Study of the potential of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy in the analysis of the tree foliage intake of goats.

Materials and Methods ― Fodder and fecal samples were collected from 3 groups of 3 goats, browsing ad lib on fresh leafy Quercus pubescens branches. The 3 groups were made up of: 3 dried-up animals without supplementation; 3 lactating animals, supplemented with a urea-molasses mixture, in a digestibility cage (Meuret, 1988); and 3 lactating animals compelled to eat a pure 0 pubescens diet on rangeland, and supplemented with a urea-battey mixture (Waelput, 1988). The separated leaves (no of samples = 100), stems and fruits (no = 50) of Q pubescens, the corresponding feces (no = 700), and the leaves of 4 other shrub samples which can be consumed on the same rangeland (Hedera helix, Ouercus ilex, Pistacia terebinthus and Comus sanguinea) were dried in a ventilated oven at 60°C until a constant weight was reached, and then ground with a standard hammer-mill (1 mm sieve). These first results concern the analysis of organic matter (OM) and lignin (Li) (Christian, 1971) by wet procedure (WP) and NIRS (PSCO, RCA 6250).