Melatonin treatment during late gestation of undernourished ewes: lamb body temperature and mother–young behaviours after birth
A. Freitas-de-Melo
A , F. Sales B , R. Ungerfeld A and V. H. Parraguez C D *
A Departamento de Biociencias Veterinarias, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay.
B INIA Kampenaike, Punta Arenas 6212707, Chile.
C Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias y Pecuarias, Universidad de Chile, Santa Rosa 11735, Santiago 8820808, Chile.
D Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, Universidad de Chile, Santa Rosa 11315, Santiago 8820808, Chile.
Animal Production Science 62(2) 131-136 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN21016
Submitted: 16 January 2021 Accepted: 13 September 2021 Published: 22 October 2021
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing
Abstract
Context: In extensive grazing sheep systems, pregnant ewes undergo periods of undernutrition because gestation coincides with winter when natural pasture is of lowest quantity and poorest quality. The lamb’s weight and thermoregulatory capacity, and the ewe–lamb bond at birth, may be compromised. Maternal melatonin treatment during gestation may reverse these effects.
Aim: The aim was to determine the effects of melatonin treatment of single-lambing, undernourished ewes during the last third of gestation on lamb birthweights and body temperatures, and on ewe–lamb interactive behaviour after birth.
Methods: At Day 100 of gestation, 39 single-bearing ewes received a subcutaneous melatonin implant, and 54 ewes served as controls with no implant. Throughout gestation, the ewes remained under extensive conditions grazing on natural pasture. Measurements were made of lamb birthweight, body temperatures (surface temperature by infrared thermography and rectal temperature), and ewe–lamb behaviours during a handling test at 6–17 h after lambing.
Key results: There was no effect of melatonin treatment on lamb birthweight or rectal temperature, or on ewe–lamb interaction behaviours. Hip minimum surface temperature was greater in lambs from melatonin-treated ewes than lambs from control ewes (21.2°C ± 0.9°C vs 18.8°C ± 0.8°C; P = 0.05), and there was a similar trend for hip mean surface temperature (24.6°C ± 0.9°C vs 22.3°C ± 0.7°C; P = 0.06). Rump surface temperatures were greater in male than female lambs: maximum (27.9°C ± 1.2°C vs 22.9°C ± 1.2°C; P = 0.01), minimum (22.2°C ± 1.5°C vs 16.7°C ± 1.5°C; P = 0.02) and mean (25.4°C ± 1.3°C vs 20.5°C ± 1.3°C; P = 0.02).
Conclusion: Melatonin treatment during the last third of ewe pregnancy slightly enhanced the surface temperature of lambs at birth but did not influence ewe–lamb interaction behaviour after birth (i.e. after establishment of the ewe–lamb bond).
Implications: Further study in more depth is warranted into the possible effects of maternal supplementation with commercial melatonin implants on lamb development, thermoregulatory capacity, behaviour and survival rates in extensive grazing systems, including the effect on ewe–lamb behaviours immediately after birth for both singletons and twins.
Keywords: bond, filial attachment, lamb behaviour, maternal behaviour, sheep, survival, undernutrition, welfare.
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