Awassi Ewe Lambs Research Articles

The impact of feeding corn dried distillers grains with solubles on milk yield and composition in lactating Awassi ewes and digestibility and N partitioning in Awassi ewe lambs

The effect of corn dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) on milk yield, milk composition and body weight (BW) and digestibility were evaluated by using lactating ewe (Exp. 1) and Awassi ewe lambs (Exp. 2). Dietary treatments were (1) no DDGS (CON), (2) 200 gkg−1 DDGS (DDGS200) or (3) 300 gkg−1 DDGS (DDGS300) of dietary dry matter (DM). In Exp. 1, 30 lactating Awassi ewes were randomly assigned to the corresponding diets. Nutrient intakes were determined daily throughout the experiment which lasted for 8 weeks. Body weights of ewes and lambs were measured on days 0, 28 and 56 of the study whilst milk yield and composition were recorded on days 18, 36 and 54. Ewe BW changes were similar amongst treatments. Ewes consuming the DDGS diet showed increased milk production (p<.045) over those provided the CON diet. Cost of diets and milk production reduced (p=.01) in DDGS-containing diets compared with the CON diet. In Exp. 2, 18 Awassi ewe lambs were randomly assigned into the same dietary treatments and fed their diets for 21 days. Digestibility of DM and ADF was lower (p<.017) for the CON diet than for the DDGS diets. Digestibility of CP and NDF increased (p<.036) in the DDGS200 diet than the CON diet. Results indicate DDGS has the potential to be included up to 300 gkg−1 of dietary DM of DDGS in Awassi ewes’ diets with no negative effects on production parameters whilst being cost effective.HighlightsCost of feed and milk production decreased in DDGS diets.Milk production increased in DDGS diets.Milk composition was similar among diets.

Effect of adding tallow on some production performance of Awassi ewe lambs

This experiment was conducted in animal felid/ University of Baghdad/ College of Agriculture/ Animal production from 9/11/2016 until 9/1/2017. Twelve growing Awassi ewes lambs weighted 29.13 ±1.50 kg and 8-10 month old were used in this study, the lambs were divided into three individual groups (4 animals/ group) receive the dietary treatments contain 0.2 and 4% tallow, animals were fed concentrate at 2.5% of body weight, Alfalfa hay was given ad libitum basis as the roughage, The results found that: No significant difference between groups in total and daily concentrate, roughage and total feed intake, However, final body weight not affected by the experimental diets, total and daily weight gain had higher values (p&lt;0.05) in diets containing 2 and 4% tallow, feed conversion efficiency improved significantly (P&lt;0.05) in 4% tallow diet compared to other groups. It can be concluded that added tallow to sheep diets improved some productive performance such as total and daily weight gain, feed conversion efficiency. Excess animal fats from human consumption can be used as an energy source in ruminants feeds. Thus benefiting from excess animal fats from human consumption as a source of energy in ruminants' rations.

&lt;b&gt;Productive and reproductive parameters in high and low growing Syrian Awassi lambs

ABSTRACT. The objective of this study was characterize some productive and reproductive parameters in Syrian Awassi ewe lambs during different age stages. Thirty Syrian Awassi ewe lambs aged around 3 months were divided equally into 2 groups, high and low growing to identify productive and reproductive parameters during different stages. Blood samples were collected to determine progesterone and leptin concentrations. Daily milk samples were collected to determine the average daily production. At puberty, average body weight of higher growing was higher (48.4 kg) than de crescimento low growing (42.8 kg). Average age at puberty was 359.5 and 394.9 days for high and low groups, respectively with no differences. Mating, lambing and fecundity rates were similar among groups. Progesterone concentration was very low and increased rapidly at puberty with a sharp increase during pregnancy, followed by a noticeable decrease post lambing. There were individual variations in leptin concentration with no clear trend in groups. Average leptin concentration at puberty was 2.42 and 2.50 ng mL-1 for higher and low groups, respectively with no difference. Average daily milk production was higher for the higher group (1.495 g day-1) compared to 1.077 g day-1 for low grups. Thus, the lambs growing alter produtive and reproductive parameters.

