Serum protein levels and neonatal growth rate of Nubian goat kids in Taiwan area

Serum protein levels and neonatal growth rate of Nubian

goat kids in Taiwan area

J.C. Chena, C.J. Changa,*, H.C. Peha, S.Y. Chenb

aDepartment of Animal Science, National Chung Hsing University, 250 Kao-Kung Rd, Taichung, TaiwanbDepartment of Animal Science, National Chiayi Institute of Agriculture, Chiayi, Taiwan

Accepted 23 July 1998

Abstract

Levels of serum total protein and -globulin were determined in 43 newborn goat kids of up to 5 days of age on two goat farms

in Taiwan using colorimetric assay and an agarose gel electrophoresis kit, respectively. The kids were suf®ciently bottle-fed

with the maternal colostrum every 6 h for the ®rst day and every 12 h since 2 days. The overall mean serum total protein and

-globulin concentrations were low at birth (9.40 and 0.13 g dlÿ1), peaked around 24 h (12.45 and 3.33 g dlÿ1) and remained

at a plateau with slight decrease through 5 days (11.50 and 2.23 g dlÿ1). The mean serum total protein and -globulin levels at

birth and at 24 h of age as well as BW gains during the ®rst 5 days were not signi®cantly (p>0.05) affected by litter size, kid

sex, birth weight and farms. Kids which had ingested colostrum with total protein content >10.51 g dlÿ1 at 6 h grew better

(p<0.05) without different (p>0.05) serum total protein level up to 24 h of age. Kids ingested ®rst colostrum of -globulin

content higher than >7.51 g dlÿ1 had higher (p<0.05) concentration of serum -globulin during the ®rst 24 h of life but did not

have better growth rate. The contents of total protein and -globulin of the ®rst colostrum were highly correlated (p<0.05) with

those of the serum of neonatal kids except that there was a lag time of 12 h for the correlation of total protein. It is suggested

that there are colostral proteins other than -globulin that have trophic effects to improve the overall performance of kids, and

they apparently are absorbed and turnover differently from those of -globulin. # 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights

reserved.

Keywords: Serum -globulin level; Serum total protein level; Neonatal goat kids; Colostrum

1. Introduction

It has been emphasized in many circumstances that

appropriate serum Ig level ensures better protection

against infectious diseases in lambs (Sawyer et al.,

1977), goat kids (Vihan, 1988; O'Brien and Sherman,

1993a) and calves (Quigley et al., 1995) and improves

growth during the early neonatal period (Al-Jawad and

Lees, 1985; Quigley et al., 1995) and in later period of

life (Halliday, 1976; Robison et al., 1988). Ingestion

and absorption of Igs, principally IgG, via colostrum

are considered the major factors in¯uencing newborn

kid serum Ig concentration (Hunter et al., 1977; Stott

and Fellah, 1983; Morin et al., 1997). However,

Ducker and Fraser (1976) reported that restriction

from suckling for the ®rst 18 h after birth did not

reduce the amount of -globulin absorbed, nor was the

Small Ruminant Research 32 (1999) 153±160

*Corresponding author. Tel.: +886-4-4812446; fax: +886-4-

2860265; e-mail: [email protected]

0921-4488/99/$ ± see front matter # 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

P I I : S 0 9 2 1 - 4 4 8 8 ( 9 8 ) 0 0 1 6 6 - 7

mortality different compared with lambs allowed

immediate access to colostrum. Recent research with

added colostral supplement to maternal colostrum

failed to increase peak serum Ig concentration in dairy

calves (Francisco and Quigley, 1993), suggesting that

feeding excess Ig may impair development of active

immunity and reduce the ef®ciency of Ig absorption.

Since total protein level in the serum was found

correlated with plasma concentrations of Ig and was

much less expensive and time-consuming than the

radial immunodiffusion method or zinc sulfate turbid-

ity test, Donovan et al. (1986) and O'Brien and Sher-

man (1993b) used it as a means to monitor factors

in¯uencing passive transfer in dairy calves and for

estimating serum Ig concentrations in newborn kids,

respectively. Therefore, total protein, both in colos-

trum and serum, also contributes profoundly to neo-

nate immunity and growth, not only because of the Ig

content, but might also be due to other nutritional and

physiological effects on the neonates.

