Dairy goats grazing plantain: milk performance and consequences on gastro-intestinal parasitism
Résumé
Dairy goats are very sensitive to gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) under grazing systems. Plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.), because of its expected medicinal properties, could help to manage GIN parasitism. Two homogeneous groups of 25 goats were created to evaluate the impact of grazing plantain on milk production and resilience to GIN. During 23 days, with 8 h of daily access to pasture, a pure plantain (PLA) pasture was compared to a multi-species pasture without plantain (MSS). Goats were supplemented with 856 g of concentrate and 200 g hay daily. Pasture CP concentration was 102 and 170 g kg-1 DM in PLA and MSS, respectively, due to the late stage of growth of the plantain. Live weight,
GIN egg excretion level, milk protein content, and somatic cells count were not affected by the sward type. Milk production was lower (-16%, P<0.001) for PLA than for MSS, as was milk urea concentration (-16%, P<0.001). The plantain effect on the resilience of goats to parasitism was not been demonstrated. Grazing pure plantain during 23 days in spring did not show any specific interest. Plantain should, however, be tested in a mixed sward and at an earlier stage of growth when its quality would be higher.