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Livestock

Apple Cider Vinegar Supplementation of Goats – Initial Report

working together, always learning

PRACTICAL

Staff Contact:Margaret Dunn – (515) 232-5661margaret@practicalfarmers.org

Cooperators:•Dawn Anderson – Walker•Kathy Rose – Rockwell City•Joanne Peters – Newell

Funding By:Walton Family Foundation

Web Link:http://bit.ly/pfi_livestock

Research

Doeling goats munch on pumpkins at Kathy Rose’s Lyn farm.

In a Nutshell• Applecidervinegarhasbeenlongadvocatedforitshealthbenefits.

• Applecidervinegarisheldtohavemultiplemedicinalpurposes,rangingfromimprovedhaircoat,togreatermilkproductionandreducedmastitis,todecreasedurinarycalculiinbucks,toincreaseddoekidsofsupplementeddams.

• ThreeIowafarmstestedtreatmentsofapplecidervinegarsupplimentsingoatproduction.

• Animalswereweighedatthebegin-ningandendofthetrial,andtotalandaveragedailygainswerecalculated.

• Nogreatgainswereseen,butbenefitswereobserved.

TimePeriod:

May-September2013

Background

Applecidervinegar(ACV),anacidicfermentationproduct,hasbeenlongad-vocatedforitshealthbenefits.Itcontainsmainlyaceticacid,aswellasvitamins,mineralsalts,someaminoacids,polyphe-nols,andotherorganiccompounds(John-stonandGaas2006).Whilenotextensiveorreplicatedinmanylargermammals,trialsonrodentshavefoundloweredbloodpressureafterACVsupplementa-tion,perhapsduetochangesincalciumabsorption,possiblyduetopHchanges(Kondoetal.2001).

Amongfarmers,ACVisheldtohavemultiplemedicinalpurposes,rangingfromimprovedhaircoat,togreatermilkproduc-

tionandreducedmastitis,todecreasedurinarycalculiinbucks,toincreaseddoekidsofsupplementeddams(WelcomeHomeFarm2011,Winter2012).Somecreditisgiventothevitamins,minerals,andothernutrientsinACV,thoughtheconcentrationsareextremelylow(Mercola2009).Meanwhile,farmersreportgoatsenjoyingwaterwithsomeACVadded–perhapstheimprovedhydrationispartofthehealthbenefits(TheGoatSpot2009).

Aceticacid,themainacidofvinegar,isusedbythemammaryglandforfatsynthesis(Marinezetal.1976),butitisuncertainwhetherananimalwillwillinglyconsumeenoughACVtocauseanotice-ableincrease.Inaddition,theacidandothercompoundsaresaidtocorrectpHimbalancesinthebody;againthevolume

ofACVrequiredtoelicitachangeisquestionable(AcresUSA).Inhamsters,aconnectionhasbeenfoundbetweenoff-springsexandvaginalpHatmating;lowerpHtowardstheendofestrusiscorrelatedwithmoremalebirths(Prattetal1987).Whilesimilarobservationsaremadeforcattle–morefemalesifbredearly–itisnotknownwhetherthereisapHdiffer-ence;andACVsupplementationshouldtheoreticallydecreasepH(associatedwithmales,atleastinhamsters).Practi-calFarmers,curiousabouttheseclaims,designedaprojecttotrackdifferencesinACV-supplementedandunsupplementedgoatsoverseveralmonths.Comenextspring,thesexofthedoes’kidswillbereportedaswell.

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Materials and Methods

Eachfarmerselectedanumberofanimalsfortesting,andwherepractical,dividedthemintotwotreatmentgroups,balancingeachgroupintermsofage,physiologicalstatus,andbreed.Onegroupwassupplementedwithapplecidervinegaratratesandfrequenciesdescribedbelow(Table 1),eitherbydirectoraldrenching,additionofACVtothewater,orboth.

Dependingonanimaltype,differentresponsevariablesweretracked.Adultanimalswereevaluatedforbodyconditionscore,andweightwhenpossible.Growing,weanedkidswereweighedatthestartandfinish,andeachmonthifpossible.Otherobservations,suchasveterinaryissuesandgeneralhealthandwell-being,werereported.

Results

Dawn AndersonOnDawn’sfarm,datawereanalyzedtocomparebothACV-treatedvscontrol,andbetweenthedifferentratesofACVtreatment(Table 2).Foreachmonthofthetrial,shesupplementedACVindifferentways.Duringthefirstmonth,animalsweregivenadailyoraldrenchoftheACV/watermixture;thisdecreasedtothreetimesweeklyinmonth2;onceweeklyinmonth

3;andinmonth4ACVwasaddedtothewaterbutnotgiventotheanimalsdirectly.Twoanimalsbecameilloverthecourseofthetrial(onetreatedandonenot)andwereexcludedfromfinalanalysis.TreatmentwithACValonedidnotsignificantlyaffectanimalaveragedailygain(ADG)overthecourseofthetrial.Whilesomemeans,particularlythoseforageandsex,appearverydifferent,theresultsweresovariablethatitisimpossibletoprovetherewasatreatmentdifference.

