The objective of this study was to evaluate the mobilization of nutrients in goats of different gestation types and pregnancy stages. Forty-four Saanen and Oberhasli goats were studied. The goats of each breed and gestation type (single or twin) were slaughtered at different gestational ages (80, 110, and 140 days of pregnancy), forming a completely randomized design in a 2 × 3 × 2 factorial arrangement (two breeds, three gestational ages, and two types of pregnancy). The slaughter procedure involved separating the empty body, mammary glands, uterus with membranes and fetal fluid, and fetus(es). For the females slaughtered at 140 days of pregnancy, blood was collected to analyze metabolites and hormones every 15 days during gestation. The dry matter (DM) intake was lower in goats with twin pregnancies. The relative daily retention rate of the nutrients in the body was positive at 100 days of pregnancy but became negative at 140 days (-0.18±0.25 g DM kg-1 of maternal body d-1) and did not differ with breed or number of fetuses. Fetal growth in twin pregnancies was 66% higher than in single pregnancies. The highest levels of ß-hydroxybutyrate and non-esterified fatty acids were observed beginning at 100 days of gestation. Serum total protein and albumin levels decreased after 125 days of gestation. Serum urea levels were reduced after 80 days of gestation. Plasma 17ß-estradiol levels increased with the advance of pregnancy, and IGF-1 was highest between 60 and 80 days of gestation. The maternal metabolism throughout pregnancy does not vary with the type of pregnancy, and pregnant goats need greater nutritional intake during the final third of the gestational period regardless of the breed or type of pregnancy.

Avaliou-se o uso de matéria seca indigestível (MSi) e de fibra detergente neutro indigestível (FDNi) como indicadores internos de digestibilidade em ovinos. Utilizaram-se dados e amostras provenientes de seis ensaios independentes de digestibilidade com ovinos mantidos em gaiolas de metabolismo recebendo à vontade diversos tipos de volumoso e/ou concentrado. Os resíduos indigestíveis (MSi e FDNi) foram determinados após 144 horas de incubação in situ de amostras de alimentos e fezes. O grau de recuperação da MSi variou de 64,8 a 108,5% e o da FDNi, de 49,5 a 67,9%. Quando a relação entre a concentração dos indicadores nas fezes e nos alimentos não foi corrigida para a recuperação fecal, a maior parte das estimativas médias de digestibilidade da matéria orgânica dos experimentos foi inferior às médias obtidas in vivo. Quando a relação foi corrigida para a recuperação fecal, as estimativas médias de digestibilidade da matéria orgânica usando os dois indicadores foram similares às obtidas in vivo em todos os experimentos. Quando as estimativas individuais, corrigidas para recuperação fecal do indicador, foram relacionadas às observações in vivo por análise de regressão, o coeficiente de regressão linear foi similar a 1 usando a MSi, mas foi menor que 1 usando a FDNi. Os valores individuais de digestibilidade da matéria orgânica estimados com os dois indicadores, contudo, foram pobremente relacionados às observações in vivo (r² variou de 0,60 a 0,63). Corrigindo-se para a recuperação fecal, a matéria seca residual após 144 horas de incubação in situ pode ser utilizada como indicador interno para estimar a digestibilidade média da dieta consumida por um grupo de animais, mas não é precisa para detectar pequenas diferenças na digestibilidade de alimentos impostas pelos tratamentos em um experimento.

The use of indigestible dry matter (iDM) and indigestible neutral detergent fiber (iNDF) as internal markers to estimate digestibility in lambs was evaluated. Data and samples were obtained from six independent digestion trials with lambs housed in metabolism cages given ad libitum different forage and concentrate feedstuffs. Indigestible residues were determined after 144 hours of in situ incubation of feed and faeces samples. Recovery rate varied from 64.8 to 108.5% for iDM, and from 49.5 to 67.9% for iNDF. As the marker ratio between marker concentration in the faeces and the feed was not corrected for fecal recovery, the large part of the estimated apparent organic matter digestibility (AOMD) of the experimental means were lower than the in vivo that obtained. As the marker ratio was corrected for fecal recovery of the marker, the AOMD means estimated using both markers were similar to the in vivo data in all experiments. As individual estimates, corrected for fecal recovery of the marker, were related to in vivo observations through regression analysis, the slope of the regression for iDM was not different from 1 whereas for iNDF, the slope was lower than 1. Individual AOMD values estimates using both markers, however, were poorly related to the in vivo observations (r² varied from 0.60 to 0.63). Once corrected for fecal recovery, residual DM after 144 hours of in situ incubation is suitable for use as an internal marker to estimate mean diet digestibility consumed for a group of animals. However, individual estimates were not accurate to detect small differences in digestibility imposed by different treatments within an experiment.