Abstract
Blood samples were drawn at weekly intervals from 24 pregnant and 16 nonpregnant Lincoln and Southdown ewes kept over winter in a sheltered, unheated yard. Samples were analyzed for plasma glucose, free fatty acid (FFA) and ketone concentrations. Records were kept of mean daily air temperature and individual food intake.Air temperature (7-day mean) ranged from −3 to −32 C. Air temperature had no effect on food intake, FFA or ketone concentrations. However, glucose concentrations did rise with increasing cold stress. Acute starvation induced large increases in plasma FFA and ketone concentrations and a fall in plasma glucose. The increases were most marked in the pregnant animals, ketones rising, on average, from 2.5 to 31 mg/100 ml. Food intake and plasma glucose concentrations in late pregnancy fell below values recorded in nonpregnant sheep. Ketones and FFAs were slightly higher. Differences were small compared with those observed after fasting.The results are discussed in relation to the effects of different management practices on the pathogenesis of pregnancy toxemia in sheep.
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