The effect of pasture allowance fed to twin- and triplet-bearing ewes in late pregnancy on ewe and lamb behaviour and performance to weaning

Everett-Hincks, Julie; Blair, Hugh T.; Stafford, K. J.; López‐Villalobos, N.; Kenyon, P. R.; St, Morris

doi:10.1016/j.livprodsci.2005.05.006

Cited by 43 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…In previous studies in which it was observed that nutrition affected ewe-lamb behaviours at lambing, treatments were applied until parturition (Putu et al, 1988;Dwyer et al, 2003;Everett-Hincks et al, 2005). Thus, the lack of effects in our study may be due to the duration of undernutrition during gestation, followed by the drastic increase in nutrient supply in late Table 1 Mother-young behaviours at lambing (mean ± sem) in ewes that grazed on high (HPA-1) or low (LPA-1) native pasture allowances from 23 days before insemination until 122 days of gestation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mother–young behaviours at lambing in grazing ewes: Effects of lamb sex and food restriction in pregnancy

Freitas‐de‐Melo

Ungerfeld²,

Hötzel

et al. 2015

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mother–young behaviours at lambing in grazing ewes: Effects of lamb sex and food restriction in pregnancy

Freitas‐de‐Melo

Ungerfeld²,

Hötzel

et al. 2015

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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“…Twin lambs born to mature multiparous ewes offered ad libitum herbage from midpregnancy until parturition were heavier at birth Corner et al 2008), but the weaning weights of these lambs were similar Everett-Hincks et al 2005) or heavier (Corner et al 2008) compared with twin lambs born to mature ewes offered a restricted level of herbage from mid-pregnancy until parturition. In addition, the live weight of *Corresponding author.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Effect of nutrition from mid-pregnancy to parturition on the live weight of twin-bearing hoggets and the live weight and survival of their lambs

Mulvaney

Kenyon

et al. 2012

New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research

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This experiment investigated the effect of two nutritional levels (medium and ad libitum) from day 85 of pregnancy until parturition on the live weight and metabolic status of twin-bearing hoggets, and the gamma-glutamyl transferase and glucose concentration on the day of lambing (L1), survival and live weight of their offspring until L29. The mean live weight of the ad libitum treatment hoggets (66.390.6 kg) was greater (PB0.05) at P145 than that of medium treatment hoggets (63.690.5 kg). Hogget live weight did not differ (P0.05) between treatments at L29 (60.990.9 vs 60.091.0 kg for the medium and ad libitum treatment hoggets, respectively). The birth weight of lambs born to ad libitum ewes (4.090.1 kg) was greater (PB0.05) than that of lambs born to medium treatment ewes (3.790.1 kg). At L29, lamb live weight did not differ (P0.05) between treatments (11.290.3 vs 11.390.3 for the medium and ad libitum treatments, respectively). Lamb survival did not differ (P 0.05) between treatments. There was no difference between treatments in the efficiency of lamb live weight produced. These results indicate that offering twin-bearing hoggets ad libitum levels of herbage from day 85 of pregnancy until parturition is not an efficient technique to increase lamb production from these hoggets. Farmers should, therefore, offer 1000Á1400 kg DM/ha to optimize lamb production from twin-bearing hoggets.

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“…Within 12 h of birth, lambs were ear tagged, identified to their dam, weighed and their body dimensions measured (crown rump length, girth, forelimb and hind limb lengths), and coat meconium colour was ranked on a scale of 0 to 3 (Oliver et al, 2001). During the ear tagging procedure, the maternal behaviour of the ewe was ranked on a scale from 1 (the ewe fled when the shepherd approached her lambs and did not return) to 5 (the ewe remained close to the lamb and made contact with the lamb or the shepherd; O'Connor et al, 1985;Everett-Hincks et al, 2005). Lamb live weights were also recorded on day 63 of lactation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of different types of stressors during mid- and late pregnancy on lamb weight and body size at birth

Corner

Kenyon

Stafford

et al. 2010

Animal

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Mid-pregnancy shearing has consistently been shown to increase lamb birth weight, which can lead to an increase in lamb survival rates. However, shearing ewes during the winter months and under outdoor pastoral farming conditions can expose the recently shorn ewe to a greater risk of hypothermia. The aim of this study was to determine if exposure of ewes to repeated stressors, in mid-and late pregnancy, would result in an increase in lamb birth weight. This information may assist in the elucidation of the mechanism for the birth weight response to mid-pregnancy shearing, which in turn could assist in the design of management options to increase lamb birth weight without placing the ewe at risk. One hundred and forty-four twin-bearing Romney ewes were allocated to one of six mid-pregnancy treatments: control, isolation on 2 or 10 occasions, sham-shearing on 10 occasions, intramuscular cortisol injection on 10 occasions or shearing. Isolation, sham-shearing and cortisol treatments were conducted twice a week beginning, on average, day 74 of pregnancy and shearing occurred on day 76. During pregnancy, ewe treatment had no effect on ewe live weight. However, average ewe body condition scores were higher in the shorn group than in the sham-shorn or cortisol groups ( P , 0.05). Intramuscular injections of cortisol had a greater effect on ewe plasma cortisol concentrations than all other treatments ( P , 0.05). Shearing produced a greater plasma cortisol response than isolation 3 10 and sham-shearing ( P , 0.05). Ewe plasma cortisol responses decreased during the 5 weeks of isolation and sham-shearing but cortisol injections produced a greater response during the fifth treatment than the first or ninth treatments ( P , 0.05). Lambs born to shorn ewes were heavier and had a longer crown rump, forelimb and hind limb lengths than all other lambs ( P , 0.05). In addition, lambs born to ewes in the cortisol treatment were lighter than lambs born to control, isolation 3 2, isolation 3 10 and shorn ewes ( P , 0.05). The plasma cortisol concentrations observed for ewes injected with cortisol were far greater than those observed in all other groups, which is likely to explain the low birth weights of lambs born to ewes in that group. These results indicate that the mechanism by which mid-pregnancy shearing increases lamb birth weight is unlikely to be repeated stressors.

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The effect of pasture allowance fed to twin- and triplet-bearing ewes in late pregnancy on ewe and lamb behaviour and performance to weaning

Cited by 43 publications

References 13 publications

Mother–young behaviours at lambing in grazing ewes: Effects of lamb sex and food restriction in pregnancy

Mother–young behaviours at lambing in grazing ewes: Effects of lamb sex and food restriction in pregnancy

Effect of nutrition from mid-pregnancy to parturition on the live weight of twin-bearing hoggets and the live weight and survival of their lambs

The effect of different types of stressors during mid- and late pregnancy on lamb weight and body size at birth

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