PRODUCTIVE EVALUATION AND FEEDING POTENTIAL OF TSIRI PUMA AND TLAOLI PUMA MAIZE INCLUDED IN THE DIETS OF GESTATING GOATS

Abstract

Feeding silage to goats (Capra aegagrus hircus L.) is a strategy used in regions with scarce fodder availability; however, the maize tested for this purpose was of commercial varieties. The goal was to assess the amount of fodder produced, the silage made, and the effects on pregnant goats and their young from two maize hybrids, Tsiri Puma and Tlaoli Puma, compared to a commercial hybrid (H-50). The yields of green matter (GM), dry matter (DM), and percentage of DM were determined. The material was chopped to 2 cm, taken to a bunker-style silo, and placed in three separate spaces for each hybrid. Once this was ready, 38 multiparous goats were distributed at random in three treatments with a diet including 50 % maize silage, and it was provided from day 64 of gestation to one weeks postpartum. Intake, weight, body condition scoring (BCS), and glucose levels were measured during gestation and up to two weeks postpartum. Kids were weighed at birth and 15 days after birth, and internal and external temperatures were measured. GM and DM yield, as well as the percentage of DM, were not different among the three maize hybrids (p > 0.05). In the goats, food intake was greater in the Tlaoli Puma group, followed by Tsiri Puma (p < 0.0001). Weight was greater in the Tsiri Puma and Tlaoli Puma groups (p = 0.0001), whereas BCS and glucose concentrations were not affected by the treatments (p > 0.05). Finally, body weight and the external temperature of the kids were greater in the Tlaoli Puma group (p < 0.05). Maize hybrids Tsiri Puma and Tlaoli Puma had an adequate fodder yield that helps produce quality silage that favors the productive estimators in goats and their offspring.