Table 3 Effects of gestation supplement treatment and parity on conditions of Alpine goats near the end of gestation and start of the lactation phase.

Item²	Source of variation¹			GS		SEM	Parity
Item²	GS	PY	GS*PY	Moderate	High	SEM	1	2	SEM
11 days before birth
BW (kg)	0.009	< 0.001	0.381	72.0^a	77.5^b	1.44	68.7^a	80.7^b	1.45
BCS	0.001	0.044	0.289	3.04^a	3.22^b	0.037	3.18^b	3.08^a	0.037
BMI-
WH	0.002	< 0.001	0.073	16.4^a	17.7^b	0.29	16.0^a	18.1^b	0.29
WP	0.002	< 0.001	0.127	13.0^a	14.0^b	0.22	12.7^a	14.4^b	0.22
GH	0.011	< 0.001	0.103	12.5^a	13.1^b	0.02	12.3^a	13.3^b	0.177
GP	0.022	< 0.001	0.219	9.93^a	10.39^b	0.140	9.73^a	10.59^b	0.139
Day of birth
BW (kg)	0.224	< 0.001	0.610	62.6	64.9	1.32	58.4^a	69.1^b	1.32
Litter size	0.541	0.521	0.752	1.87	2.39	0.591	1.86	2.41	0.582
Kid weight (kg)	0.367	0.002	0.875	3.72	3.59	0.097	3.44^a	3.87^b	0.096
Litter weight (kg)	0.265	0.021	0.637	6.55	7.13	0.366	6.23^a	7.45^b	0.364
Decrease in BW (kg)
Total	0.001	0.152	0.375	9.4^a	12.6^b	0.67	10.3	11.7	0.67
Total minus litter weight	0.001	0.832	0.420	2.8^a	5.4^b	0.53	4.1	4.2	0.53
Day 1
BW (kg)	0.146	< 0.001	0.826	60.9	63.6	1.32	57.5^a	66.9^b	1.32
BCS	0.915	0.351	0.935	2.98	2.98	0.043	3.01	2.95	0.043
BMI-
WH	0.923	< 0.001	0.452	14.7	14.7	0.32	13.8^a	15.6^b	0.31
WP	0.746	< 0.001	0.426	11.9	12.0	0.20	11.2^a	12.6^b	0.20
GH	0.284	0.001	0.357	11.3	11.0	0.20	10.7^a	11.7^b	0.20
GP	0.402	< 0.001	0.321	9.12	8.97	0.125	8.70^a	9.39^b	0.125

¹GS = gestation supplement treatment; PY = parity (1 or 2 = ≥ 2).
²Day 1 = start of study at an average of 3 days after birth; decrease in BW = difference between values at 11 days before and at birth; BCS = body condition score (1–5); BMI = body mass index; Wither = height at withers; Hook = point of the shoulder to hook bone; Pin = point of the shoulder to pin bone; Heart = heart girth; BMI-WH = BW/(Wither × Hook) [g/cm²]; BMI-WP = BW/(Wither × Pin) [g/cm²]; BMI-GH = BW/(Heart × Hook) [g/cm²]; BMI-WP = BW/(Heart × Pin) [g/cm²].
^a,bMeans in a row within grouping without a common superscript letter differ (P < 0.05).

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