Major elements in milk of the West African dwarf goats as affected by stage of lactation

Tweove adult West African dwarf (Fouta djallon) does, about 2 years old and weighing from 25 to 28 kg were kept for lactation studies lasting two 19-week periods. During these periods the does were hand-milked twice daily and the daily samples were bulked for each animal for subsequent analysis. The results showed that the colostrum was much richer in its content (g/kg) of Na 1.44 +/- 0.17, K 3.38 +/- 0.22 and Cl 4.83 +/- 0.29 than the mature milk which contained (g/kg) Na 0.65 +/- 0.09, K 1.57 +/- 0.19 and Cl 2.46 +/- 0.58. The corresponding values obtained for Ca (0.65 +/- 0.02) and P (0.36 +/- 0.10) in the colostrum were, however, lower than 2.01 +/- 0.98 and 1.18 +/- 0.28 g/kg obtained for Ca and P respectively in the mature milk. The composition of these elements in the colostrum approached that of the normal goat's milk on the sixth d after parturition. The results showed a rise in Ca, P, Na and Cl levels with stage of lactation and a fall in K content of the milk with advancing lactation with the trends being highly significant (P less than 0.01).