D. Martin  , G. Caja  , A. Arguello  , N. Castro  , S. Alvarez  , J. Capote  , 
    Intake Behaviour and Digestive Effects of Electronic Identification with Ruminal Bolus in Adult Goats,
    Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances,
    Volume 5,Issue 12,
    2006,
    Pages 1088-1092,
    ISSN 1680-5593,
    javaa.2006.1088.1092,
    (https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=javaa.2006.1088.1092)
    Abstract: The effect of the ruminal bolus on the intake behaviour and digestive parameters was studied in a group of 12 castrated adult Majorera goats. For the experiment they were housed in a metabolic box for 2 weeks to  allow  for  adaptation  and   fed   either  an  ad  libitum Fibrous Diet (FD) (n = 6) or a Concentrated Diet (CD) (n = 6) offered at 130% of the previous day’s consumption. The animals were subsequently divided into two similar  subgroups:  bolus  (identified  with  Rumitag Bolus&reg;) and control (simulated application). After one week  of  feeding with the definitive diet, the measuring period started, which lasted for 12d divided into two sub-periods separated by the application moment (subperiod I: 6d, before bolus application; sub-period II: 6d, after bolus application). Samples of faeces and material refused by the animal were collected daily in order to determine DM, OM, CP, NDF and ADF. For the FD group a significant difference was found due to the period on  DMI  being  higher  in  sub- period  II,  but  there  were  no  significant statistical differences due to the bolus treatment. For the CD group, DMI increased during sub-period II due to the overall time spent in both sub-groups. Digestibility parameters results were probably conditioned by the stress which was caused by the accumulation of days in the pen. Taking the evolution of daily DM per kg<SUP>-0.75 </SUP>live weight intake into account, both groups presented a similar decrease in  intake the day after bolus application, to a great extent due to the stress caused by the identification procedure, nevertheless they recovered their DMI level 48 h after application of the bolus. No statistically significant differences in diet intake and digestibility parameters were found due to the application of the ruminal bolus.
    Keywords: Digestibility;goats;ruminal bolus;traceability