Progres® enhances goat kids performance and welfare

Balancing the interplay of animal performance, welfare, and sustainability remains a top concern for farmers and manufacturers. When it comes to optimizing animal performance and well-being , Progres®, natural feed material, has already made a name for itself in the world of calves, piglets and poultry nutrition. But what about our other four-legged friends, like goat kids?

Progres® role in improving animal performance and promoting sustainability in animal production

Progres® is an innovative feed product based on resin acids — a natural defense mechanism of coniferous trees against bacteria, fungi, and parasites. Scientific research extensively confirms the compound’s ability to enhance gut integrity by mitigating inflammation-induced collagen degradation (e.g.,Aguirre et al., 2019; Lipiński et al., 2020). Furthermore, Progres® is made by eco-friendly thermal distillation from a side stream of cellulose production, excluding added chemicals and ensuring stability and bioactivity. This production approach establishes Progres® as a vital element in environmentally-conscious animal production systems worldwide

Exploring Progres®’s potential in goat kids nutrition

Farmers prioritize balancing performance indicators, like weight gain and feed conversion, with overall animal welfare in goat kid nutrition. Achieving this equilibrium is crucial for reshaping sustainable practices in animal production. In exploring Progres®’s potential to enhance the performance and well-being of goat kids, we conducted a trial with Denkavit on a goat farm in the Netherlands.

Trial Design

This trial took place at Van Roekel in Lunteren, during February and March of 2018, spanning a total of  five weeks. The trial conducted with 160 male goat kids with an average weight of 4.12 kg. These animals were randomly assigned to two feeding groups: Control and Progres®, and were accommodated in groups of 20 in a barn.

During the trial, the goat kids were fed a milk replacer formula, Caprifit, produced by Denkavit. They were either given the formula with or without 0.1% Progres®. The initial concentration of the milk replacer was 200 g/l during the first week, and it was increased by 10 g/l each week, reaching a final concentration of 230 g/l. Notably, the addition of Progres® reduced the dustiness of the milk replacer.

The goat kids were weighed on arrival and thereafter on a weekly basis. Each feeding was registered, and the leftover feeds were weighed on a daily basis.

Key findings of the trial:

• Improved Weight Gain: The goat kids that received Progres® had weight gain +570 g/animal compared to the Control group.

• Enhanced Feed Conversion Ratio: Progres® showed better FCR of 1.21, while the Control group had a ratio of 1.28.

• Reduced Milk Replacer Consumption with better performance: Progres® group required 80 g less milk replacer to gain 1 kg of weight compared to the Control group. Over the 5 weeks feeding period, Progres®-fed goat kids needed 400 g less milk replacer in total.

• Improved Conformation and Lung Scores: Goat kids supplemented with Progres® scored better in both conformation (3.97 for Progres® and 3.79 for Control) and lung health (1.75 for Progres® and 1.90 for Control).

• Reduced Dustiness: Progres® addition led to a less dusty milk replacer, creating a healthier feeding environment.

 Benefits of Progres® in goat kids nutrition

In conclusion, the addition of 0.1% Progres® to the milk replacer brought significant improvements in weight gain and feed conversion for the goat kids. In the context of well-being it also led to better conformation and lung scores. The inclusion of Progres® allowed each goat kid to reach the target weight with 400 grams less milk replacer. These findings underscore the importance of Progres® in reshaping sustainable goat kid nutrition practices while ensuring animal welfare.

References:

Aguirre, M., Vuorenmaa, J., Kettunen, H., Valkonen, E., Callens, C., Haesebrouck, F., Ducatelle, R., Van Immerseel, F. and Goosens, E. (2019) In-feed resin acids reduce matrix metalloproteinase activity in the ileal mucosa of healthy broilers without inducing major effects on the gut microbiota. In: Veterinary Research 50: 15.

Lipiński, K., Vuorenmaa, J., Mazur-Kuśnirek, M. and Antoszkiewicz, Z. (2020) Effect of resin acid composition on growth performance, footpad dermatitis, slaughter value, and gastrointestinal tract development in turkeys. In: Journal of Applied Poultry Research.