Feeding: All kids were fed ad libitum on commercial pellets at 09:00 h after discarding the refusals from theprevious day. Refusals were removed, weighed, sampled for DM determination and then discarded. The feedingperiod lasted for 82 days during which DM consumption and kid weight data were recorded weekly; kid weight wasrecorded after 12 h fasting and before feeding in the morning.