Department of Animal Science, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Arucas, Spain.
J Anim Sci. 2010 Oct;88(10):3464-9. doi: 10.2527/jas.2010-3070. Epub 2010 Jun 4.
A total of 60 twin-goat kids (30 male and 30 female) of the Canary Island Majorera dairy breed were used in 2 experiments to evaluate 2 types of electronic identification mini-boluses and their effects on rearing performances and reticulorumen development. Electronic identification mini-boluses were cylindrical and made of ceramic materials (B1, 9.0 g and 38.5 × 9.5 mm; B2, 16.3 g and 42.2 × 12.2 mm), contained a 32-mm half-duplex passive transponder, and were administered to kids at different BW. In Exp. 1, treatments were 1) control, without bolus (n = 15) and 2) identified with B1 at 4.8 kg of BW (n = 15). In Exp. 2, treatments were 1) control, without bolus (n = 15) and 2) identified with B2 at 5.6 kg of BW (n = 15). Kids were penned separately, according to mini-bolus treatments, fed a milk replacer daily, and slaughtered at 10 kg of BW. Milk replacer intake was recorded individually twice weekly and boluses read weekly until slaughter. The full and empty stomach complex was measured immediately after slaughter, and mini-bolus location was recorded. Samples of the reticulum and rumen wall were taken to measure the number and length of the papillae and crest. Despite the light BW of kids at time of mini-bolus treatment, no negative effects (P > 0.05) of B1 and B2 mini-boluses were observed on milk intake, growth rate, or G:F in either experiment. No kid mortality or mini-bolus losses were observed during either experiment. All mini-boluses were retained until slaughter, and all were found in the rumen upon dissection, except one B2, which was found in the reticulum. Mini-bolus treatment did not affect (P > 0.05) the weight of full and empty reticulorumen or the number of papillae and crest size of the reticulum epithelium. Moreover, the B1-treated kids showed a greater number of papillae in the rumen wall than the control kids (22.4 +/- 1.0 vs. 18.9 +/- 0.9 papillae/cm, respectively; P < 0.05) in Exp. 1. In conclusion, the use of mini-boluses was suitable for the electronic identification of growing kids from early ages (wk 2 to 5 of age and 5 to 6 kg of BW) and did not produce negative effects on their growth performances or on reticulorumen development. These results support the use of properly designed boluses as a unique identification device for the entire lifespan of goats.
共有 60 只卡纳利岛梅杰拉大型奶用美利奴羊双胞胎羔羊（30 公、30 母），分 2 个试验，用于评估 2 种电子识别微型牛颈枷及其对育肥性能和网胃发育的影响。电子识别微型牛颈枷为圆柱形，由陶瓷材料制成（B1：9.0g 和 38.5×9.5mm；B2：16.3g 和 42.2×12.2mm），内有一个 32mm 半双工被动应答器，按不同 BW 给羔羊佩戴。试验 1 处理为：1）对照，不佩戴颈枷（n=15）；2）在 BW 为 4.8kg 时佩戴 B1（n=15）。试验 2 处理为：1）对照，不佩戴颈枷（n=15）；2）在 BW 为 5.6kg 时佩戴 B2（n=15）。羔羊按微型牛颈枷处理分组单独饲养，每天饲喂代乳料，在 BW 达到 10kg 时屠宰。每周记录 2 次个体代乳料采食量，每周读取微型牛颈枷 1 次，直至屠宰。屠宰后立即测量全胃和空胃复合胃内容物，记录微型牛颈枷位置。取网胃和皱胃壁组织样，测量乳头数量和长度。尽管羔羊在佩戴微型牛颈枷时 BW 较轻，但在两个试验中，B1 和 B2 微型牛颈枷对采食量、生长速度或增重/饲料比均无负面影响（P＞0.05）。两个试验中，均未观察到羔羊死亡或微型牛颈枷丢失。所有微型牛颈枷均保留至屠宰，解剖时均在瘤胃中发现，只有 1 个 B2 微型牛颈枷在网胃中发现。微型牛颈枷处理对全胃和空胃的重量或网胃上皮乳头和嵴的大小无影响（P＞0.05）。此外，在试验 1 中，与对照组相比，B1 处理组羔羊的瘤胃壁上的乳头数量更多（22.4±1.0 比 18.9±0.9 个/ cm，P＜0.05）。总之，从 2 周龄至 5 周龄（5~6kg BW），微型牛颈枷适合用于生长羔羊的电子识别，且对其生长性能或网胃发育无负面影响。这些结果支持使用设计合理的牛颈枷作为山羊整个生命周期的唯一识别装置。