Whilenotstatisticallysignificant,animalsofdifferentageshadvastlydifferentgainsregardlessoftreatmentwithACVornot.

Cooperators and treatments

Cooperator Animals in Study Breed(s) ACV supplemen-

tation frequency ACV Dose

DawnAnderson

16(8treated,8control) Boer

Month1:doseddaily;month2:3x/wk,month3:1x/wk;month4:ACVinwaterat0.25c/5galwater

1:1water:ACV;1-20ccbyageandweight

KathyRose 14(7treated,7control)

Boer,LaMancha,Sable,Nubian 2x/wk 2:1water:vinegar;

2-4ccbyweight

JoannePeters 19(14treated,5control) Boer constant 1cup/20gal

water

Table 1

Effects of ACV supplementationon Anderson farm

Variable Value Gain (lb) ADG (lb/d)

TreatmentControl 6.08 0.22ACV 4.83 0.19

Period Overall 5.44 0.20

Age0-5months 7.77 0.281-2years 4.93 0.182+years -3.19 -0.07

SexMale 8.75 0.31Female 4.15 0.16

Table 2

Gain and ADG by monthon Anderson farm

Month Treatment Gain (lb) ADG (lb/d)

1Control 6.30 0.23ACV 5.13 0.18

2Control 6.63 0.24ACV 6.36 0.23

3Control 6.23 0.22ACV 6.24 0.22

4Control 5.14 0.18ACV 6.00 0.21

Table 3

Youngergrowinganimals(0-5monthsold)seemtohavegainedmoreweightintotalandgainedmoreweightperdaythandidolderanimals(over1yearold).Themostmatureanimalswere2-yearoldlactatingdoes,whonotunexpectedlylostweightduetonutritionaldemands.Whileanumericaldifferenceisseenbetweengainsofmalesandfemales,itwasnotstatisticallysignificantacrossACV-supplementedandunsupplementedanimals.

DawndecreasedthefrequencyofACVdosageeverymonth,andtheresultsareshownin Table 3.Acrossanimalageandsex,therewerenosignificantdifferencesbetweentreatmentsinanymonth;whileindividualperformancevaried,onthewholethetwotreatmentswereverysimilar.

Kathy RoseKathyandherfarmingpartnerJanetEgg-enbergerworkedwithagroupofdoelings(Feb/March2013birthdates).Halfweredosedtwiceweeklywith2-4ccofa2:1water:vinegarmixture.ThetrialstartedonJune1andcontinuedthroughtheendofOctober.Thedoeswereofvaryingbreeds:fourBoer,twoLamancha,twoSable,andsixNubian.OneoftheLamanchaswasaddedfollowingastatefairinJuly,buthadpreviouslybeenonACV.Therewereorigi-nallyfourSables,buttwodiedinAugustafterweatherchangesandthestressoftravelto/fromanothershow.Whenpossi-ble,Kathyputequalnumbersofdoesfromeachbreedintoeachtreatmentgroup.

Animalswereweighedatthebeginningandendofthetrial,andtotalandaveragedailygainswerecalculated.Nodifferenceswereobservedbetweenbreedsortreat-mentsforweightsorgains(Table 4).

Kathyalsopurchasedafecaltestingkit,totryandcheckforparasiteloads.However,withthedrysummer,parasitelevelswerequitelowinallanimals.ShealsoreportedthattheyaddedACVtothewaterbucketsofotheranimalgroups,andsaidthatitkilledthealgaeinthosetanks.Overthetrial,fivegallonsofACVwereused,costingatotalof$21.85.Thiscomesouttoap-proximately$0.07/dose.

Whilethetrialdidn’tshowanydifferencethisyear,Kathyisgoingtofollowthesedoesintoproductionandseeifdifferencesemerge.Sheplanstocontinuetheprojectforseveralmoresea-sons,hopefullyalsomakingciderherselforwithJoanne’shelp.

