Goat projects

LIPOMEC

Lipolysis is the hydrolysis of triglycerides, the main lipids in milk, by lipase, a lipoprotein. This metabolic reaction produces short-chain fatty acids, reducing the quality of the milk by giving it a rancid taste. There are many factors involved in spontaneous lipolysis (breeding and milking practices, physiology, genetics) and their interactions are complex. The aim of the LIPOMEC project is to gain a better understanding of these mechanisms. The project has two main lines of research: 1) to assess the effect of dietary restriction on spontaneous lipolysis mechanisms and 2) to develop a prediction equation for lipolysis in goats using medium infrared spectrometry, based on 400 milk samples analysed.

This project was funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche and APIS-GENE.

RESILAIT

The aim of the RESILAIT project is to develop and disseminate non-invasive phenotyping methods for assessing the adaptive capacity of goats. The project has two main lines of research: 1) to validate the use of milk metabolites as non-invasive biomarkers for characterising resilience (an animal's ability to maintain or recover its level of performance after a challenge), and 2) to study the genetic variability of these biomarkers.

The experimental protocol uses goat lines selected in a divergent way for functional longevity. Individuals from these lines are exposed to dietary restriction and inflammatory challenges. The inflammatory challenge was carried out by injecting lipopolysaccharides, a non-infectious molecule that triggers a transient inflammatory reaction. Milk samples were taken before, during and after the challenges for analysis.

This project was funded by the Casdar.

MALEFIC

The marked seasonal nature of reproduction in goats makes it difficult to achieve consistent milk production throughout the year, particularly when the price of goat's milk is high. Currently, the most effective deseasoning tool is hormone treatment to induce and synchronise heat. The industry is seeking to reduce or eliminate its dependence on these hormones, which are frowned upon by consumers and will probably be banned by law in the long term.

The aim of the MALEFIC research project is to develop techniques for managing reproduction without the use of hormones. The technique studied in MALEFIC is the ‘billy-goat effect’, which involves placing billy-goats close to the goats in order to induce them to come into heat. The 3 research areas of the project are 1) Identify biomarkers of the goat's receptivity to the buck (metabolome and steroid profile) in order to define the optimum time for exposing the goat to the buck and eventually produce a ‘rapid diagnostic test’ to predict success with the ‘buck effect’; 2) Facilitate the implementation of the ‘buck effect’ method of reproduction by automated heat detection, which is necessary for artificial insemination, and study the capacity of fleece molecules from sexually active males to induce a ‘buck effect’ without a buck, and 3) Improve breeding advice for reproduction management by evaluating a new ‘fertility monitoring’ tool for farmers in the region, and by acquiring technical references on various topics, such as the link between feed and reproduction.

This project was funded by INRAE and the Centre-Val de Loire Region (AAP Intérêt Régional 2016).

VALCABRI

The VALCABRI project aims to improve the value of on-farm fattening, from the farmer to the consumer. The project has 4 research goals: 1) Comparing the performance of different crosses between dairy breeds and breeds with better meat skills, such as the Boer and Pyrenees breeds, to improve the value of kids not kept for the renewal of the herd; 2) Optimising the technical routes for fattening kids; 3) Developing the supply of kid meat for consumers; and 4) Studying the economic interest of adding value to kids on the farm.

This project was funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty via the call for projects from the Agricultural and Rural Development Special Allocation Account (CASDAR) Innovation and Partnership 2018.

MAPaCAP

The synthetic anthelmintics used to treat grazing goats have a strong environmental impact on the soil microfauna and are becoming less and less effective as the parasites gain resistance to the treatment. In this context, the main objectives of the MAPaCAP project, which is part of the PEI network, are: 1) to study genetic resistance to gastrointestinal parasites in goats, and 2) to develop rapid and inexpensive means of diagnosing parasitised animals, in order to better target treatments for grazing goats.

This project was funded by INRAE and the Centre-Val de Loire Region (AAP Intérêt Régional 2016).