Animal Sciences Research and Reviews

Special Circular 156

Release of the Ohio Dairy Goat Ration Program

M.L. Eastridge^* and J. Lemon^+
*Department of Animal Sciences⁺ and ⁺Section of Communication and Technology

Summary

Many computer software programs, including the Ohio Dairy Ration Program (Version 5.1; 1994), have been developed for formulation of rations for dairy cattle. A limited number of computer programs, however, exist for use by goat owners. Using newly published research relating to nutrition for goats and the National Research Council's publication (1981) on Nutrient Requirements of Goats, the Ohio Dairy Goat Ration Program (Version 1.0) was developed and released during 1995.

The Ohio Dairy Goat Ration Program is designed to provide for evaluation and least-cost formulation of rations for lactating and dry does and kids. Features of the program include:

• A library of feeds with typical nutritive composition (names and composition of feeds can be modified, and feeds not in the library can be added);

• Selection of individual feeds for a batch mix, and the batch mix can be saved as a "feed" for use with more than one animal group (quantity for the batch can be selected based on a desired weight or number of animals in a group);

• A summary of amount and costs for feeds to all animal groups to provide total feed costs and income over feed costs per day and feed cost per hundredweight of milk for the herd (this option also offers a feature to monitor forage inventory);

• Customization of reports before printing by adding and deleting text lines and printing of reports to a printer or disk file, and;

• Several options for tailoring the screen to your computer system and the operation of the program based on your specific interests.

Although rations are evaluated and formulated on an individual-goat basis, the program was developed within a herd framework - the user can work with five lactating-doe, two dry-doe, and three kid groups at one time. Summaries of amounts fed and feed costs are available on a per-group and herd basis. The batch feature can be used to determine weights and percentages of feeds in total-mixed rations [with easy updating of dry matter (DM) percentages for forages] and in concentrate and mineral mixtures.

Body weight, lactation number, and performance inputs allow for calculation of nutrient requirements (Table 1). Body weight, performance inputs, days in milk, environmental temperature, and proximity to calving are used to predict DM intake (Table 1). Dry matter intake can be adjusted by 2 or 5% from predicted levels, allowing users to account for additional variation in feed intake within herds.

Concentrations of DM, crude protein, degradable intake protein (DIP), soluble protein, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, lignin, fat, ash, NE_L, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, sodium, chloride, manganese, iron, copper, zinc, selenium, and vitamins A, D, and E for feeds can be altered. The program also calculates body weight change for does and ration levels of forage, forage NDF, nonfiber carbohydrates (NFC), NFC:DIP, nitrogen:sulfur, calcium:phosphorus, potassium:calcium plus magnesium, and cation anion balance.

The Ohio Dairy Goat Ration Program operates with DOS microcomputers and is available for sale. To order a copy of the program, contact the local county office of Ohio State University Extension or Ms. Cheryl Hall, Department of Animal Sciences, 2027 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH 43210, (614) 688-3143.

Table 1. Inputs for animal groups.
Lactating doe	Dry doe	Kid
Body weight, pounds Lactation number (1, 2, or 3+) Milk yield, pounds/day Milk fat, % Milk protein, % Days in milk Environmental temperature, oF DMI factor (adjusts DM intake 2 or 5%) Desired gain, grams/day	Body weight Lactation number Proximity to freshening (within or not within 2 weeks) DMI factor Desired gain	Body weight Desired gain DMI factor