Nubian goats in Taiwan are important for both meat

and milk production. They generally give more than

two kids per litter. Commercial farmers separate kids

from their dams immediately after birth and rear them

arti®cially until weaning for more intensive manage-

ment. This study was designed to investigate the

change of levels of serum total protein and -globulin

in kids during the ®rst 5 days following birth and how

these might be affected by colostrum quality and the

likely relationships with neonatal growth rate.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Environment and experimental goats

This study was carried out sequentially at the Heng

Chun Station, Taiwan Livestock Research Institute

(TLRI) and National Chung Hsing University

Research Farm (NCHU) from February to March

1996. TLRI is located in southern Taiwan (228N,

120.88E), its breeding season is a little earlier than

that of NCHU (24.28N, 120.58E). Mean ambient

temperature during the experimental period was

188C and 158C for TLRI and NCHU, respectively.

TLRI has about 200 Nubian goats for research pur-

poses, and most of the goats of NCHU came from the

¯ock of TLRI at age around 9 months. Pregnant does

used in this study were 3±4 years old and were in 2±3

parities, their average BW after parturition was

48.5�4.5 kg. Does were kept in high-rise slatted pens,

composition of concentrates (maize grain and SBM-

based, DM basis) for TLRI and NCHU were 18% CP,

18% crude ®ber and 13.5% CP, 11% crude ®ber,

respectively. Suf®cient pangola silage (11% CP,

68% crude ®ber, DM basis) or pangola and alfalfa

hay were provided as supplements for these two

places, respectively.

2.2. Kid management and sample collection

Kidding was monitored and kids were removed

from their dams before colostrum ingestion. The kids

were weighed and placed in a pen regulated at 25�28Cwith a heater and wind shield. The health of the kids

was inspected daily, bottle-feeding was done indivi-

dually and the time was suf®cient to nurse to appetite.

First colostrum was collected from dams and fed to

their kids within 1 h after birth. In all cases, the time of

the ®rst colostrum feeding was designated as 0 h, and

subsequent feedings were performed every 6 h for the

®rst day and every 12 h from 2 to 5 days post-partum.

The total mixed colostrum was hand-milked from

individual dams before each feeding and an aliquot

of samples was stored atÿ208C for later analyses. The

kids were weighed and bled from the jugular vein

before each feeding. The separated serum and colos-

trum were used for total protein and -globulin deter-

minations. No additional colostrum substitute was

used during the experimental period. All kids were

suf®ciently nursed with maternal colostrum and had

no signs of underfeeding.

2.3. Sample analyses

-Globulin of fat-free colostrum (after centrifuge at

1000�g for 15 min) and kid serum was analyzed by

electrophoresis with Helena Titan agarose gel plate

(Titan Gel Serum Protein System, Cat. No. 3041,

Helena Laboratories, Beaumont, TX). The -globulin

fraction after migrating at pH 8.4±8.8 was quanti®ed

at 595 nm with an automatic densitometer (Helena

EDCTM, Cat. No. 1370, Helena Laboratories, Beau-

mont, TX) equipped with an electronic integrator.

Total protein concentration of colostrum and serum

was determined by the method of Lowry et al. (1951)

154 J.C. Chen et al. / Small Ruminant Research 32 (1999) 153±160

and the biuret method (White et al., 1976), respec-

tively.

2.4. Statistical analysis

Data were analyzed by least-squares means (SAS,

1989) for determining the effects of litter size, kid sex,

birth weight and farm. Comparisons between kids fed

high or low levels of colostral -globulin or total

protein were made by the t-test. The relationship

between levels of total protein or -globulin of colos-

trum and kid serum at various ages was expressed

using the Pearson Correlation Coef®cients (SAS,

1989).

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Electrophoresis of kid serum protein

A typical electrophoresis of serum protein of nor-

mal suckling kids within 5 days after birth by the use

of the commercial agarose gel kit is shown in Fig. 1.

The major protein fractions were divided according to

the recommendation by the manufacturer from cath-

ode to anode as albumin, �-globulin-1, �-globulin-2,

and -globulin, respectively. The -globulin fraction

in colostrum collected at the same intervals was

similarly separated and quanti®ed as was described

previously (Chen et al., 1998).

3.2. Patterns of change of total protein and

-globulin of colostrum and kid serum

The progressive changes of concentrations of total

protein and -globulin in colostrum and kid serum

following parturition are shown in Fig. 2. The overall

mean colostral total protein dropped drastically from

16.30 g dlÿ1 at parturition to 7.50 g dlÿ1 18 h later and

remained relatively stable through 5 days post-partum.

