Does offering concentrate supplement during late pregnancy affect twin- and triplet-bearing ewe and lamb performance?

Figures & data

Table 1  The effect of offering concentrate (non-concentrate vs. concentrate) and litter size (twin- vs. triplet-bearing) on ewe liveweight at pregnancy day 102 (P102), 116 (P116) and 140 (P140) and on liveweight gain between P102 and P140 (mean±SE). Means within treatments with differing superscripts are significantly (P<0.05) different.

		Liveweight (kg)			Liveweight (kg)	Liveweight gain
	n	P102	P116	n	P140	P102 to P140 (kg/day)
Nutritional treatment
Non-concentrate	30	68.6±0.44	73.2±0.55^a	29	78.8±0.70^a	0.27±0.01^a
Concentrate	31	68.2±0.43	74.8±0.54^b	28	81.0±0.71^b	0.33±0.01^b
Litter size
Twin	40	67.9±0.37	73.5±0.47	39	79.4±0.58	0.30±0.01
Triplet	21	68.9±0.51	74.4±0.63	18	80.4±0.85	0.30±0.02

Table 2  The effect of offering concentrate and litter size on ewe plasma non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) concentrations at different stages of pregnancy (mean±SE). Means within treatments with differing superscripts are significantly (P<0.05) different

		NEFA concentration (mmol/l)^1
	n	P102	P116	P130	P140
Nutritional treatment
Non-concentrate	30	−0.76±0.07 (0.47)^a	−1.18±0.12 (0.31)^a	−0.55±0.12 (0.55)^b	−0.71±0.13 (0.49)^b
Concentrate	31	−0.53±0.07 (0.59)^b	−0.84±0.12 (0.43)^b	−1.06±0.12 (0.34)^a	−1.23±0.13 (0.29)^a
Litter size
Twin	40	−0.70±0.06 (0.50)	−1.08±0.11 (0.34)	−0.92±0.10 (0.44)	−1.02±0.11 (0.37)
Triplet	21	−0.59±0.08 (0.55)	−0.95±0.15 (0.39)	−0.68±0.14 (0.43)	−0.91±0.16 (0.38)
^1Data were log-transformed; transformed data with SE are presented with back-transformed means in parentheses.

Table 3  The effect of offering concentrate and litter size on ewe plasma beta-hydroxybutyrate (BOH) concentrations at different stages of pregnancy (mean±SE). Means within treatments with differing superscripts are significantly (P<0.05) different.

		BOH concentration (mmol/L)^1
	n	P102	P116	P130	P140
Nutritional treatment
Non-concentrate	30	−1.01±0.05 (0.36)	−1.07±0.04 (0.34)^a	−0.96±0.05 (0.38)^b	−0.56±0.05 (0.57)^b
Concentrate	31	−0.90±0.05 (0.41)	−0.90±0.04 (0.40)^b	−1.15±0.05 (0.33)^a	−0.94±0.05 (0.39)^a
Litter size
Twin	40	−0.97±0.04 (0.38)	−0.97±0.04 (0.38)	−1.03±0.04 (0.36)	−0.75±0.04 (0.47)
Triplet	21	−0.94±0.06 (0.39)	−1.00±0.05 (0.37)	−1.07±0.06 (0.34)	−0.74±0.06 (0.47)
^1Data were log-transformed; transformed data with SE are presented with back-transformed means in parentheses.

Table 4  The effect of offering concentrate and lamb birth rank (twin- vs. triplet-born) on lamb birth weight, crown–rump length and thoracic-girth circumference (mean±SE). Means within treatments with differing superscripts are significantly (P<0.05) different.

	n	Birth weight (kg)	SA:Bw^1	Crown–rump length (cm)	Thoracic-girth circumference (cm)
Nutritional treatment
Non-concentrate	66	3.9±0.09^a	179.8±7.08	51.6±0.47	36.3±0.37
Concentrate	63	4.2±0.10^b	174.1±6.82	52.6±0.48	37.0±0.38
Lamb birth rank
Twin	78	4.5±0.09^a	165.8±7.04^a	53.4±0.43^a	38.0±0.34^a
Triplet	51	3.6±0.11^b	188.1±6.88^b	50.8±0.53^b	35.3±0.41^b
^1SA:BW, surface-area-to-birth-weight ratio.

