The effect of increasing phosphorus (P) intake on P utilization was investigated in balance experiments using 12 Saanen goats, 4 to 5 mo of age and weighing 20 to 30 kg. The goats were given similar diets with various concentrations of P, and 32P was injected to trace the movement of P in the body. A P metabolism model with four pools was developed to compute P exchanges in the system. The results showed that P absorption, bone resorption, and excretion of urinary P and endogenous and fecal P all play a part in the homeostatic control of P. Endogenous fecal output was positively correlated to P intake (P < .01). Bone resorption of P was not influenced by intake of P, and P recycling from tissues to the blood pool was lesser for low P intake. Endogenous P loss occurred even in animals fed an inadequate P diet, resulting in a negative P balance. The extrapolated minimum endogenous loss in feces was .067 g of P/d. The minimum P intake for maintenance in Saanen goats was calculated to be .61 g of P/d or .055 g of P/(kg(.75) x d) at 25 kg BW. Model outputs indicate greater P flow from the blood pool to the gut and vice versa as P intake increased. Intake of P did not significantly affect P flow from bone and soft tissue to blood. The kinetic model and regressions could be used to estimate P requirement and the fate of P in goats and could also be extrapolated to both sheep and cattle.

Meat production by goats has become an important livestock enterprise in several parts of the world. Nonetheless, energy and protein requirements of meat goats have not been defined thoroughly. The objective of this study was to determine the energy and protein requirements for maintenance and growth of 34 (3/4) Boer x (1/4) Saanen crossbred, intact male kids (20.5 +/- 0.24 kg of initial BW). The baseline group was 7 randomly selected kids, averaging 21.2 +/- 0.36 kg of BW. An intermediate group consisted of 6 randomly selected kids, fed for ad libitum intake, that were slaughtered when they reached an average BW of 28.2 +/- 0.39 kg. The remaining kids (n = 21) were allocated randomly on d 0 to 3 levels of DMI (treatments were ad libitum or restricted to 70 or 40% of the ad libitum intake) within 7 slaughter groups. A slaughter group contained 1 kid from each treatment, and kids were slaughtered when the ad libitum treatment kid reached 35 kg of BW. Individual body components (head plus feet, hide, internal organs plus blood, and carcass) were weighed, ground, mixed, and subsampled for chemical analyses. Initial body composition was determined using equations developed from the composition of the baseline kids. The calculated daily maintenance requirement for NE was 77.3 +/- 1.05 kcal/kg(0.75) of empty BW (EBW) or 67.4 +/- 1.04 kcal/kg(0.75) of shrunk BW. The daily ME requirement for maintenance (118.1 kcal/kg(0.75) of EBW or 103.0 kcal/kg(0.75) of shrunk BW) was calculated by iteration, assuming that the heat produced was equal to the ME intake at maintenance. The partial efficiency of use of ME for NE below maintenance was 0.65. A value of 2.44 +/- 0.4 g of net protein/kg(0.75) of EBW for daily maintenance was determined. Net energy requirements for growth ranged from 2.55 to 3.0 Mcal/kg of EBW gain at 20 and 35 kg of BW, and net protein requirements for growth ranged from 178.8 to 185.2 g/kg of EBW gain. These results suggest that NE and net protein requirements for growing meat goats exceed the requirements previously published for dairy goats. Moreover, results from this study suggest that the N requirement for maintenance for growing goats is greater than the established recommendations.

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RESUMO -Objetivou-se com este trabalho determinar as curvas de crescimento de aves de postura das linhagens semipesadas Hy Line Marrom (HLM) e Hisex Marrom (HSM) e leves Hy Line W36 (HLW36) e Hisex Branca (HSB). Foram utilizadas 300 aves de cada linhagem, distribuídas em um delineamento experimental inteiramente casualizado, com quatro repetições de 75 aves por tratamento. Semanalmente, foram avaliados o peso vivo (PV), o peso de pena (PP) e a composição corporal de proteína, gordura, cinzas e água. As curvas de crescimento foram determinadas aplicando-se os dados na função Growth curves and deposition of body components in pullets of different strains ABSTRACT -The growth curves of egg pullets of semi heavy: Hy Line Brown (HLB) and Hisex Brown (HSB) and light strains: Hy Line W36 (HLW36) and Hisex White (HSW) were evaluated. Three hundred birds of each strain were assigned to a completely randomized design with four replicates of 75 birds. Body weight (BW), feather weight (FW) and body depositions of protein, fat, ash and water were weekly measured. The growth curves were determined by Gompertz function with data collections. The semi heavy birds were later than the light ones for BW, with greater body growth rates and weights at maturity.The HLW36 were 64.23 g lighter at maturity than the HSW. Data obtained for feather growth and protein deposition were similar, but the semi heavy birds showed greater weight at maturity (WM) than the light ones. However, for these components, the birds Hy Line had larger depositions than Hisex. HLW36 strain had smaller feather rate at maturity, making it three days later than HSW. The lowest protein deposition in the end of growth period caused the deviation of energy ingested for fat deposition in HSB birds and overestimated the WM in relation to HLB birds. Hy Line birds had later body ash composition and showed greater WM than Hisex. Among the studied variables, Hy Line birds had always heavier WM, however, the body water content of Hisex birds was greater and the maximum rates at maturity were later. This fact explains the similarity in the weight gain among the studied strains, once other body components were greater for Hy Line birds.Key Words: body composition, Gompertz function, laying birds, pullets IntroduçãoAs linhagens de postura utilizadas atualmente, em virtude do constante melhoramento genético, estão aumentando continuamente a produção de ovos, diminuindo o peso à maturidade fisiológica, a idade de pico de produção, o consumo de alimento e o ganho de peso. Desta forma, os programas nutricionais destas aves devem ser reavaliados