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http://ri.uaemex.mx/handle20.500.11799/66282| Title: | Productive and reproductive performance and metabolic profiles of ewes supplemented with hydroponically grown green wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) | Keywords: | Plasma metabolites;Female lambs;Hydroponic wheat;Metabolic hormones;Reproductive performance;info:eu-repo/classification/cti/6 | Publisher: | ELSEVIER | Project: | Vol.;221 | Description: | Inclusion of high levels of concentrate in the diets of late gestation and lactating ewes to improve productive and reproductive performance is a common practice. However cost-effective alternate feeding strategies for small ruminants must be developed and evaluated in order to counteract sustainability issues of feeding them concentrate feeds (Alexandre and Mandonnet, 2005). Hydroponically grown green forages are a potential high feed quality feedstuff in arid and semiarid regions of the world (Al-Faraki and Al-Hashimi, 2012). The nutritive value and fermentative characteristics of hydroponically grown forages positively influenced the performance of late gestation and lactating ewes (Herrera et al., 2010; Gebremedhin, 2015). Earlier investigations emphasized effects of dietary quality on endocrine and metabolic profiles in ewes during pregnancy and lactation (Lemley et al., 2014; Vonnahme et al., 2013). However adequate nutritional status of ewes is associated with favorable productive and reproductive performance whereby blood glucose, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) are utilized to sustain a desirable protein and energy balance in ewes during gestation and lactation (Hatfield et al., 1999). Changes in metabolic hormones, such as insulin, play an important role in metabolic adaptation to changes in body weight (BW) and body condition while providing diagnostic information to evaluate ewe nutritional status (Caldeira et al., 2007). Cortisol may be particularly important in this regard as it is the predominant glucocorticoid in sheep blood and has been used as a reliable physiological endpoint to determine ewe responses to a variety of physiological, physical and environmental stress (Moolchandani et al., 2008). A paucity of information is available with respect to the metabolic profile and performance during mating, gestation and lactation of ewes fed diets containing hydroponically grown green wheat (HGW). Thus this experiment was conducted to determine effects of replacement of dry-rolled corn (DRC) and cottonseed meal (CSM) by HGW in an oat hay-based diet on the metabolic profile as well as the productive and reproductive performance of Katahdin female lambs. Twenty six Katahdin ewes (i.e., female lambs from breeding to 2 mo of their 1st lactation) were used in a completely randomized design (13/treatment)to evaluate effects of replacement of dietary dry-rolled corn grain (DRC) and cottonseed meal(CSM) with hydroponically grown whole plant green wheat (HGW; Triticum aestivum L.) on productive parameters and blood metabolites during mating, gestation and lactation, and on body weight (BW) gain of their lambs in their 1st 60 days of age. The gestation diet contained 70% oat hay, 20% rolled corn grain and 10% cottonseed meal, while the lactation diet contained 50% oat hay, 20% DRC and 30% CSM. Treatments consisted of total replacement of DRC and CSM with HGW in the gestation diet, while in the lactation diet HGW replaced 100% of the DRC and 33% of the CSM. There were no diet effects on reproductive parameters, and substitution of DRC and CSM with HGW did not affect dry matter intake during gestation and lactation. The BW gain of the lambs that were fed HGW did not differ from controls in the first 2 months of gestation, while it was lower (P < 0.05) at the last 3 months of gestation. Feeding HGW did not affect birth BW of lambs or subsequent BW gains through 60 days of age. Plasma non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) were not affected by the diets fed during gestation, but were 56% lower (P < 0.05) at day 60 of lactation. Plasma glucose was only lower (P < 0.05) at day 90 of gestation, and blood urea nitrogen was only lower (P < 0.05) at day 30 of lactation. There were no effects of diets on plasma insulin, cortisol or progesterone during gestation and lactation. Hydroponically grown green wheat is a suitable substitute for a portion of the DRC and CSM in ewes diets during gestation and lactation without negative effects. |
URI: | http://ri.uaemex.mx/handle20.500.11799/66282 | Other Identifiers: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11799/66282 | Rights: | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 |
| Appears in Collections: | Producción |
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