Effect of dietary protein on growth performance, and serum biochemical index in late pregnant Hu ewes and their offspring

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of different protein levels in late pregnancy on ewe and lamb growth performance, serum biochemical indexes. Thirty-three ewes (46.4 ± 1.38 kg initial weight) were randomly divided into 3 groups, with 11 ewes in each group. The protein levels of three diets formulated to provide components to meet 10.00 MJ/kg ME requirements diets were: 10.12%, 11.26%, 12.4%. Ewes were raised from the 90th day of pregnancy to the end of delivery, and the lambs were weaned at 60 days. Dietary protein levels had significant effects on blood urea nitrogen, glucose, ammonia nitrogen and triglyceride of ewes (p < 0.05). The height, chest depth, chest circumference, straight crown hip length and curved crown hip length of lambs decreased at first and then increased with the increase of protein. The body length, chest circumference, head width and head length of weaned lambs decreased at first and then increased with the increase of protein. The results showed that when the dietary protein level was increased to 12.4%, the amino acid, glucose and fat metabolism of ewes were affected. The body size development of lambs was better than 10.12% and 11.26% proteins.

Keywords:

• Ewe
• protein
• growth performance
• serum biochemical index
• lamb body measurement

Ethical approval

All animal experimental procedures were performed according to protocols approved by the Animal Care Advisory Committee of Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China. The authors confirm that the ethical policies of the journal, as noted on the journal’s author guidelines page, have been adhered to and the appropriate ethical review committee approval has been received. The authors confirm that they have followed EU standards for the protection of animals used for scientific purposes.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the College of Life Sciences of Hunan normal University and Hubei Zhiqinghe Animal Husbandry Company for their support. Thanks to Chunpeng Dai for providing the experimental site and animals.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Hunan Province’s Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan National Independent Innovation Demonstration Zone Projects [2017XK2058], and Hunan Province’s Strategic and Emerging Industrial Projects [2018GK4035].