Effects of Condensed Tannin-Rich Pine Bark Diet on Experimentally Infected With Haemonchus Contortus in Meat Goats

This study evaluated the effects of dietary supplementation of a novel condensed tannin-rich pine bark (PB) mixture diet on an in vitro gas production, in vivo animal performance, internal parasites, carcass production, and plasma metabolites in meat goats. Fifteen Kiko-cross meat goats (Capra hircus; body weight (BW) = 28.0 ± 1.0 kg) were randomly assigned to two experimental diets (control vs. PB supplementation): 1) control diet (70% grain mixture and 30% wheat straw (WS) and 2) 70% grain mixture with 30% PB. Animals were dewormed on day 10 and animals were artificially inoculated (day 20) with 5,000 infective stage (L3) Haemonchus contortus larvae. Feed intake and performance were monitored for 87 days. Blood samples were taken twice, once at the beginning and once at the end of the experiment. Fecal egg (FEC) was determined approximately every 2 week. At the end of the experimental period, goats were slaughtered, and abomasum parasite load was determined. Abomasal worms were identified and counted. All analyses were conducted using a GLM or MIXED procedure of SAS, but in vitro gas analysis was conducted using non-linear procedure of SAS. Overall, there were no differences (P >0.10) in dry matter intake, body weight, and carcass traits between diets. H.contortus adult worm numbers were lower (P <0.05) for goats that were fed PB diet than for control. On day 84, control goats on control WS diet had greater (P = 0.01) FEC than PB diet group. It was concluded that feeding ground PB as a feed ingredient has the potential to decrease internal parasite infection without detrimental effects.