Similar changes in colostral -globulin concentration

were observed, where mean concentration at parturi-

tion, 18 h and 5 days post-partum was 7.57, 2.23 and

0.40 g dlÿ1 , respectively. During the ®rst day, colos-

Fig. 1. Electrophoresis of kid serum protein since birth after normal suckling. Lines 1±10 represent serum collected at 0, 6, 12, 18, 24, 36 h,

and 2±5 days of age.

J.C. Chen et al. / Small Ruminant Research 32 (1999) 153±160 155

tral protein decreased in content by over 50%, which

apparently was mainly caused by the concomitant

decrease in -globulin content. The calculated corre-

lation coef®cient between colostral -globulin and

total protein during the ®rst 5 days after parturition

was 0.93 (p<0.001). This correlation was also found to

be very high in the study of Quiles et al. (1991) on

goats during similar intervals.

The overall mean concentrations of kid serum total

protein and -globulin peaked around 24 h at normal

colostrum feeding (12.45 and 3.33 g dlÿ1, respec-

tively) and then remained at a plateau with a very

slight decreasing trend through 5 days (Fig. 2). Before

24 h, concentrations of serum total protein and -

globulin increased linearly from 9.40 and 0.13 g dlÿ1

at birth, respectively, up to 18 h. The time that serum

protein and -globulin start to reach a stable level

coincided with the time of colostrum transition in

terms of total protein and -globulin contents and

the estimated gut closure time of neonates (Donovan

et al., 1986). The concentration of serum -globulin

following initial suckling in this study was comparable

to that found in small ruminants such as lambs (Hunter

et al., 1977; Al-Jawad and Lees, 1985; Sawyer et al.,

1977), goat kids (Constant et al., 1994) and crias of

llamas and alpacas (Bravo et al., 1997). There are

some differences in peak time as well as peak value,

partly caused by differences in species and methodol-

ogies. Changes in kid serum total protein concentra-

tion were parallel to those of serum -globulin

following birth, which was also indicated by Donovan

et al. (1986) and on this base that neonatal serum total

protein content was used as an index of immune

transfer in their study.

3.3. Factors affecting levels of serum total protein

and -globulin of newborn kids

Least-squares means for serum total protein and -

globulin of kids at birth and 24 h of age as well as BW

gains during neonatal period are shown in Table 1.

Overall means of serum total protein and -globulin

before suckling were 9.38�0.01 and 0.13�0.11 g dlÿ1, respectively. There were no differences

(p>0.05) in serum total protein between litter size, kid

sex, kid birth weight and farms at both stages.

-Globulin concentrations were also not different

between the same variables for both ages of kids,

except litter size, where single kids had lower (p<0.05)

values than twins or triplets at 24 h. This ®nding

apparently is contrary to the general concept that

serum Ig level was usually decreased with increasing

litter size (Bekele et al., 1992). As was indicated in

Table 1, 40 out of 43 kids used in this study were born

as twins or triplets, and this was not an unusually high

ratio for Nubian does in Taiwan. Since the BW gains

Fig. 2. Progressive changes of concentrations of total protein and -globulin of colostrum and kid serum post-partum.


for the ®rst day (days 0±1) and for the ®rst 5 days (days

0±5) were all lower (p<0.05) for single kids, the lower

serum -globulin level at 24 h most probably resulted

from less vigorous suckling or poor absorption during

the critical absorption period.

Concentrations of serum total protein and -globu-

lin and BW gains were similar in kids of different birth

weight (Table 1). It is likely that low birth weight was

not necessarily associated with low serum protein and

-globulin levels and slower growth rate as would be

suspected. Therefore, normal suckling and absorption

of colostrum seems to be a more important factor in

sustaining the health and normal growth during neo-

natal life than birth weight.

Kids born on different farms were similar (p>0.05)

in concentrations of serum total protein and -globulin

at birth and 24 h of life although there were differences

in latitude, climates, management practices and nutri-

tion regimes between farms. However, BW gains

during days 0±5 (Table 1) were different (p<0.05)

between farms. Concentrations of serum total protein

of this study were apparently higher than those of

lambs (Halliday, 1976; Bekele et al., 1992), while the

serum -globulin concentrations were comparable to

lambs found by Bekele et al. (1992), but were higher

than those of goat kids reported elsewhere (Constant

et al., 1994).

