Effects of feeding high energy or high energy-protein diets to goats

Growth, efficiency and carcass traits were evaluated for goats fed barley or a concentrate mix (CM). Goats on the CM showed higher (P < 0.01) average daily gain (ADG) (27.5%), end of test weight (11.6%), hot carcass weight (HCW) (14.9%) and rib-eye area (REA) (14.7%), lower (P < 0.02) concentrate to gain ratio (CG) ratio (22.5%) and no differences (P > 0.05) in concentrate intake (Cl) and dressing percent (DP), compared to those on barley. Although feeding the CM improved ADG, CG, HCW and REA, it may be relatively more economical to finish goats on whole barley grain.