ARI Biennial Review for 2018-2019

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 2018 and 2019. 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. AR goats were milked twice daily. NS goats were milked once daily before and twice daily after weaning. Results in 2018 and 2019 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) Effects of whole, cracked, and steam-flaked corn on growth performance in feedlot Damascus goats The experiment ran in 2018 and was a joint research project between the Agricultural Research Institute and the Cyprus University of Technology. The effects of corn processing and of concentrate mixture type were studied on weaned Damascus breed kids of 70 days of age. Sixty animals were divided into four groups on the basis of live-weight and age, and randomly allocated to one of the following treatments (type of concentrate mixture): (1) pelleted concentrates (P), where all ingredients were ground and pelleted in 5-mm cubes; (2) dry- rolled corn grains (DRC); (3) whole-grain corn (WGC); (4) steam-flaked corn (SFC), mixed with pellets made from the other ingredients of the concentrate mixture. Diets of all four groups were formulated to be iso-energetic, with corn comprising 707/kg of the concentrate mixture, and offered ad libitum along with 0.1 kg per head of Lucerne hay. Treatment effects on feedlot kid performance were evaluated in a seven-week trial, with measurements of live weight gain, feed consumption and rumen pH. 35 ANIMAL PRODUCTION