Calcium salts of long chain fatty acids in Awassi ewe lambs’ diet: Effects on nutrient intake, digestibility, and blood metabolites

Objective was to improve the growth of ewe lambs so that they could be mated in their first year. Twenty-four Awassi ewe lambs were randomly assigned to one of three treatments. Treatments were: no Ca-LCFA (CON; the basal diet), basal diet+50g/eweday (50Ca-LCFA) or basal diet+100g/eweday (100Ca-LCFA) calcium salts of long chain fatty acids (Ca-LCFA). Nutrient intakes were similar (P>0.05) among groups except for the ether extract (EE) and metabolizable energy (ME). Intake of EE was greater (P<0.05) for ewes fed the 50Ca-LCFA and 100Ca-LCFA diets compared to the CON group and was greater (P<0.05) for the 100Ca-LCFA group compared to the 50Ca-LCFA group. Intake of ME was greater (P<0.05) for ewes fed 100Ca-LCFA than ewes fed CON and 50Ca-LCFA diets. Digestibility of dry matter tended (P<0.06) to be greater for ewes fed the 100Ca-LCFA diet than to those fed the CON diet. Organic matter digestibility was greater (P<0.05) for the 100Ca-LCFA group than the CON group. Digestibility of neutral detergent fiber was greater (P<0.05) for ewes fed the 100Ca-LCFA than the CON group. Digestibility of acid detergent fiber was greater (P<0.05) for the 100Ca-LCFA group than the CON group. Digestibility of EE was greater (P<0.05) for ewe fed diets containing Ca-LCFA compared to the CON group. Average daily gain was not different (P>0.97) among groups. Calcium concentrations were the highest (P<0.05) for the 50Ca-LCFA group. Serum concentrations of cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were greater (P<0.05) in ewes fed Ca-LCFA than CON group. Results indicate that supplementation of Ca-LCFA did not improve the growth performance of replacement Awassi ewe lambs while it improved nutrients digestibility and increased serum concentrations of cholesterol and HDL.

The use of melatonin and progestagen–eCG to initiate reproductive activity in prepuberal Awassi ewe lambs

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of administering hormonal treatments (melatonin and progestagen/equine chronic gonadotropin (eCG)) on advancing puberty in Awassi ewe lambs. Fifty-one 6-month-old ewe lambs of similar body weights (around 28kg) were randomly assigned into four treatment groups; control (CON; n = 14), melatonin (MEL; n = 13), melatonin plus progestagen-eCG (MELPP; n = 11), and progestagen-eCG (PP; n = 13). Ewe lambs in the PP and MELPP groups were fitted with intravaginal progestagen sponges containing 60mg medroxyprogesterone acetate for 14days; 400IU eCG were administered to each of these ewe lambs on the day of sponge removal. Ewe lambs in the MEL and MELPP groups received subcutaneous melatonin implants (Regulin®, 18mg melatonin) 36days before sponge insertion. Hormonal treatment had no effect on ewe lamb body weight change. Estrous behavior was greater (p < 0.001) in the PP and MELPP groups than in the CON and MEL ewe lambs. The duration from ram introduction to onset of estrus was shorter (p < 0.05) in the CON, PP, and MELPP than in the MEL ewe lambs. The number of ewe lambs showing luteal activity was greater (p < 0.001) in the MELPP and PP than in the CON and MEL groups. Lambing rate from mating during the first cycle following ram introduction differed significantly (p < 0.01) among treatments being greater in the MELPP and PP than in the CON and MEL groups. Based on these results, it can be concluded that progestagen-eCG appears to be more effective than melatonin in inducing reproductive activity. However, the majority of ewe lambs in the current study either failed to cycle or stopped cycling following the induced estrus. Such failure in advancing puberty may be related to body weight of ewe lambs at the time of mating.

