Funding: The project is supported by funds of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) based on a decision of the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany via the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) under the Federal Programme for Ecological Farming
Optimal feeding of dairy goats not only takes into account the animals' nutritional requirements, but also aspects of animal welfare and animal health. The project focuses on aspects relating to the feeding requirements according to the needs of high-yielding dairy goats on organic farms and on the effects of motherless rearing on the behavior of goat lambs. To this end, the energy expenditure (maintenance requirement) and feed intake on pasture and in the barn will be investigated experimentally. Subsequently, the effects of feeding place design and feeding management on social behavior, feeding behavior and body condition will be determined on practical farms. At the same time, data on feed and performance allow to infer information on the suitability of ration recommendations. As an additional focus, the effects of motherless or mother-bound rearing on the behavior of lambs (e.g. learning social behaviors, feeding behavior) will be investigated experimentally. The project thus intends to contribute to the improvement of dairy goat husbandry in various aspects (energy expenditure, pasture use, feeding place design, lamb rearing) of organic farming.
Project partners:
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Hummel, Georg-August-University Göttingen (GAU), Ruminant nutrition (Project coordinator): https://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/411871.html
Prof. Dr. Edna Hillmann, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HUB), Albrecht Daniel Thaer-Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Division of Animal Husbandry and Ethology: https://www.agrar.hu-berlin.de/de/institut/departments/dntw/tierhaltung/thse
Project management
Project Staff
Janine Benthin
Janine.Benthin@~@fli.de
