The Effect of Dietary Barley Grain Substitution with Hydroponic Barley Grass on Milk Yield and Some Blood Metabolites of Saanen Lactating Goats

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of replacement of barley grain with barley hydroponic fodder on blood metabolites and milk production of lactating Saanen goats. Eight dairy goats (45± 1.5 kg of live body weight and 3 months of lactation (88±6 days in milk)) were allocated to 4 experimental diets including the control diet and diets consisting of 37, 66 and 100 percent replacement of barley grain with barley hydroponic fodder, respectively. Animals were assigned to treatments in a cross over design with 4 periods of 21 days each. The barley hydroponic fodder contained 16% dry matter, 15.6% crude protein, 3.8% ash, 31.4% NDF and 16% ADF. Impact of dietary treatments on milk production, rumen and blood parameters were investigated. Feeding barley hydroponic fodder reduced dry matter intake of dairy goats (P