Reproductive performance of ewes fed sweet narrow-leafed lupin seed infected with Phomopsis leptostromiformis

Abstract

An experiment was designed to examine the reproductive performance of Merino ewes fed sweet narrow-leafed lupin seed infected with Phomopsis leptostromiformis and containing small quantities of the toxin phomopsin. Two groups of mature ewes were supplemented with lupin seed with either a low (2%) or a high (21%) level of Phomopsis infection at a rate equivalent to 500 g/sheep.day for a period from 14 days before the start of joining until day 17 of joining. A third group received no supplement. The percentages of lambing ewes with multiple births were marginally increased (P<0.10) in the supplemented ewes (14.3, 27.5 and 26.2% for the unsupplemented and the 2 and 21% Phomopsis infected seed groups, respectively) while the percentages of lambs born were 99.0, 93.6 and 112.8% for the unsupplemented and the 2 and 21 % Phomopsis-infected seed groups, respectively. Supplementation of ewes with lupin seed containing a relatively high level of Phomopsis (21%), but a low quantity of phomopsin, did not depress reproductive performance.