The Effect of Plane of Nutrition on the Urinary Purine Derivative Excretion in Sheep and Goats

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of plane of nutrition on purine derivative excretion and to develop a set of model equations that relate intake to the purine derivative (PD) excretion in sheep and goats Four male Sabi sheep and four male Small-East African goats (four months old) were used The trial was a 4 x 4 Latin square cross-over design to examine the response of PD excretion to feed intake The four diets consisted of star grass (Cynodon nlemfuensis) hay fed ad libitum, and at 85, 70 or 55% of ad libitum Total PD excretion increased with the increase in feed intake for both sheep and goats However, the increase did not reach statistical significance (P > 005) The model equations relating digestible organic matter intake (X) to PD excretion (Y) were Y = 297 X + 015 (R 005) The model equations relating digestible organic matter intake (X) to PD excretion (Y) were Y = 297 X + 015 (R2=072) and Y = 586 X - 033 (R2=099) for sheep and goats respectively (author)