Lay Summary This experiment examined body composition changes in lactating Saanen dairy goats using body weight, body condition score, morphological measurements, body mass index, and dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) across four stages of lactation; early, mid, late, and post-drying off (dry). The results demonstrated that although body weight and body condition score increased over the course of lactation, DEXA-derived fat mass decreased throughout lactation and increased from late lactation to the dry period. The greatest changes in fat were measured in the sternal region, suggesting that it is an area of key fat mobilisation and deposition, which is potentially critical for sustaining lactation and should be accounted for in assessment of body composition in goats. The experiment also highlighted that body mass index had stronger correlations with DEXA derived measures of composition compared to body condition score, which is more traditionally used on-farm. This experiment represents the first use of DEXA to measure longitudinal changes in body composition in live, lactating goats.
Kirkham et al. (2026) studied this question.