FEEDING MANAGEMENT OF SMALL RUMINANTS AS A STRATEGIC TOOL TO MITIGATE THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGES IN ARID REGIONS OF EGYPT: A CASE STUDY OF SHAMI GOATS

No doubt evaluating the productivity of goats based on the evaluation of different feeding strategies allows goat farmers to understand better the promising feeding programs, which is reflected in the productivity of their animals. In the northeastern part of Egypt, some modifications have been made to the prevailing situation, where goat management was attempted to develop to explain goat feeding systems under drought and salinity, especially Shami goats. This study was conducted in a particular unit for producing improved small ruminants and economically high-quality diets under the authority of the Agricultural Directorate in El-Tor city to indicate the possibility of application of some feeding programs as a strategic tool to mitigate the negative impact of drought on the productivity of goats in arid regions of Egypt. Data were collected as part of the "Improving utilization range of animals and plants in Southern Sinai" project sponsored by the National Research Centre. The feeding strategy included different diet formulations, in which the goats were blocked into three feeding programs such as conventional, cut-&-carry and complete ration. All groups were fed rations at 3, 4 and 5% of body weight at breeding, pre, and pro-kidding stages, respectively. Goats in the first group (G1) were fed with a widespread feeding program practiced by smallholder Bedouins under a zero-grazing system (conventional). Both goats in the other groups (G2 and G3) were fed with non-conventional feed resources such as Acacia (Acacia saligna) for G2 and olive pulp for G3 in addition to the concentrate feed mixture (CFM).  Total dry matter intake (TDMI), body weight changes as productive, linear body, reproductive measurements and economic benefits were recorded at the different physiological stages of the experimental goats. The 1st group contained a reasonable level of crude protein (9.03%), while G2 increased crude protein to 14.2%. The level of CP of G3 containing CFM plus olive pulp was slightly increased (11.39%) compared to those observed in G1. Goats under the late gestation stage consumed about 715 and 667g from concentrates which represented about 60% of the total dry matter intake for G2 and G3, respectively. DMI of Acacia and olive pulp were increased gradually through the first period of study, from breeding to kidding, then became higher at the pre-and pro-kidding. The 2nd group was significantly heavier (P<0.05) than G1 and G3 at the different physiological stages (32.18 kg) followed by G3 and which was (29.99 and 29.74 kg). The changes in body weight were positive during the period from breeding to kidding and negative during the period from kidding to weaning for the three groups. Moreover, during the period from breeding to weaning, there were no losses of the weight of G2 and G3 although there were losses of the weight of G1 only. The body weight change in this period showed, a high change in G2 (3.64 kg), followed by G3 (0.78 kg) and G1 which was negative (-0.79 kg). Goats fed on the three experimental diets recorded similar body height, length, and heart girth. The overall mean value of body height, body length and heart girth for goats was 64.46, 77.54 and 76.17 cm, respectively. The birth weight of kids varied insignificantly among all groups. In addition, it could be observed that the live weight of kids at birth was higher in G1 (2.02 kg) than in the corresponding G2 (1.98 kg) and G3 (1.92 kg). Weaning weight showed a different trend for kids, it was 10.10, 13.86 and 11.52 kg for G1, G2 and G3, respectively. It could be observed that G2 had the highest value for reproductive performance, birth type and biological evaluation. On the other hand, goats fed Acacia plus concentrate (G2) indicated more net return value (1.95 LE/h/d), compared with G1 (- 0.07 LE/h/d) and G3 (0.96 LE/h/d). Based on the previous results it could be concluded that all parameters for assessing the productivity of goats in the cut-and-carry feeding program showed promising results when compared with other groups. Accordingly, we conclude that a feeding program as a strategic tool is up-and-coming and can be applied to reduce the negative effects of drought on goat productivity.