Look for water and shade by Boer goats crossbreeds finished in pasture under different feeding supplementation

Abstract

The experiment was carried out at the Federal University of Campina Grande (UFCG), Patos, Paraiba, Brazil. The objective of this study was to evaluate the search for water and shade by Boer goats crossbreeds finished in native pasture under different supplementation levels. Twenty-eight Boer goats crossbreeds, non castrated, with 120 days old and an initial live body weight of 15.52Kg, were used. The treatments were randomly assigned to the animals according to a completely randomized design, with 4 feeding supplementations levels (0.0; 0.5; 1.0 and 1.5% of live body weight on Dry matter) and seven replications (goats). Data were obtained through the observation of the search frequency for water and shade by the animals during the daily grazing in three times: June, July and August. There wasn’t difference among treatments for search for water and the frequency observed was of 71.43, 80.95, 88.89 and 77.78% for the treatments 0.0; 0.5; 1.0 and 1.5% of feeding supplementation, respectively. There wasn’t effect of the treatments in the search for shade and the frequency observed was of 71.43, 85.71, 94.44 and 94.44% in the treatments 0.0; 0.5; 1.0 and 1.5% of feeding supplementation, respectively. The feeding supplementation level doesn't alter the search frequency of water and shade for Boer goat crossbreed finished in native pasture.