Body condition scoring of sheep

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of stage of maturity at harvest on the intake of grass silage, eating and ruminating activity and the distribution of faecal particle size in ewes during late pregnancy. A total of 18 Swedish Finull 3 Dorset 85 6 8 kg (mean 6 s.d.) ewes bearing twins were randomly assigned to three dietary treatments 6 weeks before lambing. The treatments included ad libitum feeding with early harvested (EH), medium harvested (MH) or late harvested (LH) primary-growth grass silage with 45%, 58% and 63% NDF on a dry matter (DM) basis, respectively. Intake and chewing activity were recorded and faeces were sampled over 4 continuous days for each individual ewe. The faeces samples were washed in nylon bags, freeze dried and sieved with pore sizes from 2.4 mm to 0.1 mm; particles less than 0.1 mm in size were also collected. Subsamples of each sieving fraction were scanned and the dimensions of the individual particles in each sieving fraction were measured by image analysis. In addition, the number of particles longer than 7 mm was counted from the particles retained on a sieve with a pore size of 2.4 mm using a simple wet sieving technique. The time spent eating and ruminating per kg of DM intake was affected by the stage of maturity at harvest; it was shorter in ewes fed EH compared with ewes fed MH and LH ( P , 0.05). In comparison with feeding LH, feeding EH resulted in the retention of a larger proportion of particles in the lower and upper sieve fractions (,0.2 mm and .1 mm, respectively, P , 0.01), a smaller mean particle size ( P , 0.05) and a smaller mean particle width in faeces ( P , 0.01). The results from the simple wet sieving technique confirmed the results from dry sieving and image analysis, showing a higher number of large particles in faeces from ewes fed the EH compared with the ewes fed the MH and LH ( P , 0.001). In conclusion, the distribution of faecal particle size might be considered as a footprint of the characteristics of forage fibre eaten by ewes.

Section: Animals and Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of stage of maturity of grass at harvest on intake, chewing activity and distribution of particle size in faeces from pregnant ewes

Jalali

Nørgaard

Weisbjerg

et al. 2012

“…The mating groups were smaller in year 3, because the female F1 population started lambing and limited resources. In each year, the ewes (including replacement ewes in years 2 and 3) were balanced for ewe live weight, body condition score (Russel, 1984) and age across the five crossing sire breeds. The mean live weight and body condition score of the ewes at mating were 51 6 0.2 kg and 3.4 6 0.01 kg, respectively.…”

Section: Animals and Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Live weights (to the nearest 0.5 kg) and body condition scores (Russel, 1984) of ewes were recorded by the same individual 1 week before mating, approximately 6 weeks before and 7 weeks after lambing and at weaning. At lambing, date was recorded, along with number of lambs born (alive and dead) and sex of lamb(s).…”

Section: Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of sire breed on ewe dystocia, lamb survival and weaned lamb output in hill sheep systems

Speijers

Carson

Dawson

et al. 2010

A study was carried out on six hill farms, located in the main hill regions of Northern Ireland, over three breeding seasons to investigate the effect of sire breed on ewe dystocia, lamb survival and weaned lamb output. On each farm, groups of 26 to 40 purebred Scottish Blackface ewes (n 5 3174) were crossed with Blackface, Swaledale, North Country Cheviot, Lleyn and Texel sires by natural service (year 1) and artificial insemination (years 2 and 3). Each of the mating groups was initially balanced for ewe age, live weight and condition score, and a total of 15 sires of each breed were used over the 3 years. In total, 2272 ewes were recorded at lambing, producing 3451 lambs, over the 3 years. Sire breed had a significant effect (P , 0.001) on lamb birth weight with Blackface and Swaledale the lowest and Texel the highest. The proportion of ewes with dystocia was higher with Texel sires compared with Lleyn, Swaledale and Blackface sires (P , 0.05). Ewes mated to Cheviot sires had more dystocia than those mated to Blackface and Swaledale sires (P , 0.05), while ewes mated to Lleyn sire breed had more dystocia (P , 0.05) than those mated to Blackface sire breed. Most of the incidence of dystocia was attributable to increased lamb birth weight (P , 0.001), and some to litter size (P , 0.05). Swaledale, Cheviot, Lleyn and Texel sire breeds increased the incidence of malpresentations (P , 0.05). Lamb live weight at weaning was higher with Texel-and Cheviot-and Lleyn-sired lambs compared with Blackface-and Swaledale-sired lambs (P , 0.01). The level of lamb mortality at birth was not affected by sire breed. However, lamb mortality at weaning was lower for Lleyn-sired lambs compared with the other lamb genotypes (P , 0.05). These results indicate that the use of sires from larger breeds, such as Lleyn and Texel, within the Blackface ewe flocks can increase lamb output, with no apparent detrimental effects on lamb mortality or ewe survival, but increased assistance at lambing will be required.

“…At the start of each experimental period, ewes were weighted and assessed a body condition score (BCS) using a 5-point sheep scoring system (1 = thin, 5 = fat) as described by Russel (1984). Ewes were fitted with a catheter in both jugular veins the day before each experimental period.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insensitivity of well-conditioned mature sheep to central administration of a leptin receptor antagonist

Foskolos

Ehrhardt

Hileman

et al. 2015

Ruminants remain productive during the energy insufficiency of late pregnancy or early lactation by evoking metabolic adaptations sparing available energy and nutrients (e.g. higher metabolic efficiency and induction of insulin resistance). A deficit in central leptin signaling triggers these adaptations in rodents but whether it does in ruminants remains unclear. To address this issue, five mature ewes were implanted with intracerebroventricular (ICV) cannula in the third ventricle. They were used in two experiments with an ovine leptin antagonist (OLA) when well-conditioned (average body condition score of 3.7 on a 5 point scale). The first experiment tested the ability of OLA to antagonize leptin under in vivo conditions. Ewes received continuous ICV infusion of artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF), ovine leptin (4 µg/h) or the combination of ovine leptin (4 µg/h) and its mutant version OLA (40 µg/h) for 48 h. Dry matter intake (DMI) was measured every day and blood samples were collected on the last day of infusion. ICV infusion of leptin reduced DMI by 24% ( P < 0.05), and this effect was completely abolished by OLA co-infusion. A second experiment tested whether a reduction in endogenous leptin signaling in the brain triggers metabolic adaptations. This involved continuous ICV infusions of aCSF or OLA alone (40 µg/h) for 4 consecutive days. The infusion of OLA did not alter voluntary DMI over the treatment period or on any individual day. OLA did not affect plasma variables indicative of insulin action (glucose, non-esterified fatty acids, insulin and the disposition of plasma glucose during an insulin tolerance test) or plasma cortisol, but tended to reduce plasma triiodothyronine and thyroxine ( P < 0.07). Overall, these data show that a reduction of central leptin signaling has little impact on insulin action in well-conditioned mature sheep. They also raise the possibility that reduced central leptin signaling plays a role in controlling thyroid hormone production.