The objectives of this trial were to evaluate the effect of dietary oil supplementationon intake, apparent total tract digestibility of nutrients, and ruminal metabolismin lactating Saanen goats. Four ruminally cannulated multiparous goats averaging54±1.02 kg BW and 80 days in milk were used. Goats were fed a controldiet (no oil supplementation) or diets supplemented with one of the followingoil sources: canola, rice or soybean. A 4 x 4 Latin square design was used anddata were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS (2001) with means comparedthrough orthogonal contrasts at 5% of significance. Dietary oil supplementationreduced apparent total tract digestibility of both neutral detergent fiber andnonstructural carbohydrates but contents of TDN did not differ among diets.Oil supplementation did not change the concentration of ruminal ammonia N andplasma urea N but increased ruminal pH and decreased milk urea nitrogen concentration(MUN). The inclusion of 5.1% of vegetable oils in the diet of lactating goatdid not significantly affect nutrient digestibility and ruminal fermentationparameters.
