05 ) in fat % compared to the control group (average values of 3.5 and 3.2, for the OC and control group, respectively). The lipid unsaturation of milk was increased by the OC addition in the cow diets. The major differences between groups were present in saturated FAs and particularly C10:0, C12:0, C14:0 and C16:0 which 36 Animal Production