3.4. Relationships of total protein and -globulin

levels between colostrum and kid serum

The kids were grouped according to the content of

colostral total protein suckled at 0 and 6 h post-par-

tum, and the mean of their serum total protein level

was compared in Table 2. The results indicated that

kids fed the ®rst or the second colostrum of high total

protein content (>15.51 and >10.51 g dlÿ1, respec-

tively) did not necessarily re¯ect in high serum total

protein levels up to 24 h of age but did have greater

(p<0.05) BW gains in the ®rst 5 days of life.

In Table 3, the kids were grouped according to the

content of colostral -globulin ingested. It is shown

that the mean serum -globulin levels of the kids fed

the ®rst colostrum with high -globulin content

Table 1

Least squares means (�SE) for serum total protein and globulin concentrations (g dlÿ1 lÿ1) in Nubian kids at 0 and 24 h after birth and their

BW gains (g) during the first day (days 0±1) and the first 5 days (days 0±5)

Variables Serum total protein Serum -globulin BW gains

n0 h 24 h 0 h 24 h days 0±1 days 0±5

Overall mean 43 9.38�0.01 12.46�0.33 0.13�0.11 3.32�0.26 52�16 682�40

Litter size

Single 3 9.12�0.43 11.39�1.08 0.12�0.01 1.43�0.85b 41�76b 442�122b

Twin 25 9.28�0.16 12.37�0.41 0.12�0.01 3.50�0.35a 173�21a 787�53a

Triplet 15 9.59�0.16 12.83�0.63 0.14�0.01 3.41�0.40a 140�24a 554�42a,b

Kid sex

Male 23 9.42�0.17 12.02�0.52 0.13�0.01 2.97�0.36 143�21 708�59

Female 20 9.34�0.15 12.97�0.35 0.13�0.01 3.73�0.36 163�24 652�53

Birth weight (kg)

2.00±2.50 5 9.40�0.23 12.05�0.58 0.15�0.01 2.73�0.49 164�14 556�76

2.51±3.00 19 9.32�0.16 12.67�0.56 0.12�0.01 3.56�0.36 153�27 659�50

3.01±3.50 12 9.38�0.18 12.33�0.57 0.14�0.01 3.38�0.45 150�24 708�71

>3.51 7 9.53�0.4 2.44�0.93 0.13�0.01 2.99�0.89 145�55 790�156

Farm

NCHU 19 9.50�0.19 12.36�0.45 0.13�0.01 3.41�0.38 188�19 874�52a

TLRI 24 9.29�0.14 12.54�0.48 0.13�0.01 3.25�0.36 124�23 530�35b

Means in the same column followed with different superscripts are different (p<0.05) within variable groups.

NCHU, National Chung Hsing University farm.

TLRI, Taiwan Livestock Research Institute farm.


(>7.51 g dlÿ1) were higher (p<0.05) than those of the

low colostrum± -globulin counterparts up to 24 h of

age, whereas, high (>5.01 g dlÿ1) -globulin contents

of colostrum collected at 6 h after parturition did not

have similarly favorable effects (p>0.05). BW gains

during the ®rst 5 days of life seemed to be not different

(p>0.05) for kids ingesting colostrum of high or low

-protein contents.

The correlation coef®cients between early colos-

trum (0, 6 and 12 h) and kid serum (6, 12, 24, 48 h and

5 days) in contents of total protein and -globulin are

shown in Table 4. The results indicate that the content

of total protein of the ®rst colostrum (0 h) was highly

correlated (p<0.05) with that of the kid serum from

12 h up to 5 days of age but the signi®cance seemed to

decrease gradually after 24 h. The correlations were

not as signi®cant for the second (6 h) and the third

(12 h) colostrum. The content of total protein in kid

serum as young as 6 h of age was not correlated with

that of the ®rst colostrum ingested (p>0.05). Even

more pronounced correlation in contents of -globulin

between colostrum and kid serum was observed, and

the contents of -globulin of kid serum as young as 6 h

of age were highly correlated (p<0.001) with that of

Table 2

Least squares means (�SE) of kid serum total protein and BW gains during the first 5 days by categories of colostral total protein

concentrations at 0 and 6 h after parturition

Item Colostrum collected at 0 h Colostrum collected at 6 h

Low protein High protein p-Value protein Low protein High protein p-Value

Means of colostral total

protein (g dlÿ1)