Table 5  The effect of offering concentrate and lamb rearing rank (twin-born reared as single or twin vs. triplet-born reared as a twin or triplet) on weight at lactation day 29 (L29) and 52 (L52) and on weight gain from birth to L29 and L52, and from L29–52 (mean±SE). Means within treatments with differing superscripts are significantly (P<0.05) different

					Liveweight gain (kg/day)
	n	Liveweight at L29 (kg)	n	Liveweight at L52 (kg)	Birth to L29	Birth to L52	L29 to L52
Nutritional treatment
Non-concentrate	50	12.1±0.35	48	15.8±0.41	0.27±0.013	0.22±0.008	0.16±0.017^a
Concentrate	51	11.5±0.32	50	16.2±0.40	0.25±0.013	0.22±0.008	0.21±0.018^b
Lamb rearing rank
Twin reared as single	5	12.4±0.74^a	5	18.3±0.99^a	0.30±0.032^c	0.29±0.021^b	0.28±0.043^c
Twin reared as twin	62	12.2±0.27^a	61	16.0±0.30^bc	0.27±0.009^b	0.23±0.006^b	0.17±0.012^b
Triplet reared as twin	22	12.0±0.55^a	20	15.1±0.56^cd	0.24±0.016^b	0.21±0.011^ab	0.17±0.022^ab
Triplet reared as triplet	12	10.6±0.53^b	12	14.5±0.71^d	0.22±0.021^a	0.17±0.014^a	0.11±0.028^a

Table 6  The effect of offering concentrate and lamb birth rank (twin- vs. triplet-born) on lamb plasma thyroid hormone concentrations at 24–36 hours after birth (mean±SE). Means within treatments and interactions with differing superscripts are significantly (P<0.05) different.

		Thyroid hormone concentration (nmol/l)^1
	n	T4	T3
Nutritional treatment
Non-concentrate	55	4.71±0.03 (111.1)	1.57±0.04 (4.8)
Concentrate	53	4.70±0.03 (109.9)	1.53±0.04 (4.6)
Lamb birth rank
Twin	68	4.76±0.03 (116.4)^b	1.67±0.04 (5.3)^b
Triplet	40	4.70±0.03 (109.9)^a	1.44±0.05 (4.2)^a
Interactions
Twin
Non-concentrate	38	4.81±0.04 (122.7)^b	1.75±0.05 (5.7)^c
Concentrate	30	4.70±0.04 (109.9)^a	1.59±0.05 (4.9)^b
Triplet
Non-concentrate	17	4.61±0.06 (100.5)^a	1.39±0.07 (4.0)^a
Concentrate	23	4.69±0.04 (108.9)^a	1.47±0.06 (4.3)^ab
^1Data were log-transformed; transformed data with SE are presented with back-transformed means in parenthesis.

Table 7  The effect of offering concentrate and lamb birth rank (twin- vs. triplet-born) on lamb survival from birth until lactation day 52 (L52) and total weight of lamb produced per ewe at L52 (mean±SE). Means within treatments with differing superscripts are significantly (P<0.05) different.

	Lamb survival (%)		Total weight of lamb (kg/ewe)
	n	Birth to L52	n	L52
Nutritional treatment
Non-concentrate	48	0.9±0.29^1 (70.1^2)	29	28.7±1.32^a
Concentrate	50	1.4±0.33 (80.0)	28	32.0±1.35^b
Lamb birth rank
Twin	66	1.8±0.32 (85.2)^b	39	30.0±0.92
Triplet	32	0.5±0.29 (62.0)^a	18	30.7±1.87
^1Log^10 transformed
^2Back-transformed