Patterns of milk production, blood metabolite profile and enzyme activities of two fat-tailed sheep breeds
Shahab Payandeh A , Farokh Kafilzadeh A , Miguel Angel de la Fuente B , Darab Ghadimi C and Andrés L. Martínez Marín D EA Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.
B Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias de la Alimentación (CSIC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
C Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Max Rubner-Institute, Kiel, Germany.
D Department of Animal Production, University of Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain.
E Corresponding author. Email: pa1martm@uco.es
Animal Production Science 56(9) 1469-1474 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN141035
Submitted: 31 July 2014 Accepted: 11 March 2015 Published: 17 June 2015
Abstract
This study was conducted to compare milk yield and composition, blood parameters and enzyme activities between two fat-tailed Iranian breeds of sheep (Mehraban and Sanjabi). Two groups of eight ewes per breed were kept indoors and fed a diet based on alfalfa hay (60%) and concentrates (40%). Milk production of the individual ewes was measured and sampled weekly for 11 weeks and blood samples were obtained at 28, 56 and 77 days of lactation. No significant differences between the breeds were evident in average daily milk production and fat and lactose contents, but average milk protein content tended to be higher (P = 0.05) in Mehraban than in Sanjabi ewes. However, milk and protein yields were higher (P < 0.05) in Mehraban ewes in the last two-thirds of lactation. Plasma lipid profile (triglyceride, cholesterol, HDL- and LDL-cholesterol) was not different between the two breeds at any time of study. At the end of lactation, plasma urea contents and alanine amino transferase activities were higher (P < 0.05) either before or after feeding in Mehraban than in Sanjabi ewes, which suggests a more intense metabolic activity in the former probably related to their higher milk and protein production at that stage of lactation.
Additional keywords: ewes, milk composition, plasma parameters.
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