12.70�0.77 (8) 19.49�1.33 (9) 8.70�0.56 (8) 13.33�0.76 (9)

Means of serum total

protein (g dlÿ1)

n 18 16 18 16

At ages

6 h 9.88�0.25 10.59�0.31 0.0870 9.86�0.25 10.61�0.31 0.0721

12 h 11.21�0.36 12.21�0.51 0.1180 11.23�0.53 12.19�0.52 0.1341

18 h 11.42�0.49 12.51�0.45 0.1118 11.48�0.49 12.44�0.47 0.1667

24 h 12.16�0.52 12.52�0.44 0.5960 12.21�0.51 12.46�0.46 0.7238

BW gains (g) 638�60 716�74 0.4202 577�55 785�69 0.0260

Values in parentheses represent number of maternal goats.

Table 3

Least squares means (�SE) of kid serum -globulin and BW gains during the first 5 days by categories of colostral -globulin concentrations

at 0 and 6 h after parturition

Item Colostrum collected at 0 h Colostrum collected at 6 h

Low -globulin High -globulin P-value Low -globulin High -globulin p-Value

Means of colostral -globulin

(g dlÿ1)

6.54�0.23(9) 9.47�0.40(8) 3.69�0.18(9) 6.96�0.34(8)

Means of serum -globulin

(g dlÿ1)

n 16 18 18 16

At ages

6 h 0.78�0.12 1.86�0.20 0.0001 1.09�0.18 1.64�0.24 0.0694

12 h 1.84�0.28 3.65�0.39 0.0008 2.32�0.33 3.34�0.46 0.0818

18 h 2.02�0.31 4.06�0.38 0.0003 2.63�0.43 3.64�0.40 0.0961

24 h 2.18�0.28 4.01�0.4 0.0009 2.82�0.43 3.51�0.39 0.2443

BW gain (g) 691�61 660�71 0.7395 618�61 738�70 0.2093

Values in parentheses represent number of maternal goats.


the ®rst colostrum ingested. The signi®cance of cor-

relation between the ®rst colostrum and kid serum

decreased as the kids grew older. The latter observa-

tion might be explained with the ®ndings of an earlier

report on goats that neonatal absorption of immuno-

globulin decreased drastically after birth (Constant

et al., 1994). Total protein content of the ®rst colos-

trum had the highest positive correlation (p<0.001)

with that of the kid serum 12±24 h after ingestion. The

absorption and turnover of colostrum total protein

apparently was not parallel to that of -globulin.

The delay of correlation with serum total protein up

to 24 h also suggests that there might be some trophic

protein factors in colostrum that gradually improved

the overall performance of kids when serum protein

level and growth rate (Table 2) were the two tested

indices. Investigations are required to further identify

the not fully realized values and mode of effects of

colostral proteins other than -globulin in the kids'

health and growth.

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the National Science

Council (NSC83-0409-B-005-056 and NSC85-2321-

B-005-078). The authors gratefully thank Mr. S.S.

Wuen of Taiwan Livestock Research Institute for

arrangement of the cooperation of two farms. Appre-

ciation is also given to Mr. R.C. Hsieh and Mr. C.C.

Liu for assistance with animal care and Ms. W.P. Wang

for the preparation of the manuscripts.

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Regression coefficients of concentrations of colostral total protein

and -globulin collected within 12 h post-partum

Colostral total protein Colostral -globulin

0 h 6 h 12 h 0 h 6 h 12 h

Serum total protein at ages

6 h 0.263 Ð Ð Ð Ð Ð

12 h 0.536c 0.418a Ð Ð Ð Ð

24 h 0.581c 0.456b 0.123 Ð Ð Ð

48 h 0.509b 0.396a 0.163 Ð Ð Ð

5 days 0.372a 0.231 0.036 Ð Ð Ð

Serum -globulin at ages

6 h Ð Ð Ð 0.581c Ð Ð

12 h Ð Ð Ð 0.476b 0.512b Ð

24 h Ð Ð Ð 0.438b 0.365a 0.100

48 h Ð Ð Ð 0.434b 0.382a 0.125

5 days Ð Ð Ð 0.409a 0.434b 0.211

a p<0.05.b p<0.01.c p<0.001.


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Serum protein levels and neonatal growth rate of Nubian goat kids in Taiwan area

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