Seventy-seven mature Tswana goats were used to investigate the effect of supplementation on reproduction of wet season kidding animals. Treatments groups with similar weights were: Unsupplemented Control (UC), Continuous Supplementation (CS), Before Rain Supplementation (BRS) and After Rain Supplementation (ARS). Fertility rate, kidding rate, kid survival rate and doe weight at weaning were similar between the three treatments and the control. Kid birth weights did not differ between treatment groups. Doe parturition weight was higher in CS and lowest in BRS. Kid average daily gain (ADG) and weaning weight were significantly higher for CS and ARS while they ranked low, but similar between BRS and the control groups. Among ARS animals, doe parturition weight and birth weight tended to be correlated. Kid birth weight was positively correlated with growth rate in the ARS treatment. Productivity index (PI) for CS was high but similar to that of ARS. However PI's for BRS, ARS and the control groups were similar. Average daily gain (104.0±4.3 vs. 69.8±2.8 g/d) differed between singles and multiples. Survival rates were similar (91.9 vs. 93.9%) between multiples and singles. This study demonstrated that supplementary feeding can offset the detrimental effects of both maternal and offspring undernutrition during the critical stages of the reproductive cycle of goats.

. 1992. Rumen protection of heat-treated soybean proteins. Can. J. Anim. . The effects of processing variables on soybean crude protein (CP) ruminal degradation were investigated. Soybean meal (SBM) was heated ina forced-air oven (90"C, I h) withblood (0,5, 10 and zo'% dry matter; and/or xylose (3 mol mol-1 SBM-blood lysine) in a randomized complete block design. In another experiment, whole soybeans were utilized using the following treatments: raw; roasted (in Gem Co. unit exit temperature 150'C) and steeped for 0 or 2 h; roasted, flaked (exit temperature 111"C) and steeped for 0, 1, 2,3 h or I h with 4% xylose and/or l0% blood.Solubility of SBM CP was reduced (P<0.01) by the addition of xylose, without adverse effects on pepsin-digestible CP and acid detergent insoluble nitrogen. ln situ degradation of CP (EDCP). assuming uiurrug."rut. of 57ohr,of SBMwasreduce0,01) par l'apport de xylose, sans effet n6gatif sur la pb digestible )r la pepsine, ni sur I'azote insoluble au ddtergent acide. La d6gradation in situ de MATERIALS AND METHODS TreatmentsSoybean meal was hydrated with distilled water and sodium hydroxide to adjust moisture content (20%) and pH (8.5) (Cleale et al. 1987a). Duplicate samples (150 g DM basis) were mixed with fresh bovine blood at 0, 5, 10, and20% (DM basis) and xylose (0 and 3 mol mol-r lysine). Blood and SBM were assumed to contain 9.7 and3.2% lysine, respectively (National Research Council 1985).Samples were heated in9 x 12 x 5-cm aluminum pans at 90'C for I h in a forced-air oven. Following heating, samples were cooled to room temperature (25 "C) and allowed to air dry for 72 h before being ground through a 5-mm screen.In a second experiment, whole soybeans were employed. In the roasting system at Miller Farms

jours a 6t6 r6alis6 pour"6valuer les performan&s des animiux et la r6action des acides amin6s plasmatiques chez 63 jeunes bouvillons crois6s Charolais recevant .o1n*e aliment de base un ensilage luzerne-gramin6es. Le r6gime de base 6tait compl6ment6 avec du mais humide (t6moin), du mais floconnd puis tremp6 (gard6 sans refroidissement) pendant une heure ou un m6lange gluten de maisfarine de sang (AGM-FS) dans les proportions 60:40 (matidre sdche). Tous les regimes 6taient_6qui1ibr6s en 6nergie et' en plus, les r6gimes cJmportant le soja tremp6 ei ICU-FS 6taient 6quilibr6, pour la prot6ine non d6gradable dans le rumen (PnDR). I-ingestion de matidre sdche 6tait sensiblernent la m0me dans toui les r6gimes, soit2,39% du poids corporel. Les gains de poids 6taient plus 6lev6s (P < 0,01) chez les bouvillons recevant le r6gime compl6ment6 avec AGM-FS (D,6%) et avec le soja (6'9%) que chez ies bouvillons t6moins. La digestibilit6 de la fibre au d6iergent neutre et de la lignocellulose ndtait pas n6gativement affect6e par 1e soja en flocons. La teneur ei glucose du plasma 6tait plus basse, mais celle en ur6e 6tait plus 61ev6e dans les r6gimes compl6ment6s au soja et au AGM-FS que dans-le regimei6moin. La iompl6mentation avec soja trempd ol al1 AGM-FS augmentait (P < 0,001) les AA plasmatiques toLux, les AA d chaine ramifr6e (AACR) et le rapport AACR glycine-r. Enouffe elle abaissait le rapport AA non essentiels totauxiAA essentiels. Les paramdtres des AA plasmatiques 6taient directement reli6s ir la non-d6gradabilit6 des compl6ments prot6iques dans le rumen. Le rapport AA non essentiels/AA essentiels plus bas laisse conclure i une am6lioration de l'alimentation p.oi6iqu.. Ces r6sultats montrent que le soja r6ti, floconnd, puis tremp6, servi en compl6ment d'un ensilage luzernegramin6es achemine les prot6ines n6cessaires au petit intestin des bouvillons en croissance rapide.

The Botswana Composite Breed (BCB) was developed by Dept. of Agricultural Research to mitigate problems of small herds that could not sustain crossbreeding programs. The breed has 47.5% Sanga, 22.6% Zebu and 29.9% Bos taurus blood. Indigenous Tswana cattle are 40% of the national herd (Masilo and Podisi 2001), indicating an erosion of local genetic material. Tswana cattle are small framed and are prejudiced by the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) weight-based pricing system in favour of large-framed cattle. Lack of carcass characterization of indigenous cattle contributes to the above situation. The aim of this study was to evaluate performance of BCB and other indigenous breeds under feedlot and grazing conditions in order to promote their attributes.