Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-kw2vx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-07T11:44:46.896Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The voluntary hay intake by ewes during the first weeks of lactation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

F. Bocouier ,
M. Thériez  and
A. Brelurut
F. Bocouier
Affiliation:
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Centre de Recherches Zootechniques et Vétérinaires, Theix, 63122 Ceyrat, France
M. Thériez
Affiliation:
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Centre de Recherches Zootechniques et Vétérinaires, Theix, 63122 Ceyrat, France
A. Brelurut
Affiliation:
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Centre de Recherches Zootechniques et Vétérinaires, Theix, 63122 Ceyrat, France
Get access

Abstract

In eight experiments, ewes nursing one or two lambs were offered restricted amounts of concentrate in the range 285 to 605 g dry matter (DM) per day and hay ad libitum, from lambing until day 42 of lactation.

Hay intake increased sharply during the first 2 weeks and reached its maximum during the 5th or the 6th week. Ewes' body weight at lambing, ewes' body-weight change, and milk production (estimated by litter growth rate) were significantly related to hay intake which depended also on breed (Romanov × Limousine ewes eating more than pure Limousine, P < 0·001) and age (mature ewes eating more than old ewes, P < 0·001) but not on number of suckled lambs.

Replacement rate of concentrates for forage increased as lactation progressed (0·53 to 0·86 from first to third fortnight) and varied with hay neutral detergent fibre (NDF) concentration (0·42 or 0·89 for hays with 700 or 500 g NDF per kg DM). Daily hay DM intake decreased by 1·28 g for each gram of hay NDF content increment. The NDF effect was increasingly more important as lactation progressed.

Utilization of present results in formulating diets for lactating ewes is discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 44 , Issue 3 , June 1987 , pp. 387 - 394
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Agricultural Research Council. 1980. The Nutrient Requirements of Ruminant Livestock. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Slough.Google Scholar
Arnold, G. W. 1975. Herbage intake and grazing behaviour in ewes of four breeds at different physiological states. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 26: 1017–1024.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berge, Ph and Dulphy, J. P. 1985. [Interactions between forages and concentrates in sheep. I. Variation of substitution rate.] Annales de Zootechnie 34: 313–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaxter, K. L., Clapperton, J. L. and Wainman, F. W. 1966. The extent of differences between six British breeds of sheep in their metabolism, feed intake and utilization, and resistance to climatic stress. British Journal of Nutrition 20: 283–294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bocquier, F., Delmas, C. and Thériez, M. 1983. [Feeding dairy ewes: intake capacity and substitution rate in Lacaune ewes.] Bulletin Technique CRZV Theix: 52: 19–24.Google Scholar
Dulphy, J. P. 1978. [Voluntary feed intake and substitution. Consequences for allowances]. In La Vache Laitière. Suppl. Bulletin Technique CRZV Theix-INRA, pp. 87–98.Google Scholar
Dulphy, J. P. 1986. [Hay ingestibility prediction for wethers from their cell wall content (NDF).] 2ème Journées d'Etudes sur les Herbivores, Paris. In press.Google Scholar
Foot, J. Z. and Russel, A. J. F. 1979. The relationship in ewes between voluntary food intake during pregnancy and forage intake during lactation and after weaning. Animal Production 28: 25–39.Google Scholar
Foot, J. Z. and Tissier, M. 1977. Voluntary intake of feed by lactating ewes. Proceedings of 28th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Animal Productions, Brussels.Google Scholar
Forbes, J. M. 1969. A note on the voluntary feed intake of lactating ewes, their milk yield and the growth rate of their lambs. Animal Production 11: 263–266.Google Scholar
Hadjipieris, G. and Holmes, W. 1966. Studies on feed intake and feed utilization by sheep. I. The voluntary feed intake of dry, pregnant and lactating ewes. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 66: 217–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Institut National De La Recherche Agronomique. 1978. [Ruminant Feeding.] INRA Publications, Versailles.Google Scholar
Langlands, J. P. 1968. The feed intake of grazing sheep differing in age, breed, previous nutrition and live weight. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 71: 167–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michalet-Doreau, B. and Gatel, F. 1983. [Annual variations in voluntary food intake of wethers fed cocksfoot hay.] Annales de Zootechnie 32: 459–464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newton, J. E. and Orr, R. J. 1981. The intake of silage and grazed herbage by Masham ewes with single or twin lambs and its repeatability during pregnancy, lactation and after weaning. Animal Production 33: 121–127.Google Scholar
Orr, R. J. and Treacher, T. T. 1984. The effect of concentrate level on the intake of hays by ewes in late pregnancy. Animal Production 39: 89–98.Google Scholar
Owen, J. B. and Ingleton, J. W. 1963. A study of food intake and production in grazing ewes. II. The interrelationships between food intake and productive output. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 61: 329–340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seebeck, R. M. 1973. The effect of body-weight loss on the composition of Braham cross and Africander cross steers. 1. Empty body weight, dressed carcass weight, and offal components. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 80: 201–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tissier, M., Thériez, M and Molénat, G. 1975. [Variation in the voluntary feed intake of ewes during late pregnancy and early lactation. Consequences on their performances. I. Study of two hay diets of different quality.] Annales de Zootechnie 24: 711–727.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tissier, M., Thériez, M. and Molénat, G. 1977. [Variation in the voluntary feed intake of ewes during late pregnancy and early lactation. Consequences on their performances. II. Maize silage and hay offered ad libitum.] Annales de Zootechnie 26: 149–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Soest, P. J. 1965. Symposium on the factors influencing the voluntary intake of herbage by ruminants: voluntary intake in relation to chemical composition and digestibility. Journal of Animal Science 24: 834–843.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vera, R. R., Morris, J. G. and Koong, L. J. 1977. A quantitative model of energy intake and partition in grazing sheep in various physiological states. Animal Production 25: 133–153.Google Scholar