ABSTRACT
This study investigated the effect of both high dietary energy, as dry fat
(MagnapacTM), and protected methionine (SmartamineTM) on growth, feed intake, feed
conversion efficiency, trace mineral concentrations in blood serum and some tissues of
growing Baladi kids. Twenty Baladi kids (3 to 4 months old and 24.64±3.0 kg average
body weight) were distributed equally into four treatment groups as follow: control
group given the standard requirements of NRC (1981) and tested groups were given
high energy (3.0 Mcal ME/kg DM) without (T1) or with 2.5 g methionine/head/day
(T2) or 5.0 g methionine /head/day (T3) as SmartamineTM. Results indicate that feeding
Baladi kids high energy and protected methionine didn't lead to increase total weight
gain, feed intake, and feed conversion efficiency. Treatments didn't cause any
significant effect on dressing and organs percentage except the kidney. The omental fat
percentage were significantly (P<0.05) increased with feeding high energy without or
with 2.5 g/h/day protected methionine compared with the control, but intake of high
protected methionine (5 g/h/day; T3) caused a significant reduction in omental fat
compared with T1 and T2. Moreover, a significant effect of treatment on kidneys'
cobalt, zinc and iron concentrations were found with variable changes for each mineral
within groups. Copper concentration in blood serum showed significantly higher values
for the final blood sampling of kids from T1 and T2 compared with the control and T3. In conclusion, feeding Baladi kids high energy without or with methionine as SmartamineTM didn't cause any significant improve on their performance in term of
growth and feed conversion, but affect the omental fat percentage and some trace
minerals concentrations. Moreover, the recommended NRC requirements for goats of
energy and protein cover Baladi kids requirements for maximum growth and
productivity.