Effects of the inclusion of yeast culture on the performance of dairy ewes and goats and the degradation of feedstuffs

Three trials, one with 48 suckling Damascus goats and another two with 48 non-suckling Chios ewes (trial 2) or 48 Damascus goats (trial 3) were carried out to study the effect of yeast culture on milk yield, milk composition and liveweight changes. The degradability of five feedstuffs (barley grain, soybean meal, barley straw, barley hay, lucerne hay) in the rumen of three rumen-fistulated Damascus goats fed either a concentrate with or without yeast culture was studied in another trial. There were no differences in mean group feed intake between animals on the two diets. With the exception of the greater (P < 0.04) bodyweight loss by goats on the yeast diet than those on the control (trial 2), all other performance data in all three trials were similar in the two diets. Similarly, there were no differences for dry matter and crude protein degradability of feedstuffs incubated into the rumen of goats fed either of the two diets. Based on the findings of the present studies, it may be concluded that inclusion of yeast will not improve performance of dairy ewes and goats and/or the degradability of feedstuffs in the rumen.