Influence of tannin-rich pine bark supplementation in the grain mixes for meat goats: Growth performance, blood metabolites, and carcass characteristics

Authors: REYNOLDS, DESNATIE - Tuskegee University; Min, Byeng Ryel; GURUNG, NAR - Tuskegee University; MCELHENNEY, WINDLE - Tuskegee University; LEE, JUNG - Fort Valley State University; SOLAIMAN, SANDRA - Tuskegee University; BOLDEN-TILLER, OLGA - Tuskegee University

Submitted to: Animal Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/21/2019
Publication Date: 10/18/2019
Citation: Reynolds, D., Min, B., Gurung, N., McElhenney, W., Lee, J.H., Solaiman, S., Bolden-Tiller, O. 2019. Influence of tannin-rich pine bark supplementation in the grain mixes for meat goats: Growth performance, blood metabolites, and carcass characteristics. Animal Nutrition. 6(2020):85-91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aninu.2019.09.003.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aninu.2019.09.003

Interpretive Summary: There are currently 13 million hectares of pines in the Southeastern USA with a projected increase to 22 million ha by the year 2040. Lumber industries produce more than 2 million tons of pine bark (PB) annually. While much of the PB is used for mulching, a significant portion is disposed of as waste. One new area of use maybe as a feed ingredient for small ruminants (goats and sheep). PB are high in tannins. There is increasing interest in the use of tannin rich ingredients in the diets of small ruminants because of some beneficial effects that they may elicit, especially regarding growth promotion or alternative parasites control strategy in grazing meat goats. However, the effects of PB as a feed supplement for grazing meat goats have not been studied extensively. Therefore, scientists from USDA-ARS (Bushland, TX) and Tuskegee University (Tuskegee, AL) studied how the tannin-rich ground PB mixed with grains supplementation affects animal growth performance, rumen fermentation, blood metabolites, and carcass traits of growing meat goats. Results from the current study suggested that substituting 30% PB for bermudagrass hay did not reduce animal performance and carcass characteristics and may have offered some protection against internal parasites as measured by fecal egg counts. PB has a potential for reducing cost of meat goat diets, thus increasing the sustainability of small ruminant production in the Southeastern USA while providing another market for the lumber industries to utilize PB.

Technical Abstract: The objective was to evaluate the use of condensed tannin (CT)-rich ground pine bark (PB) in grain mixed diets on meat goat growth performance, anthelmintic effect, and carcass characteristics. Twenty-four Kiko crossbred (Capra aegagrus hircus) growing male kids [body weight (BW) = 36.9 ± 2.5 kg] at approximately 8 months of age, were used in this experiment. Goats were assigned randomly to two treatment diets. The two treatments were incorporated with grain mixed diets composed of either 30% bermudagrass hay (BGH) plus concentrate or 30% PB plus concentrate with 3 replicates per treatment. Goats were fed one of two grains mixed diets (30% BGH + grains vs. 30% PB + grains) at 1.2% of BW. All goats were naturally grazed in a crabgrass/bermudagrass (CB)-based pasture. The feeding trial lasted for 55d. Using ground PB as a supplement did not negatively affect (P > 0.1) BW, average daily gain (ADG), carcass characteristics, meat pH, and meat color compared to the control diet. There were no significant treatment x time interactions for BW changes and fecal egg counts (FEC), but FEC were lower (P < 0.05) for PB group than for BGH control group on d 50. The 30% PB supplementation does not negatively affect animal performance, blood metabolites, and carcass parameters, while improved animal health, as measured by FEC in grazing meat goats.