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Effects of ACV supplementation on Rose farm

Variable Value Starting weight (lb)

Ending weight (lb) Gain (lb) ADG

(lb/d)

Treatmentcontrol 33.5 53.8 20.3 0.13ACV 36.9 57.8 20.9 0.14

Breed

Boer 35.8 58.3 22.5 0.15Lamancha 33.8 54.5 20.7 0.13Sable 36.5 55.5 19.0 0.13Nubian 34.7 55.0 20.3 0.13

Overall 35.1 55.9 20.8 0.14

Table 4

Effects of ACV supplementation on Peters farm

Group Treatment Starting weight (lb)

Ending weight (lb) Gain (lb) ADG (lb/d)

Buckscontrol 118.0 150.0 32.0 0.28ACV 175.0 160.0 -15.0 -0.11

Does(all)control 91.7 123.3 31.7 0.22ACV 94.1 134.1 40.0 0.28

Doelingscontrol n/a n/a n/a n/aACV 80.3 123.0 42.7 0.30

Yearlingscontrol 91.7 123.3 31.7 0.22ACV 88.4 120.4 32.0 0.23

Maturecontrol n/a n/a n/a n/aACV 111.5 159.5 48.0 0.34

Table 5

Joanne Peters

Joannedidnotdoseheranimalsdirectly,butincludedACVintheirdrinkingwater,fromJunethroughSeptember(whenshewasunabletofindaconsistentsupplyofACV).AnimalswereweighedinJuneandinNovember,andgainswerecompared.

Twoanimalswereexcludedfromanalysisbecauseincompletedatawasavailable(twomaturedoes).Itshouldalsobenotedthattherewereonlytwobucks,oneineachtreatment;thetreatedbuckwasbreedingdoesduringthecourseofthetrial,whichisthelikelycauseofhisweightloss.TherewereneitherdoelingsnormaturedoesinthenoACVtreatment,sonoresultsareavailable.

ThedatadidshowthatoveralltreatmentwithACVdidnotsignificantlyaffectanyofthemeasuredparameters(Table 5).Be-causeofthelimitednumbersofbucksandbecauseonegainedandonelostweight,thisconfoundedresultssothereappeartobefewdifferencesbetweenbucksanddoes.Twodoelings(treatedwithACV)werediagnosedwithpneumoniainAugust;theygainedlessweightthandidtheotherdoelingofthesameage,butthisdidnotaffectresultsoverall.

Followingtheseanimalsintothenextyearandintoproductionshouldyieldmoreresults.Joannewillbecontinuingthetrial,andhopestoworkwithKathytoproduceACVtoprovideamoreconsistentsupply.

Conclusions and Next StepsWhilenoneofthefarmersreportedstrikingincreasesinhealthandnovastadvantagesingainwereobservedaftersupplementingwithACV,somebenefitswereobserved.Kathynotedthatitisquiteinexpensivetopurchase,butalsolooksrelativelysimpletoproduce.Shelikedthatitkilledalgaewhenusedinwatertubs,andsaidthatdrenchingtheanimalsgotthemaccus-tomedtobeinghandled,sothattheyarenowallquitetameandlead-broke.Allproducersinvolvedinthistrialwilltrackthebreddoesintothespring,whenthegenderoftheiroffspringwillberecorded.Theyalsowishtorepeatthetrialagain,togetmorereplicates

Acres USA. (link and article temporarily removed for site renovation) http://www.acre-susa.com/toolbox/press/goat10.htm

Johnston, C. S., and C. A. Gaas. 2006. Vinegar: Medicinal uses and antiglycemic effect. Med-scape General Medicine 8:61.

Kondo, S., K. Tayama, Y. Tsukamoto, K. Ikeda, and Y. Yamori. 2001. Antihypertensive effects of acetic acid and vinegar on spontaneously hypersensitive rats. Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry 65:2690-2694.

Welcome Home Farm. 8 Aug 2011. Time for apple cider vinegar. http://welcomehomefarm-tj.blogspot.com/2011/08/time-for-apple-cider-vinegar.html?m=1

Mercola, J. 2 June 2009. What the research really says about apple cider vinegar. Mercola.com. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/06/02/apple-cider-vinegar-hype.aspx

The Goat Spot. 2009. Apple cider vinegar? TheGoatSpot.net. http://www.thegoatspot.net/forum/f217/apple-cider-vinegar-111681/

Marinez, D. I., C. A. Ricks, and R. M. Cook. 1976. Utilization of volatile fatty acids in ruminants. 8. Acetate activation in mammary tissue. Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry 24:927-935.

Pratt, N. C., U. W. Huck, and R. D. Lisk. 1987. Offspring sex ratio in hamsters is correlated with vaginal pH at certain times of mating. Behavioral and Neural Biology 48:310-316.

Winter, W. August 2012. Folk medicine for livestock – Apple cider vinegar stories. Stock-man Grassfarmer. http://wickslivestock.com/articles-folk-medicine-for-livestock

References

PFI Cooperators ProgramPFI’sCooperators’Programgivesfarm-erspracticalanswerstoquestionstheyhaveabouton-farmchallengesthroughresearch,record-keeping,anddemonstra-tionprojects.TheCooperators’Programbeganin1987withfarmerslookingtosavemoneythroughmorejudicioususeofinputs.