INFLUENCE OF FEEDING GRAIN SPROUTS ON GOATS’ GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT DURING THE DAIRY PERIOD

The objective of the study is to investigate the effect of intensive growing of goat kids during the milk period on whole milk replacer (WMR) with the addition of cereal sprouts (wheat and barley) on their growth and development during the first three months of life in order to establish the possibility of reducing the cost of the ration in this way. Objectives: to develop a scheme for growing goat kids during the three-month milk period with feeding wheat and barley sprouts; to study the change in live weight and intensity of growth energy during the three-month growth period; to determine the feed and energy costs for growing animals up to three months of age; to determine the economic efficiency of growing animals during the milk period on WMR and sprouts. The study was conducted on goat kids of the Saanen dairy breed during the milk period in the first three months of life in the peasant farm of M.V. Myakotina and private household of V.N. Kosenko in the Krasnodar Region. In an experiment on growing goats using the author's technology on milk (1st group) and whole milk replacer (WMR) with the addition of 2–3-day-old wheat and barley sprouts in the period from birth to three months of age (2nd group), the average daily gain was (93.3 ± 0.41) and (100.1 ± 0.58) g, respectively. The goat kids in the control and experimental groups had a live weight of (11.40 ± 0.06) and (12.06 ± 0.10) kg, respectively, with live weight growth rates in the third month to the birth rate of 3.800 and 3.954 kg. When growing the goats of the 1st and 2nd groups up to three months of age, the feed costs by groups per 1 kg of gain were 3.97 and 4.30 ECU, respectively; the cost of feed spent per 1 kg of gain for the goats of the 2nd group was 228 % less than for the 1st group, which indicates the feasibility of using the technology for growing goat kids on whole milk replacer and grain sprouts.