We conducted a Monte Carlo Risk Assessment (MCRA) to assess the variability of existing empirical equations to predict dry matter intake (DMI, Table 1) for weaned Saanen goats. Specifically, we generated probability distribution functions (PDF) for each variable used by these equations using @Risk 7.5 and the Spearman correlations among them. The PDF were obtained using an evaluation database: 498 observations from 4 studies with Saanen goats (14.4 to 48.7 kg BW). The MCRA simulation had 5,000 iterations and used the Latin hypercube sampling approach. Then, for each empirical equation, we compared the proportion of simulated DMI values within the 90% confidence intervals (CI₉₀) of the observed DMI distribution (0.65 to 1.48, mean of 1.03 ± 0.255 kg/d; Table 1). It is worthy to point out that the statistic overlap does not guarantee high correlation between predictive equations, but it indicates likelihood of prediction similarity and variation given the input variables. Thus, extreme DMI values (CI₉₀;Table 1) reflect poor predictive ability in distinct production scenarios of Eq. 1, 3, 4, and 5. Considering the overlap, the empirical equation is ranked from the greatest to lowest as Eq. 2, 4, 1, 5, and 3. Table 1. Empirical equations commonly used to predict DMI for weaned goats

Equation1	Source	DMI2(mean±SD [CI90])	Overlap2
1: DMI(g/d)=1748.7–495.7×DE+18.4×BW+3.0×ADG	Lu and Potchoiba (1990)	0.802±0.219[-0.465–1.76]	77.8
2: DMI(g/d)=(76.7×BW0.75)×(–0.666+1.333×ME–0.266×ME2)	AFRC (1998)	1.01±0.199[0.126–1.59]	97.0
3: DMI(kg/d)=–0.0047±0.03072+(0.9637±0.04928×MEp/ME)–(70.27±23.534×ADG/BW)+ (38.71±12.224× ADG/BW0.75)–(243.4±121.73×(ADG/BW0.75)2)	Luo et al. (2004)	0.738±0.187[0.024–2.53]	67.4
4: DMI(g/d)=–0.308+0.0435×BW+0.00370×ADG	INRA (2007)	1.14±0.312[-0.337–1.97]	80.1
5: DMI(kg/d)={0.04×BW×(BW/MW)×[1.7–(BW/MW)]}×[1.0–1.7×(0.8–DMdig)]	NRC (2007)	1.30±0.244[-0.047–2.05]	74.6

¹DE = digestible energy, kcal/gDM; BW = body weight, kg; MW = mature BW (considered values reported by Almeida et al., 2016), kg; ME = metabolizable energy, Mcal/kgDM (eq.3) or MJ/kgDM (eq.4); q_m = metabolizability; MEp = predicted ME requirements, MJ/d; ADG = average daily gain, g/d; DMdig = DM digestibility, 0-1. ²Predicted DMI, in kg/d or overlap % using the MCRA.