Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T19:31:03.098Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Responses of lactating ewes, offered fresh herbage indoors and when grazing, to supplements containing differing protein concentrations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

P. D. Penning ,
R. J. Orr  and
T. T. Treacher
P. D. Penning
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute for Grassland and Animal Production, Hurley, Maidenhead SL6 5LR
R. J. Orr
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute for Grassland and Animal Production, Hurley, Maidenhead SL6 5LR
T. T. Treacher
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute for Grassland and Animal Production, Hurley, Maidenhead SL6 5LR
Get access

Abstract

The responses to supplements differing in protein concentration and degradability were measured in lactating ewes and their twin lambs when offered fresh ryegrass either cut or grazed. Housed Scottish Halfbred ewes, offered fresh-cut grass ad libitum received no supplement (N) or supplements with barley and maize starch (B); barley and soya-bean meal (S); barley, soya-bean meal and fish meal (SF) or barley and fish meal (F) in weeks 2 to 7 of lactation. By feeding supplements, herbage organic-matter (OM) intake was depressed (2·00 v. 1·74 kg/day). Mean daily milk yield was increased when protein supplements were given and, because milk protein concentration was higher for supplement F and similar for all other diets, mean daily milk protein output increased with increasing fish meal in the diet. Milk yields were N 2·55, B 2·59, S 3·17, SF 3·15 and F 3·17 kg/day. Total milk solids and fat concentrations were also higher for S, SF and F than N or B. Lambs from ewes supplemented with protein grew faster and the ewes generally lost less weight and body condition compared with unsupplemented ewes.

At pasture, Masham ewes grazed at herbage allowances of either 4 (L) or 10 (H) kg OM per day and received no supplement (N) or supplements B or F, for the first 6 weeks of lactation and then, in weeks 7 to 12, grazed without supplements. For NL, BL, FL, NH, BH and FH respectively lamb growth rates from birth to 6 weeks were 235, 242, 274, 267, 286 and 302 g/day; from birth to 12 weeks were 210, 209, 249, 255, 275 and 287 g/day and losses in ewe body-condition score from birth to 12 weeks were 1·28, 1·22, 1·06, 0·97, 0·62 and 0·76.

It is concluded that protein supplements increased milk yield and lamb growth rates and that the response tended to be greater with fish meal.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 46 , Issue 3 , June 1988 , pp. 403 - 415
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1988

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. 1984. The Nutrient Requirements of Ruminant Livestock. Supplement No. 1. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Slough.Google Scholar
Beever, D. E., Dhanoa, M. S., Losada, H. R., Evans, R. T., Cammell, S. B. and France, J. 1986. The effect of forage species and stage of harvest on the processes of digestion occurring in the rumen of cattle. British Journal of Nutrition 56: 439–454.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boyazoglu, J. G. 1963. [Quantitative aspects of milk production by sheep.] Annales de Zootechnie 12: 237–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowan, R. T., Robinson, J. J., Greenhalgh, J. F. D. and Mchattie, I. 1979. Body composition changes in lactating ewes estimated by serial slaughter and deuterium dilution. Animal Production 29: 81–90.Google Scholar
Cowan, R. T., Robinson, J. J., McHattie, I. and Pennie, K. 1981. Effects of protein concentration in the diet on milk yield, change in body composition and the efficiency of utilization of body tissues for milk production in ewes. Animal Production 33: 111–120.Google Scholar
Doney, J. M., Peart, J. N., Smith, W. F. and Louda, F. 1979. A consideration of the techniques for estimation of milk yield by suckled sheep and a comparison of estimates obtained by two methods in relation to the effect of breed, level of production and stage of lactation. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 92: 123–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibb, M. J. and Treacher, T. T. 1978. The effect of herbage allowance on herbage intake and performance of ewes and their twin lambs grazing perennial ryegrass. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 90: 139–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gonzalez, J. S., Robinson, J. J. and McHattie, I. 1984. The effect of level of feeding on the response of lactating ewes to dietary supplements of fish meal. Animal Production 40: 39–45.Google Scholar
Gonzalez, J. S., Robinson, J. J., McHattie, I. and Fraser, C. 1982. The effect in ewes of source and level of dietary protein on milk yield, and the relationship between the intestinal supply of non-ammonia nitrogen and the production of milk protein. Animal Production 34: 31–40.Google Scholar
Hodgson, J., Tayler, J. C. and Lonsdale, C. R. 1971. The relationship between intensity of grazing and the herbage consumption and growth of calves. Journal of the British Grassland Society 26: 231–237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, R. J. and Cowper, L. J. 1975. A lightweight electronic device for measurement of grazing time of cattle. Tropical Grasslands 9: 235–241.Google Scholar
Macrae, J. C., Campbell, D. R. and Eadie, J. 1975. Changes in the biochemical composition of herbage upon freezing and thawing. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 84: 125–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mehrez, A. Z. and Ørskov, E. R. 1977. A study of the artificial fibre bag technique for determining the digestibility of feeds in the rumen. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 88: 645–650.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milne, J. A., Maxwell, T. J. and Souter, W. 1981. Effect of supplementary feeding and herbage mass on the intake and performance of grazing ewes in early lactation. Animal Production 32: 185–195.Google Scholar
Milne, J. A. and Mayes, R. W. 1986. Supplementary feeding and herbage intake. Hill Farming Research Organisation, Biennial Report 1984–85, pp. 115–119.Google Scholar
Penning, P. D. and Gibb, M. J. 1977. The use of corticosteroid to synchronise parturition in sheep. Veterinary Record 100: 491–492.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Penning, P. D., Hooper, G. E. and Treachlr, T. T. 1986. The effect of herbage allowance on intake and performance of ewes suckling twin lambs. Grass and Forage Science 41: 199–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, J. J., Fraser, C., Gill, J. C. and McHattie, I. 1974. The effect of dietary crude protein concentration and time of weaning on milk production and body-weight change in the ewe. Animal Production 19: 331–339.Google Scholar
Robinson, J. J., McHattie, I., Calderon Cortes, J. F. and Thompson, J. L. 1979. Further studies on the responses of lactating ewes to dietary protein. Animal Production 29: 257–269.Google Scholar
Rowell, J. G. and Walters, D. E. 1976. Analysing data with repeated observations on each experimental unit. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 87: 423–432.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russel, A. J. F., Doney, J. M. and Gunn, R. G. 1969. Subjective assessment of body fat in live sheep. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 72: 451–454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Soest, P. J. and Wine, R. H. 1967. Use of detergents in the analysis of fibrous feeds. IV. Determination of plant cell-wall constituents. Journal of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists 50: 50–55.Google Scholar
Young, N. E., Newton, J. E. and Orr, R. J. 1980. The effect of a cereal supplement during early lactation on the performance and intake of ewes grazing perennial ryegrass at three stocking rates. Grass and Forage Science 35: 197–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar