PSLBI-10 Effects of mid-gestational nutrient restriction on maternal and neonatal body weights in goats

Abstract Gestational nutrient restriction increases the risk for metabolic dysfunction in maternal and fetal health and predisposes the offspring to metabolic disease later in life. This study examined the impact of the mid-gestational nutrient restriction on dams and neonatal body weight (BW) in caprine pregnancy. Pregnant Boer goats with similar BW and age were assigned randomly and fed either a control diet (CON: 100% NRC recommendations) or an NR diet (60% of CON) from 45 to 100 d of gestation and re-alimented to control diet until term (n = 15/group). Animals were weighed every 2 wk throughout gestation, and at birth, newborn BW of kids was recorded (newborn males and females were selected based on survival and birth type). Data were analyzed by mixed procedures of SAS, presented as means ± SE, and differences were considered significant at P ≤ 0.05. During the nutrient restriction period, CON dams gained more (P < 0.001) BW than NR group (15.04 vs. 2.33 ± 2.9 % BW gain, respectively). There was a tendency (P = 0.07) for the group by sex effect on offspring neonatal BW. Male offspring from NR group tended to have lighter BW (3.79 ± 0.22 vs. 4.35 ± 0.22 kg, respectively) than controls. However, female offspring did not differ significantly (3.38 ± 0.21 vs. 3.16 ± 0.18 kg, respectively) from controls. These data show that changes in the mother’s body weight due to nutrient restriction at mid-gestation may have a sex-specific impact on goat neonatal weights.