Artículo
Effect of live weight pre and post-lambing on milk production of East Friesian sheep
Autor
ANGELES HERNANDEZ, JUAN CARLOS; 328847
Radic Schilling, Sergio;x1241231
Vera Arias, Marcela;x1241232
Echeverría Pérez, Ricardo;x1241233
CASTELAN ORTEGA, OCTAVIO ALONSO; 21079
RAMIREZ PEREZ, AURORA HILDA; 44330
González Ronquillo, Manuel; 26128
ANGELES HERNANDEZ, JUAN CARLOS
Radic Schilling, Sergio
Vera Arias, Marcela
Echeverría Pérez, Ricardo
CASTELAN ORTEGA, OCTAVIO ALONSO
RAMIREZ PEREZ, AURORA HILDA
González Ronquillo, Manuel
Institución
Resumen
The study was conducted to analyse the effect of sheep body weight (BW) at mating, mid-preg- nancy, lambing, early lactation, mid-lactation and late lactation on milk yield and patterns of milk production. Also, the effects of environmental factors such as number of lambing (NL) and type of lambing (TL) on BW and milk production were analysed. A total of 52 multiparous East Friesian ewes from an experimental flock were used. Ewes were assigned to three different groups accord- ing to their BW at each productive stage: low (LBW), moderate (MBW) and high BW (HBW). Lactations were fitted using the mechanistic model described by Pollott. Total milk yield (TMY), peak yield (PY) and time at peak yield (TPY) were also calculated. HBW ewes had consistently higher TMY (p<.001) and PY (p<.05) values, than LBW and MBW in most of productive stage measured. There was a positive linear relationship (p < .05) between TMY and BW in all-productive stage, except at mid-gestation where the relationship was quadratic. HBW ewes weighted at mid- pregnancy showed the highest values of maximum secretion parameter (p 1⁄4 .04) of Pollott model, which could partially explain the better milk yield of HBW ewes. A significant effect of NL on BW (p1⁄4.007) and TMY (p1⁄4.007) was observed. The BW ewe’s in pregnancy and early lactation is a useful indicator at farm level to improve the milk yield performance in dairy sheep. Mr. Angeles Hernandez thank the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACyT, Mexico) for the scholar- ship for their studies in the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Dr. Gonzalez Ronquillo was granted with a Beca Alianza del Pacifico 2014 fellowship.