Does ewe nutrition during pregnancy affect the neonatal behaviour of twin-born lambs?

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dc.citation.volume76
dc.contributor.authorGronqvist GV
dc.contributor.authorHickson RE
dc.contributor.authorCorner-Thomas RA
dc.contributor.authorKenyon PR
dc.contributor.authorStafford KJ
dc.contributor.authorMorris ST
dc.date.available2016
dc.date.issued2016
dc.description.abstractIn this experiment the effects of feeding treatments from mid pregnancy until lambing on the behaviour of twin-bearing ewes and their lambs were investigated. Fifty seven four-year-old Romney ewes were offered a medium (1164 ± 31.6 and 819 ± 16.0 kg DM/ ha pre- and post-grazing pasture mass, respectively) or ad libitum (2181 ± 47.6 and 1431 ± 24.6 kg DM/ha pre- and post-grazing pasture mass, respectively) feeding treatment from day 76 of pregnancy until after lambing. At ear-tagging the time taken for the lambs to stand, make contact with, suck from and follow their dam was recorded. A maternal behaviour score based on the distance the ewe moved away from her lambs during tagging was also recorded. Survival analysis showed that lambs born to ewes offered the medium feeding treatment from mid pregnancy until lambing were quicker to stand, suck and follow compared with lambs born to ewes offered the ad libitum feeding treatment (P<0.05). It is unclear whether these behaviours indicate that lambs born to ewes in the medium treatment were more vigorous or that they had unmet needs that prompted the apparent increase in vigour. Ewe feeding treatments did not affect the maternal behaviour of the ewes.
dc.description.confidentialfalse
dc.description.publication-statusPublished
dc.format.extent8 - 13 (6)
dc.identifier.citationProceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, 2016, 76 pp. 8 - 13 (6)
dc.identifier.elements-id279166
dc.identifier.harvestedMassey_Dark
dc.relation.isPartOfProceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production
dc.rightsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
dc.subjectlamb behaviour
dc.subjectmaternal behaviour
dc.subjectewe BCS
dc.subjectewe nutrition
dc.subject.anzsrc0702 Animal Production
dc.titleDoes ewe nutrition during pregnancy affect the neonatal behaviour of twin-born lambs?
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.notesNot known
pubs.organisational-group/Massey University
pubs.organisational-group/Massey University/College of Sciences
pubs.organisational-group/Massey University/College of Sciences/School of Agriculture & Environment
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