Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T20:55:33.849Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effects of nutrition in late pregnancy on subsequent milk production in Ewes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

T. T. Treacher
T. T. Treacher
Affiliation:
Grassland Research Institute, Hurley, Maidenhead, Berkshire
Get access

Summary

1. Scottish Half-bred ewes carrying twin foetuses were fed individually to make live-weight gains in the last six weeks of pregnancy of (1) 20%, (2) 10% and (3) 0% of their live weight in week 14 of pregnancy. In lactation the ewes were fed ad libitum. The lambs were removed 12 to 16 hr after parturition and the ewes were machine-milked twice daily for the first six weeks of lactation.

2. Total birth weights per ewe of twin lambs from the treatments were (1) 10·10 kg, (2) 9·44 kg and (3) 8·18 kg and differed significantly.

3. The level and pattern of voluntary intake in lactation did not differ significantly between the treatments. Total dry-matter intakes in the six weeks of lactation were (1) 121·9 kg (2) 105·9 kg and (3) 109·5 kg.

4. The pregnancy treatments affected the level of milk production and the shape of lactation curves. The total yields in the first six weeks of lactation were (1) 58·8 kg, (2) 43·5 kg and (3) 26·9 kg. Higher contents of fat and protein and the lower content of lactose in the milk from treatment-3 ewes on days 1 and 3 of lactation indicated a slower onset of lactation in these ewes. Between days 7 and 35 of lactation the contents of fat and SNF were lowest on treatment 3 but the differences were not significant.

5. The live-weight changes in lactation, which were in inverse order to the gains in late pregnancy, were (1) 3·4 kg, (2) 5·5 kg and (3) 9·5 kg.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , February 1970 , pp. 23 - 36
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1970

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Agricultural Research Council. 1965. The Nutrient Requirements of Farm Livestock. No. 2 Ruminants. Agricultural Research Council, London.Google Scholar
Ashton, W. M., Owen, J. B. and Ingleton, J. W. 1964. A study of the composition of Clun Forest ewes’ milk. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 63: 85–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Association Of Official Agricultural Chemists. 1960. Official Methods of Analysis, 10th edition, pp. 222–224.Google Scholar
Blaxter, K. L. 1944. Experiments on the use of home-grown foods for milk production. 2. The effect of feeding concentrate and bulky foods prior to calving on subsequent milk production. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 34: 27–34.Google Scholar
British Standards Institution. 1955. Gerber method for the determination of fat in milk and milk products. Br. Stand. Instn Rep. 696, Pt. 2, p. 7.Google Scholar
Denamur, R. 1964. Les acides nucleiques et les nucleotides libre de la glande mammaire pendant la lactogenese et la galactopoiese. Proc. 2nd int. Congr. Endoc. pp. 434–462.Google Scholar
Duncan, D. B. 1955. Multiple range and multiple F tests. Biometrics 11: 1–42.Google Scholar
Foot, A. S., Line, C. and Rowland, S. J. 1963. The effect of prepartum feeding of heifers on milk composition. J. Dairy Res. 30: 403–409.Google Scholar
Guyer, P. Q. and Dyer, A. J. 1954. Study of factors affecting sheep production. Res. Bull. Mo. agric. Exp. Stn, No. 558.Google Scholar
Hadjtpieris, G. and Holmes, W. 1966. Studies on feed intake and feed utilization by sheep. 1. The voluntary feed intake of dry, pregnant and lactating ewes. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 66: 217–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hadjipieris, G., Jones, J. G. W., Wimble, R. H. and Holmes, W. 1966. Studies on feed intake and feed utilization by sheep. 2. The utilization of feed by ewes. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 66: 341–349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hancock, J. 1953. Studies in monozygotic cattle twins. 9. The value of identical twins in short term trials. N.Z. Jl Sci. Technol. A 35: 97–116.Google Scholar
Lamming, G. E. 1966. Nutrition and the endocrine system. Nutr. Abstr. Rev. 36: 1–13.Google Scholar
Linzell, J. L. 1963. Some effects of denervating and transplanting mammary glands. Q. Jl exp. Physiol. 48: 34–60.Google Scholar
McCance, I. and Alexander, G. 1959. The onset of lactation in the merino ewe and its modification by nutritional factors. Aust. J. agric. Res. 10: 699–719.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, R. W. 1966. Genetic factors affecting the milk intake of lambs. Aust. J. agric. Res. 17: 191–199.Google Scholar
Peart, J. N. 1967. The effect of different levels of nutrition during late pregnancy on the subsequent milk production of Blackface ewes and on the growth of their lambs. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 68: 365–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, R. L. and Hinks, N. T. 1962. Studies on the carbohydrate metabolism of sheep. 17. Feed requirements and voluntary feed intake in late pregnancy with particular reference to the prevention of hypoglycaemia and hyperketonaemia. Aust. J. agric. Res. 13: 1092–1111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russel, A. J. F., Doney, J. M. and Reid, R. L. 1967. The use of biochemical parameters in controlling nutritional state in pregnant ewes, and the effect of under-nourishment during pregnancy on lamb birthweight. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 68: 351–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russel, A. J. F. 1967. Nutrition of the pregnant ewe. Rep. Hill Fmg Res. Org. 1967, pp. 59–68.Google Scholar
Spedding, C. R. W. 1962. Modern trends in animal health and husbandry. The agricultural ecology of sheep grazing. Br. vet. J. 118: 461–481.Google Scholar
Srtvastava, L. S. and Turner, C. W. 1966. Restricted feed consumption and its effect on mammary gland growth. J. Dairy Sci. 49: 1050–1052.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swanson, E. W. and Hinton, S. A. 1962. Effects of adding concentrates to ad libitum roughage feeding in the dry period. J. Dairy Sci. 45: 48–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sykes, J. F., Wrenn, T. R. and Hall, S. R. 1948. The effect of inanition on mammary gland development and lactation. J. Nutr. 35: 467–476.Google Scholar
Thomson, W. and Aitken, F. C. 1959. Diet in relation to reproduction and the viability of the young. Part 2. Sheep: World survey of reproduction and review of feeding. Tech. Commun. Commonw. Bur. Anim. Nutr., No. 20.Google Scholar
Thomson, W. and Thomson, A. M. 1953. Effect of diet on milk yield of the ewe and growth of her lamb. Br. J. Nutr. 7: 263–274.Google Scholar
Tilley, J. M. A. and Terry, R. A. 1963. A two-stage technique for the in vitro digestion of forage crops. J. Br. Grassld Soc. 18: 104–111.Google Scholar
Treacher, T. T. 1967. Effects of nutrition on milk production in the ewe. Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. Reading.Google Scholar
Wallace, L. R. 1948. Growth of lambs before and after birth in relation to the level of nutrition. Part 1. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 38: 93–153.Google Scholar