Open AccessDifferent prepartum feeding systems on ewe metabolic profile and lamb growth
Author(s) -
W. C. Brondani,
Jaqueline Schneider Lemes,
Francisco Augusto Burkert Del Pino,
Alexsandro Bahr Kröning,
Elísio de Camargo Debortoli,
Fernando Amarilho-Silveira,
L. A. Evangelho,
Otoniel Geter Lauz Ferreira,
Ricardo Zambarda Vaz
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
semina. ciências agrárias
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1679-0359
pISSN - 1676-546X
DOI - 10.5433/1679-0359.2022v43n3p1007
Subject(s) - pasture , zoology , biology , pregnancy , urea , gestation , birth weight , endocrinology , agronomy , biochemistry , genetics
Identifying the metabolic profile of farm animals constitutes an important tool for the clinical diagnosis of metabolic diseases that can affect animal production performance. This study investigates the prepartum metabolic profile of ewes reared in two feeding systems native pasture and cultivated pasture of black oat and ryegrass and their effects on lamb development. Forty adult Texel ewes and their lambs were used and evaluated for metabolites representative of energy, protein, and mineral metabolism in the prepartum period. Ewes kept on cultivated pasture exhibited higher glucose levels than those kept on native pasture (59.67 vs. 31.98 mg/dL, respectively), whereas those kept on native pasture had higher serum Ca and P levels (7.62 and 4.58 mg/dL, respectively) than the ewes on cultivated pasture (6.21 and 3.73 mg/dL, respectively). Albumin was higher in the ewes with single pregnancy (2.92 vs. 2.76 g/dL), while urea levels were affected by the interaction between feeding system and type of pregnancy. Prepartum levels of glucose, phosphorus, and calcium in the blood of the ewes were correlated with lamb weight at 30 days. The feeding system influenced the metabolic profile of the ewes in the prepartum period, with lamb weight at 30 days of age being mainly associated with the mother's glucose level at the end of the gestation period.