Six Maltese goats were used to measure voluntary dry matter intake (DMI) at different physiological stages (70 and 130 days of pregnancy and 20 and 130 days of lactation) of alfalfa hay, annual forage crop hay, two different types of pasture hay, barley, maize, beet-pulps, chick-peas, broad-beans and lentil, offered in an unlimited amount. Within each physiological stage, individual DMI was measured for five consecutive days at 8:30, 10:30, 12:30, 14:30, 16:30, 18:30, 20:30 h. The results showed that the physiological stage modified the total DMI, the chemical and feed composition in the diet in each interval. In early pregnancy, about 70 per cent of the total DMI was consumed within the hours 14:30 and 16:30, while 25 per cent was consumed in the morning. In late pregnancy the DMI increased in the afternoon until 16:30, and again in the night. During lactation, goats showed a tendency to ingest the same percentage of feeds for each interval.