Sexual behaviour of yearling Awassi, Charollais × Awassi and Romanov × Awassi rams exposed to oestrousAwassi ewes

This study was conducted to evaluate the sexual performance of 10-month-old, ram lambs of different breed groups. Eight ram lambs each of Awassi (A), F1 CharollaisxAwassi (CA) and F1 RomanovxAwassi (RA) breed types were subjected to sexual performance tests by being individually exposed to two oestrous Awassi ewe lambs for four 20-min periods. Bouts of leg kicking and anogenital sniffing were similar among breed groups. Mounting frequency was greater (p<0.05) in RA than in A and CA ram lambs. Tail-raising was greater (p<0.05) and mating rate tended to be greater (p<0.10) in A than in RA and CA ram lambs. The number of mounts per tail-raising (efficiency) was influenced by breed group and test day (p<0.05). Awassi ram lambs maintained the best efficiency throughout the experiment. Efficiency in RA and CA ram lambs improved with each test day. Results of the present study indicate that RA ram lambs have greater mounting frequency than A and CA, while Awassi are more capable of mating with fat-tailed females than the CA and RA ram lambs.

Genetic aspects of puberty in Awassi ewes

Body weight at puberty (WP), age at puberty (AP), weaning weight (WW) and growth rate from weaning to puberty (GR) in Awassi ewe lambs were studied. Average age of Awassi ewe lambs at first estrus was 278.9±6.3 days, their average body weight was 30.0±0.2 kg and represents 61% of adult body weight. Heritability estimates for AP and WP were 0.35±0.06 and 0.26±0.08, respectively, and indicate that improvement through selection would be effective. Genetic and phenotypic correlations between (WP) and (AP) were −0.65 and −0.37, respectively. Genetic and phenotypic correlations between AP and each WW and GR indicate that selection on the basis of WW or/and GR would also result in genetic improvement for AP. The same results have also been shown with WP. Genetic progress in WP and AP could be 0.27 kg more and 6.03 d less per generation through mass selection. The conclusion from this work is that genetic improvement, in addition to better feeding and management, offers the opportunity to increase output from existing resources through breeding from ewe lambs, extending production life of the ewe, and shortening the generation interval, thus accelerating genetic improvement.

Pituitary response to GnRH and ovariectomy in Booroola-Awassi and Awassi ewe lambs

Booroola-Awassi ewe lambs were heterozygous (F+) for a major gene F, influencing their ovulation rate, while Awassi lambs were non-carriers (++). Basal plasma FSH concentration (mean +/- s.e.m.) in Booroola-Awassi ewe lambs at 4 weeks of age was significantly higher than in Awassi lambs of the same age (5.06 +/- 0.60 and 2.04 +/- 0.32 ng/ml respectively; P less than 0.001). After GnRH administration, FSH increased from 3.89 +/- 1.10 to 10.58 +/- 1.30 ng/ml in Booroola-Awassi (N = 6) and from 1.87 +/- 0.29 to 4.64 +/- 0.33 ng/ml in Awassi (N = 6) ewe lambs (P less than 0.05). Ovariectomy caused an increase in plasma FSH in Booroola-Awassi (N = 4) and Awassi (N = 4) ewe lambs. At 1 week after ovariectomy plasma FSH increased from 5.96 +/- 1.02 to 7.06 +/- 1.05 ng/ml in F+ and from 1.67 +/- 1.06 to 5.21 +/- 0.66 ng/ml in ++ ewe lambs, suggesting a stronger negative feed-back effect exerted by the ovaries of Awassi lambs. At 15 weeks after ovariectomy FSH values were similar in Booroola-Awassi (18.28 +/- 1.96 ng/ml) and Awassi (16.07 +/- 0.70 ng/ml) lambs. Although the overall pattern of pituitary response to ovariectomy was similar in the F+ and ++ ewe lambs, Booroola-Awassi lambs had small ovaries (132.5 +/- 24.9 mg) and follicular development did not proceed beyond the preantral stage in 3/4 animals, and Awassi lambs had large ovaries (600.0 +/- 233.9 mg) (P less than 0.05) with many preantral and antral follicles.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Plasma FSH levels and ovarian response to PMSG in ewe lambs of related genotypes that differ in their prolificacy

