Intake of Spineless Cladodes of Opuntia ficus-indica During Late Pregnancy Improves Progeny Performance in Underfed Sheep.

Venancio Cuevas Reyes,Antonio Gonzalez-Bulnes,Manuel De Jesus Flores Najera,Juan Manuel Vazquez Garcia,Cesar A Rosales Nieto,Graeme B Martin,Francisco Santiago Hernandez,César A Meza-Herrera,Morteza Hosseini-Ghaffari,Jorge Urrutia Morales,Alfonso Chay-Canul

doi:10.3390/ani10060995

Abstract

Simple SummaryPlants in the Opuntia genus are abundant and can be used as a feed supplement because they are highly digestible and can provide water and energy. We fed sheep during late gestation with alfalfa (Control), Opuntia (Opuntia) or protein-enriched Opuntia (E-Opuntia) and measured milk yield and postnatal growth in the progeny. Birth weight did not differ among treatments (p > 0.05) but progeny from E-Opuntia grew faster (p < 0.01) and were heavier at weaning (p < 0.05), despite the fact that Control ewes produced more milk (p < 0.05). Feeding ewes with Opuntia (protein enriched or not) during the last third of gestation is an option for reducing production costs in underfed females managed under extensive conditions in arid and semiarid regions.The present study tested whether feeding ewes during the last third of pregnancy with cladodes of Opuntia (untreated or protein-enriched), as an alternative to alfalfa hay, would improve milk yield as well as the pre- and post-natal growth of their lambs. Sixty mature Rambouillet ewes and their progeny were randomly allocated among three nutritional treatments: (i) Control, fed alfalfa; (ii) Opuntia, fed untreated cladodes; (iii) E-Opuntia, fed protein-enriched cladodes (pre-treated with urea and ammonium sulphate). Birth weight did not differ among treatments (p > 0.05) but Control ewes produced more milk than both groups of Opuntia-fed ewes (p < 0.05). However, milk yield was not related to the growth of the progeny (p > 0.05) because lambs from E-Opuntia-fed ewes grew faster (p < 0.01) and were heavier at weaning (p < 0.05) than lambs from the other two groups. We conclude that Opuntia (with or without protein enrichment) can be used as an alternative to alfalfa hay for feeding ewes during the last third of pregnancy and therefore reduce production costs under extensive conditions in arid and semiarid regions. Moreover, protein-enriched Opuntia appears to improve postnatal lamb growth.

Highlights

The breeding of small ruminants is often the principal economic output in the arid and semiarid regions of the world
Feeding ewes during the last third of pregnancy with Opuntia, with or without protein enrichment, did not improve lamb birth weight or ewe milk yield above the levels seen with alfalfa hay
The E-Opuntia treatment accelerated postnatal growth and led to a heavier weight at weaning, compared to feeding either alfalfa or untreated Opuntia. These were the only benefits provided by protein enrichment of Opuntia cladodes, perhaps because the protein content remained relatively low [32]

Summary

Introduction

The breeding of small ruminants is often the principal economic output in the arid and semiarid regions of the world. Animals raised under these conditions depend solely on the forage resources from these usually degraded rangelands, and generally do not receive any nutritional supplementation [1,2]. Opuntia spp. offer a high water content, high digestibility and significant amounts of energy [7,8]. Opuntia adapts to poor-quality soils, withstands water shortages and high temperatures [11,12], and is widely distributed across Latin America, South Africa and the Mediterranean region [10,13]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion