Effects of the fat-tailed ewes' body condition scores at lambing on their metabolic profile and offspring growth.

Yathreb Yagoubi,Naziha Atti

doi:10.5194/aab-63-183-2020

Abstract

This experiment aimed to evaluate the effect of body condition score (BCS) of fat-tailed Barbarine ewes at lambing on their metabolic profile around parturition and lamb's growth. The experiment was carried out on 69 Barbarine ewes, divided into three groups according to BCS, which were inferior to 2, between 2 and 2.5 and superior to 2.5 for the thin, middle and fat group, respectively. Along the trial, all groups received the same dietary treatment based on hay, pasture and concentrate.Birth weight (Bi-W), weights at 30 and 70 d (W30 and W70) and average daily gains (ADGs) of lambs were recorded. Metabolites were determined at late pregnancy and at the beginning of lactation. Ewes' BCS at lambing had no effect on lambs' Bi-W (), which was 3.8, 3.8 and 3.9 kg, respectively, for thin, middle and fat groups. However, W30, W70 and ADG increased with a mother's BCS. A positive correlation between lamb growth parameters and ewe body weight and BCS at weaning was recorded. Energetic metabolites (glucose and triglycerides) and proteic metabolites (creatinine, total protein and urea) were similar among groups according to BCS but significantly different between pregnancy and lactation stages except triglycerides and urea. In conclusion, BCS may be used as dietary management tool during ewe lactation. With the transition from pregnancy to lactation, the content of some metabolites has changed irrespective of BCS; this aspect needs more investigations.

Highlights

The concept of body condition reflects the amount of body reserves, fat, in the living animal (Kenyon et al, 2014)
Ewes’ body weight (BW) and body condition score (BCS) decreased between lambing and weaning (Figs. 1, 2 and 3) until reaching low body scores, being a reflection of body reserve mobilization to cover the lamb’s needs along the suckling period (Chilliard et al, 1998)
During this period between lambing and weaning, the body weight lost was 2.8 kg in both middle and fat groups, being significantly (p = 0.01) higher for them than thin ones (Table 3), which decreased their body weight slightly (1.1 kg), seeing that they are meagre and they have no reserves to mobilize. This significant decrease in BW, LS and CS during the suckling stage is the consequence of the physiological state, which is common for all females of different mammalian species and breeds who lose body reserves in the beginning of lactation (Chilliard et al, 1998; Beker et al, 2010)

Summary

Introduction

The concept of body condition reflects the amount of body reserves, fat, in the living animal (Kenyon et al, 2014). It was shown that females of different mammalian species such as sheep and goats mobilize their reserves in some critical physiological stages (pregnancy and lactation) in order to cover foetus needs and maintain their milk production (Chilliard et al, 1998). They resort to mobilizing their reserves in the case of feed shortage, especially in dry areas, to meet their energy requirement and survive (Chilliard et al, 1998; Atti et al, 2004; Caldeira et al, 2007). A body condition score proper to fat-tailed sheep breeds has been developed (Atti and Bocquier, 2007)

Methods

Results

Conclusion