Effects of Forced Feeding on Physiological Responses in Goats: Ruminating Behaviors

Abstract

The experiments were conducted to study ruminating behaviors and the other physiological responses of goats fed by forced feeding. Two Okinawan meat male goats were used in the three kinds of experiments: normal feeding, forced feeding and fasting. The eating time in the normal feeding experiment and remasticating time in the forced feeding experiment which tookplace between 12: 00-8: 00 were different (P<0.01): 295 minutes and 168 minutes respectively. The effects of the experiment on the respiration and on the heart pulse on goats involved in the two feeding methods showed marked differences. The count of breaths and heart beats of the normally-fed goats was higher than those of the forced-fed animals. In addition there was a difference in the various body temperature of the goats. Goats had co-relationship (P<0.01) between rumen temperature and rectal temperature (P<0.01). The forced feeding experiment (436 minutes/day) and the normal feeding experiment (431 minutes/day) in the remasticating time were much the same, but remastications of the forced feeding experiment (52, 633/day) were higher than those of the normal feeding experiment (34, 421/day) (P<0.01). The ruminating time (707 minutes/day) in the forced-fed goats were higher than 510 and 405 minutes/day in normally-fed and fasting goats (P<0.01). The ruminations under three eating conditions (normal feeding, forced feeding and fasting) are also different: the normally-fed goats ruminated at 487 ruminations a day, the forced fed ruminated at 1443 ruminations a day, and the fasting goats at 849 ruminations a day. The resting and remasticating time during rumination were as follows: normal feeding 63 second; forced feeding 29 seconds and fasting 29 seconds. There results indicate that the ruminating behaviors are almost the same in both the forced feeding experiment and the fasting experiment with regards to ruminating, remasticating, remasticating time per rumination, etc.