Effect of Castration on some Blood Metabolites of Fattened Nubian Male Kids

Abstract

Ten male Nubian kids at sexual maturity age ranged between (7-8) months were used in a study to investigate the effect of castration on feed intake, feed conversion ratio, body weight gain and some blood parameters which include: glucose, cholesterol, total protein, albumin, globulin, urea and uric acid. The kids were randomly divided into two groups. Group (A) were all intact males and (B) were castrated using Burdizzo castration method. Each group contained five kids. The average initial weight of the two groups were matching 14.6 + 3.41 and 14.8+ 3.36kg respectively. The kids were individually accommodated and fed adlibitum. The daily feed intake and weekly weight and blood samples for the metabolites tests were taken. This experiment continued for eight weeks. The data obtained were then analyzed using student t test to examine the significance of the effect of castration on the feedlot performance and the blood metabolites levels. The study showed that there was no significant differences between the intact and castrated kids in feed intake, although, the intact kids showed significantly (P<0.05) higher body weight gain compared to the castrated kids. There were no significant differences between the intact and castrated kids in feed conversion ratio, although the castrated kids had a higher value than the intact kids which suggest that the feed conversion ratio of intact kids was better than the castrated. The results of blood metabolites showed that there were no significant differences between the two groups except for the glucose level which was significantly higher for the castrated kids and the urea level was significantly higher for the intact kids. Correlation and regression among the examined parameters showed that there were significant correlations between feed intake, weekly weight gain and blood urea levels with the weekly body weight, total cholesterol, albumin and urea levels. The study showed no significant effect on most feedlots performance and metabolic parameters studied.