Tonic plasma FSH levels at 4, 6 and 8 weeks of age were determined in 32 Finn × Awassi, 36 Assaf (East-Friesian × Awassi) and 23 Awassi ewe lambs. The prolificacy (No. of lambs born/ ewe lambed) of these genotypes is 1.85, 1.55 and 1.20, respectively. FSH plasma levels (ng/ml, mean ± s.e.m.) at 4 weeks were 4.1 ± 0.4, 2.8 ± 0.3 and 1.7 ± 0.4; at 6 weeks, 4.5 ± 0.5, 2.3 ± 0.5 and 1.9 ± 0.6; and at 8 weeks, 3.1 ± 0.3, 2.1 ± 0.3 and 3.3 ± 0.4, for the Finn × Awassi, Assaf, and Awassi genotypes, respectively. FSH levels differed ( P < 0.01) among the three genotypes at 4 and at 6 weeks. While FSH levels in the Finn × Awassi and in the Assaf declined during the studied period, in the Awassi ewe lambs a significant increase ( P < 0.05) in FSH plasma levels was detected. Following administration of 400 IU PMSG at 20 weeks of age 18/22 (82%) of the Finn × Awassi, 27/34 (79%) of the Assaf and 17/28 (61%) of the Awassi ewe lambs ovulated. Ovulation rates (number of corpora lutea/ewe lamb ovulating) were 1.78 ± 0.22, 1.41 ± 0.12 and 1.23 ± 0.10 for the three genotypes, respectively. Our results were interpreted to indicate that the higher prolificacy in the Awassi crosses compared with the pure Awassi breed is followed by higher plasma FSH levels at 4–6 weeks of age and by greater ovarian sensitivity to gonadotropins at 5 months of age.

The effect of pre-mating nutrition and exposure to the presence of rams on the onset of puberty in Awassi ewe lambs under semi-arid conditions

ABSTRACTTwo experiments are described investigating the possibility of advancing puberty in Awassi ewe lambs kept under semi-arid conditions in mid Syria using 197 single ewe lambs in 1982 and 165 in 1984. In both years, the animals were allocated to three groups each given different levels of supplementation with a barley/chopped straw mixture to achieve different levels of pre-mating growth (high, medium and low). In 1984, the three groups were further subdivided into four subgroups each given continuous exposure to teaser rams from different ages. These were 175, 200 and 230 days of age and a control group not given continuous access to the ram. The results for the two experiments showed that a higher proportion of ewe lambs on the high and medium treatments showed oestrus in their first season (H = 88%, M = 72%, L = 41%; P &lt; 0·01). The high level of nutrition also advanced the mean date of first oestrus in the high group by 22 and the age at conception by 16·5 days as compared with the low level.In the second experiment, no interaction between feeding level and presence of ram was observed and although there were no significant effects on occurrence of oestrus, continuous exposure to vasectomized rams from 175 days reduced mean age at first oestrus by 16 and age at conception by 19 days as compared with the unexposed controls.It is concluded that these practices have important implications for the efficient use of semi-arid range land by Awassi sheep on a semi-intensive system.

Age at puberty and possibility of early breeding in Awassi ewes

SummarySixty-four weaned Awassi ewe lambs were used in the present study to estimate age at puberty and to investigate whether early breeding from such ewe lambs is possible. After weaning at 4 months old ewe lambs were divided at random into two experimental groups. One group, designated as moderate, was fed to attain 40 kg live weight at 12 months of age, while the other (high) was planned to reach 50 kg at the same age. Fertile rams were run with the ewe lambs at 6 months of age. Twenty ewe lambs, 10 from each treatment, were slaughtered and their ovaries were examined for the presence of corpora lutea and largest follicles.The overall age at first oestrus was found to be 293 days. Ewe lambs of the high nutritional treatment reached puberty earlier than those of the moderate one (274 v. 312 days). Likewise, single-born lambs reached puberty earlier than twin-born ones (273 v. 312 days). Treatment differences explained 16·5% while type of birth explained 16·3% of the total variance in age at first oestrus. Ewe lambs of the high nutritional treatment experienced more heats than those of the moderate one. Simple correlation coefficients between age at first oestrus and date of birth, daily gain and live weight at puberty were 0·21, 0·09 and 0·75, respectively. Results indicated that ovulation may not occur during the first and second oestrus. From 44 ewe lambs only 12, 10 from the moderate and 2 from the high treatment, lambed 13 viable lambs. Reasons for such a low conception rate (27·3%) are discussed.