The development of faecal flora in young Creole goats

Faeces represent an important tool for studying the dominant microbial flora in the gastro-intestinal tract (GIT). They allow the study of the dynamics of the colonization of microbial flora in a large number of animals without sacrificing the animal to obtain samples. Few studies used faeces to study the microflora of the GIT in ruminant animals and this has never before been reported in Creole goats. For this purpose, faecal samples were collected at 1, 3, 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180 and 270 days of age. In 1-day-old Creole kids, the results indicated presence of anaerobes, enterococci and coliforms at levels of 10(7) cfu/g of faeces, while bifidobacteria (10(6) cfu/g) and lactobacilli (105 cfu/g) represent the subdominant microflora. The intestinal microflora of Creole goats showed minimum values for all the populations studied in the period 90-180 days of the goats' life. Coliforms, enterococci and lactobacilli had their minimum at 180 days while bifidobacteria and total anaerobes presented their minimum levels at 90 and 120 days, respectively. The coliform population decreased in the first 120 days and then recovered toward 270 days but never reached the initial value. The density of enterococci diminished gradually, reaching a minimum in the second month; on day 270, the population of enterococci had stabilized at values 10 times smaller than the initial value. The growth curve of total anaerobes was constant during the first 2 months, and then diminished during the 3rd and 4th month, returning to the initial value by the 5th month. The change in bifidobacteria density was characterized, for the first 5 months, by maximum and minimum. The time between the transition from a non ruminant to a ruminant digestion process usually represents the period of high vulnerability to gastro-intestinal disturbances in young ruminants. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.