Effects of body condition score and nutrition in lactation on twin-bearing ewe and lamb performance to weaning

Corner-Thomas, René A.; St, Morris; Back, P. J.; Ridler, Anne; Stafford, K. J.; Kenyon, P. R.

doi:10.1080/00288233.2014.987401

Cited by 25 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The nutritional treatments had no effect on lamb birth weight. This matches similar studies which have found no or minimal impact of nutritional treatments during very late pregnancy [ 4 , 9 , 14 ]. It is also acknowledged that the nutritional treatments likely had insufficient time for any effect to occur.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Morris and Kenyon [ 10 ] also reported offering ewes swards of 4 cm or 8 cm (equivalent to 1,200 and 2,000 kg DM/ha, respectively) during lactation had no effect on ewe feed intake or the resulting lamb weaning weight. In contrast, Corner-Thomas et al [ 9 ] found that lambs born to ewes offered pasture masses equivalent to the unrestricted treatment (1,500 to 1,700 kg DM/ha) were slightly heavier (1.9 kg) at weaning than those born to ewes offered pasture masses equivalent to the moderate treatment (1,200 to 1,400 kg DM/ha). Therefore, combined these data suggest over the range of 1,200 to 2,000 kg DM/ha there is little to no benefit of additional pasture mass on lamb weaning weight.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…The cause for this greater rate of survival is unclear and unexpected. Previous studies have reported no effect of nutritional treatments during late pregnancy on lamb survival [ 4 , 9 , 10 , 14 , 22 ]. In the present study, total litter weight at weaning was greater in the Moderate treatment (~5 kg) than the Unrestricted treatment, which was driven by the greater lamb survival.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This study is part of a series of studies aimed at determining optimum perennial ryegrass and white clover feeding levels throughout pregnancy and lactation. Therefore, it followed a similar experimental design to that used in the series, building on previous findings [ 3 , 4 , 9 , 14 ]. The study included 177 twin-bearing Romney mixed-age ewes (3 to 5 years of age).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Traditionally farmers place ewes in lambing paddocks within one to two weeks of the start of the lambing period. Corner-Thomas et al [ 9 ] found lambs born to ewes offered pasture masses of 1,500 to 1,700 kg DM/ha from day 141 of pregnancy and throughout lactation were heavier at weaning than those born to ewes offered pasture masses of 1,200 to 1,400 kg DM/ha. This suggests an advantage of greater pasture masses in lactation, however, this conflicts with Morris and Kenyon [ 10 ] who reported no difference in ewe feed intake and lamb weaning weight with pasture masses of 1,200 and 2,000 kg DM/ha.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The potential interaction between ewe body condition score and nutrition during very late pregnancy and lactation on the performance of twin-bearing ewes and their lambs

Cranston

Kenyon

Corner-Thomas

et al. 2017

Asian-Australas J Anim Sci

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Objective: The present study aimed to determine the impact of ewe body condition score (BCS) (over a range of 2.0 to 3.0) and nutritional treatments (consisting of differing herbage masses) during very late pregnancy and lactation and their potential interaction on the performance of twin-bearing ewes and their lambs to weaning. Methods: On day 142 of pregnancy, twin-bearing ewes with a BCS of 2.0, 2.5, or 3.0 were allocated to a "Moderate' or 'Unrestricted' nutritional treatment until day 95 of lactation (weaning). The nutritional treatments aimed to achieve average herbage masses of 1,200 to 1,300 kg dry matter (DM)/ha (Moderate) and 1,500 to 1,800 kg DM/ha (Unrestricted). Results: There were no three-way interactions between ewe BCS group, nutritional treatment and time for any ewe or lamb parameter. The nutritional treatments had no effect (p>0.05) on lamb birth or weaning weight. Lambs born to Moderate ewes had greater survival and total litter weight at weaning (p<0.05). Regardless of BCS group, Unrestricted treatment ewes had greater body condition and back-fat depth at weaning than Moderate treatment ewes (p<0.05). Ewes of BCS 2.0 group reared lighter lambs to weaning (p<0.05) and tended to have a lower total litter weight (p = 0.06) than BCS 3.0 group ewes. Conclusion: This study suggests farmers should aim to have all ewes with a BCS of 2.5 or 3 in late pregnancy for optimal lamb weaning performance. Furthermore, there is no benefit to lamb production of offering ewes pasture masses >1,200 kg DM/ha during very late pregnancy and lactation.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

