The use of fecal NIRS to identify levels of consumption of the toxic shrub juniper in a selective breeding program with goats

This paper describes a project which aims to investigate the use of selective breeding to improve the use of goats as biological control agents for juniper (primarily Juniperus pinchotii and J. ashei) control in the Edwards Plateau region Texas, USA. The research involves the use of faecal near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) technology to predict juniper consumption in free-ranging goats, and the prediction of the genetic merit for juniper consumption for individual animals in Boer × Spanish and Angora goat herds in order to divergently select for high and low juniper consumption. NIRS calibration; effect of breed, gender and age of goats and heritability studies were also conducted. It was shown that goats of different genders and ages had different faecal NIRS spectra even when fed the same diet (juniper or pelleted feed). The effect of breed was relatively insignificant. There was a significant difference in high and low juniper-consuming goats, especially in December and January compared to October and November. There was a moderate level of heritability for juniper consumption in Boer × Spanish goats and a lower value in Angora goats based on faecal NIRS. These results show that faecal NIRS technology allows the identification of superior juniper eating goats, monitor their consumption of juniper and predict genetic merit for juniper consumption for use in breeding programmes.