| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,100,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000)
Fiscal Year 2002: ¥1,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Okinawan farmers have, through a system of heterosis, bred a large bodied goats for its meat. This hybrid-breed of goats grows rapidly and body weight can exceed 80 kg in its first year. Traditionally, goats have fed on the leaves of trees. The hybrid-breed of large bodied goats however, are similar to cows in that they will feed on goats, and can be raised on dry roughage. This makes large scale farming of the goat possible. However, when the animals are fed on dry roughage, feeding behavior is rapidly suppressed during the initial stages of feeding. This research, entitled "Humoral mechanisms controlling feed intake in large bodied meat producing goats" was carried out between 2002-2004. The main purpose of this study was to clarify the mechanisms that suppress dry roughage intake in large-bodied meat producing goats. It was hypothesized that a disturbance of the blood properties brought about by the marked increase in saliva secretion during the initial stages of dry forage intake,
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is possibly linked to the suppression of feed intake. When parotid saliva collected from parotid fistulated goats was infused into the rumen prior to the commencement of dry forage feeding, the degree of feed intake suppression was reduced. Next, research was conducted to establish which components of saliva, when lost, cause feed intake suppression. To establish this, both the loss of mixed saliva(hypo-osmotic) and the lost of parotid saliva(iso-osmotic) were separately investigated. In both cases, it was established that decreases in plasma volumes(hypovolemia) caused by fluid lost in the form of saliva, caused feed intake suppression. It is further hypothesized that there are periferal factors at work that produce thirst sensations in the brain and suppress feed intake. Work was conducted to examine whether or not feed intake suppression was reduced when the production and release of neural transmitters, related to thirst sensations produced in the brain when feeding on dry forage, was suppressed by an intraventricular infusion of somatostatin. The results suggested that peptides in the brain contribute to the suppression of feed intake during the initial stages of dry forage feeding. It is hoped that the neural transmitters will be identified in later research. The present experiment resulted in the clarification of one part of the feed intake controlling mechanisms at work in large bodied meat producing goats during the initial stages of dry forage feeding. Appearing in this report are the published papers, and drafts currently under consideration by journal reviewers. This research was made possible by a Grant-in-aid for Exploratory Research from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture in Japan. While it is possible to farm large bodied meat producing goats in large numbers by feeding them dry forage in the same manner as cows and sheep, it is thought that more research is needed on the mechanisms that suppress feed intake, and methods with which to overcome this feed intake suppression. In conclusion, any comments or opinions regarding our research the "Humoral mechanisms controlling feed intake in large bodied meat producing goats" would be most welcome. We would like to express our thanks to the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture for their Grant-in-aid that made this 3 year research possible. Less
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