Water intake of dairy goats in intensive systems
Résumé
Data on water intake of dairy goats are scarce, especially in temperate climates. The aim of this work was to update previous results concerning the factors of variation of water intake linked to the level of intake (DMI), to composition of the diet or milk production. A data base was built with 505 records obtained during digestibility trials on 140 lactating goats receiving one of the 48 different diets differing for their chemical composition (%NDF = 45.0 ± 8.7 %, %CP = 17.7 ± 3.1) or their composition in ingredients (% hay = 26.7 ± 31.1 ). Total water intake (TWI) was directly proportional to DMI (3.32 L/kg) as well as to the water drunk (2.49 L/kg). There was a substitution between water drunk and water taken in with the feed. Dietary crude protein content and percentage of hay are positively correlated to the ratio TWI/DMI, but the dietary NDF content was not correlated with this ratio. These data pointed out the ability of goats kept in temperate climates to use water more efficiently than other ruminants: low TWI/DMI ratio and total substitution between water taken in with the feed and water drunk.