Effect of nutrition from mid to late pregnancy on the performance of twin- and triplet-bearing ewes and their lambs

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of two different feeding levels on ewes during mid and late pregnancy on lamb birthweight and growth to weaning. Twin- and triplet-bearing Romney ewes (n = 80 and 56, respectively) were allocated to one of two feeding regimes and provided pastures with an average sward height of less than 2 cm (~700 kg dry matter/ha) or greater than 4 cm (~1300 kg dry matter/ha). Ewes were allocated to these feeding regimes during mid pregnancy (day 70–107 of pregnancy; P70–P107) and were reallocated in late pregnancy (P108–P147). This resulted in four sward height treatments: 2–2, 2–4, 4–2 and 4–4. During mid pregnancy, ewes provided with >4-cm-high swards had liveweight gains of 262–290 g/day compared with 12–31 g/day for ewes provided with <2-cm-high swards. In late pregnancy, ewe liveweight gains were influenced by the ewes’ previous nutritional treatment. Ewes in the 2–4 treatment had higher daily gains (538 g/day) than 4–4 ewes (343 g/day). In addition, 4–2 ewes gained 90 g/day compared with 247 g/day for 2–2 ewes. Throughout pregnancy, triplet-bearing ewes were heavier (P < 0.05) than twin-bearing ewes, but during lactation ewe weights were similar. On P130, ewes provided with <2-cm-high swards (4–2 and 2–2) had greater β-hydroxybutyrate (P < 0.05) and lower glucose (P < 0.05) plasma concentrations than ewes provided with >4-cm-high swards (2–4 and 4–4). On P139, however, ewes provided with 4–4 swards had higher plasma non-esterified fatty acid and β-hydroxybutyrate concentrations than ewes in all other treatments. Lambs born to ewes in the 4–4 treatment had the greatest birthweights (P < 0.05), whereas lambs born to 2–2 ewes had the lowest birthweights. The birthweight of lambs born to 2–4 ewes was similar to that of lambs born to ewes provided with 4–2 and 4–4 swards. At weaning, ewe weights were similar between ewe nutritional treatments and ewes bearing twin or triplet fetuses. These findings suggest that when pasture growth is inadequate to provide pasture sward heights of 4 cm throughout pregnancy, restricted intake in mid-pregnancy may be partially compensated by providing additional pasture in late pregnancy.