The potential interaction between ewe body condition score and nutrition during very late pregnancy and lactation on the performance of twin-bearing ewes and their lambs

Cranston

Kenyon

Corner-Thomas

et al. 2017

Asian-Australas J Anim Sci

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Vicia sativa as a grazed forage for lactating ewes in a temperate grassland production system

Thomas

Fychan

McCalman

et al. 2022

Food and Energy Security

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Here, we present research to overcome a current limitation of temperate grassland systems to provide home‐grown, early season protein for lactating ewes—a period of high protein demand in these systems. Traditionally used as a forage crop, there is renewed interest in common vetch (Vicia sativa) due to its ability to grow during low temperatures over‐winter compared to other legumes. We hypothesised that vetch would support the sustainable development of lamb production by reducing reliance on purchased protein typically used in grass‐only systems. A grazing study determined the performance of early lactation ewes and their twin lambs grazing either an Italian ryegrass (IRG) sward or a vetch/IRG (V/IRG) mix over a six‐week period. The experiment comprised replicate plots of two treatments, with 8 ewes, each rearing twin lambs, grazing each plot. Plots were divided into sub‐plots using electric fencing and rotationally grazed. Findings showed i) ewes selectively grazed vetch as evidenced by a drop in vetch percentage by, on average, 10% units between the start and end of grazing; ii) vetch re‐grew when rotationally grazed with a 21– 28‐d rest period, with vetch percentage of the sward increasing 10% units; and iii) grazing lactating ewes on V/IRG improved combined ewe and lamb weights by five weeks post‐lambing but longer term effects were limited by vetch availability. Furthermore, there was a tendency for lamb live‐weight gains to be higher for lambs whose dams grazed on vetch/IRG compared to IRG swards (573 versus 563 g ewe−1 d−1, respectively, p = 0.056). As the need for alternatives to imported protein feed increases, this research demonstrates how vegetative common vetch, as part of a mixed sward, has the potential to provide a home‐produced winter‐grown protein feed in temperate grasslands.

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Interrelationship between late gestational ewe factor and early life lamb factors in semi-arid tropical region

Swarnkar

Prince

et al. 2018

Trop Anim Health Prod

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The limitation in feed availability in the semi-arid region during the lean period can result in a variation of the body condition, body weight of pregnant ewe which in turn may affect the lamb birth weight, colostrum immunoglobulin, growth hormone (GH), and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). Therefore, the present study was initiated to assess the interrelationship between late gestational ewe factor and early life lamb factors in the semi-arid tropical region. For this purpose, 83 Malpura and 45 Avikaline pregnant ewes were selected and their body condition score (BCS) at late gestation, body weight at lambing, and birth weight of lambs was recorded. The BCS of ewes in late gestation had significant (P < 0.001) positive correlation (r = 0.465) with the birth weight of lambs. The body weight at lambing was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in single-lamber ewes as compared to twin-bearing ewes. The plasma IGF-1 of lamb increased significantly (P < 0.05) with the increase of BCS of ewe at the late gestation as well as body weight after lambing. The colostrum of twin-lamb producing ewes had higher (P < 0.05) IgG content than single-lamb producing ewes. The concentration of IGF-1 was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in single-born lamb as compared to twin-born lamb. Based on the results of the present study, it is to conclude that higher BCS at late gestation and higher body weight of ewes at lambing is desirable for producing lambs with a higher birth weight having higher growth potential as well as chances of survival.

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Effects of body condition score and nutrition in lactation on twin-bearing ewe and lamb performance to weaning

Cited by 25 publications

References 37 publications

The potential interaction between ewe body condition score and nutrition during very late pregnancy and lactation on the performance of twin-bearing ewes and their lambs

The potential interaction between ewe body condition score and nutrition during very late pregnancy and lactation on the performance of twin-bearing ewes and their lambs

Vicia sativa as a grazed forage for lactating ewes in a temperate grassland production system

Interrelationship between late gestational ewe factor and early life lamb factors in semi-arid tropical region

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