SUMMARYTwo experiments were done in Mexico (1992–93) to determine the response of goats to different periods of feed restriction on liveweight, organ weights and tissue composition. In each, the weight, body condition and daily dry matter intake (DM1) of two groups of 12 female, adult, non-lactating, non-pregnant, Nubian crossbred goats were recorded for 7 weeks (stabilization period; SP), to allow the animals to reach and maintain their liveweight and body condition. At the end of the SP the animals in Expt 1 (RP1) were feed restricted for 18 weeks and for 36 weeks in Expt 2 (RP2). Animals were divided into three groups receiving either 100 (FL1), 80 (FL2) or 60% (FL3) of the levels of DM1 previously observed. At the end of each experimental period all animals were slaughtered, carcass weights were recorded and viscerae were weighed.A sample of the soft tissues was chemically analysed. There were no significant changes in body condition in either experiment (P > 0·05). None of the feeding levels had an effect on carcass weight or the chemical composition of soft tissues (P > 0·05). Liver weights (as a proportion of slaughter weight) were significantly different among goats fed at different feeding levels in both experiments. The results of this study show the adaptation capacity of adult goats to medium and long term malnutrition, and the importance of the liver as a source for the generation of energy and for sustaining protein turnover. This could be especially important for goats grazing in arid and semiarid zones where dry periods can last for months and feed availability is therefore sometimes limited.