Effect of Immediately-After-Birth Weaning on the Development of Goat Kids Born to Small Ruminant Lentivirus-Positive Dams

Abstract

Simple SummaryCaprine arthritis-encephalitis (CAE) is one of the most important and devastating viral diseases of small ruminants in developed countries. The disease spreads easily from one goat to another, and neither curative therapy nor preventive vaccinations exist to break the chain of infections. Hence, the only way to suppress the epidemic in a herd is to identify and cull infected goats. However, it is both costly and cruel as most of them remain apparently healthy for many months or even years, yet they constantly shed the virus. Therefore, many farmers decide to wean kids away from their infected mothers as soon as they are born and keep them in separation, feeding them on bovine or artificial colostrum and milk. Even though this approach is quite effective, it may be recommended only if it has no negative impact on kids’ development. Therefore, we conducted the study which compared the development of kids weaned immediately after birth and kids kept with mothers. We showed that early weaning did not seem to have any detrimental effect on kids’ health. On this basis, we conclude that this procedure may be an advisable alternative for those farmers who cannot afford to implement radical eradication program in their herds.AbstractA longitudinal study was carried out to investigate the influence of two different rearing systems of young kids on their development to sexual maturity. Kids born to small ruminant lentiviruses-infected (SRLV) female goats were split into two groups: the immediately-after-birth weaned group and the unweaned group. Kids’ body weight (BWT) was measured before the first consumption of colostrum, and then at the age of one week, and one, two, four, and seven months. The relationship between the rearing system and BWT at each age was investigated using mixed linear models adjusted for potential confounders. The mean BWT of kids of the immediately-after-birth weaned group was significantly lower at the age of one week, one month, and two months, and then the difference became insignificant. The mean daily body weight gain (DWG) was significantly lower in the immediately-after-birth weaned group during the whole first month of life, but then DWG in both groups became equal. Crude mortality rate did not differ significantly between groups. This study shows that weaning kids immediately after birth does not appear to have any negative impact on kids’ development except transient growth retardation, which is fully compensated until they reach sexual maturity.

Profile of serum lipid metabolites of one-week-old goat kids depending on the type of rearing

“…Some role of choline plasmalogens and ceramides in neurodegenerative diseases in humans has also been suspected [ 25 , 26 ]. Anyway, reduction of the serum concentration of these metabolites is unlikely to be anyhow detrimental for goat kids, which is to some extent confirmed by a satisfactory performance of these kids in their further life as presented in our previous study [ 8 ]. In previous studies carried out in cattle most of biomarkers of metabolic disease were phosphatidylcholines and sphingomyelins, which for example constituted 69 and 24% of identified biomarkers of hepatic lipidosis, respectively [ 12 ].…”

“…We chose to analyze metabolomic profile of kids at the age of 1 week as this was the moment when some negative impact of immediate weaning on kids’ body weight had first been recorded [ 8 ]. In general, our study showed that many lipid metabolites seemed to be present at lower concentrations in kids weaned immediately after birth.…”

“…Nevertheless, some observations indicate that snatching of kids may hamper their growth, yet the growth retardation appears to be only temporal. In our recent study [ 8 ] the difference in body weight of kids was apparent already at the age of 1 week and it gradually disappeared by the end of the third month of life.…”

The effect of the subclinical small ruminant lentivirus infection of female goats on the growth of kids

“…Two potential confounders proved significantly linked to the growth of kids in the first 3 months of life-birth body weight and kid's sex. In our previous study [37] the birth body weight turned out to contribute to the growth of kids during the first four months of life, which is even longer than the time period covered by this study. In many former studies male kids have been born heavier [33,38] and have remained heavier for the entire life [39,40].…”

Gene Expression Profile in Peripheral Blood Nuclear Cells of Small Ruminant Lentivirus-Seropositive and Seronegative Dairy Goats in Their First Lactation

“…The SRLV-SP group received colostrum from their SRLV-SN mothers and only included goats that were determined to be SRLV-SP by ELISA at the age of six months, as well as in the subsequent tests conducted every six months. The does included in the SRLV-SN group were separated from their mothers, regardless of the mother’s serological status, and fed cow’s colostrum for the first five days followed by milk replacer (Sprayfo Primo Goat Kid, Trouw Nutrition, Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland) [ 23 ]. The SRLV-SN goats were milked first to eliminate the risk of SRLV transfer via milking equipment.…”