Blood immunoglobulin concentration (IgG and IgM), Chitotriosidase activity and complement activity of kids and lambs raised with milk replacer and powered cow milk

Abstract

Feeding with milk replacers (MR) have been widely used in rearing goat kids and lambs. The advantages of this system are: reducing milk feeding, labor costs and simplifying management. On the other hand, whole powdered milk (CM) could be a good feeding source due to it is cheaper than milk replacers; however there is no information about their use on growth and immune parameters of goat kids and lambs. For this reason the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of feeding source on IgG, IgM, Chitotriosidase activity (ChT), complement system activity (total and alternative) and weight evolution on goat kids and lambs. In this study 12 goat kids and 12 lambs (males and females) were divided in two groups (MR and CM groups). Blood samples were taken each day from birth to 5 days after that and at days 20 and 35. Weight was recorded twice weekly. The IgG and IgM concentration were determine using a commercial ELISA kit, while ChT was measured using a fluorescence assay and the Complement System activity (total and alternative) was measured according to the hemolysis rate. Results showed that there were no differences in IgG and IgM concentration or complement system activity (total and alternative) between feeding sources in both species. In reference to ChT, no differences were observed, except for the CM group which recorded higher ChT than MR group at day 35. Finally, no weight differences were found in the studied period, although lambs obtained a higher weight than goat kids at day 20 and 35 after birth. In conclusion, CM did affect neither immune parameters nor weight evolution, so feeding with whole powdered cow milk can be considered as a safe and economical option to raise goat kids and lambs.