The Differences Of Behaviors And Maternal Milk Nutrition Of Primiparous And Multiparous Ewe During Lactating Period On The Growth And Health Of Their Lambs

Lamb health survival is an important link in sheep industry to enhance efficiency of production,but also premise of healthy and sustainable development of aquaculture.Practice shows that rapid development of sheep industry can not do without application of comprehensive technology,many problems can be solved by way of science and technology.Related reports have shown that high mortality rate of newborn lambs is related to ewe’s maternal behavior,lactation ability,age and body weight.In general,lambs produced by primiparous ewe are smaller and weaker,and maternal behavior is not as good as that of multiparous ewe,which leads to high death rate of lambs at newborn stage.Although there are many previous studies on the differences in the behavior of primiparous ewe and multiparous ewe,there is no specific study on the detailed changes in the behavior of the mother lamb,the body weight of the lamb and the physiological and biochemical changes between the lamb and the lamb in the first few days of the ewes delivery.Therefore,video surveillance is used to study behavior of mother lambs in lactation period.Combined with dynamic changes of breast milk,main influencing factors of ewe lamb mortality were analyzed.Using combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to start discussion.On basis of investigation of present situation and diseases in a lake sheep farm in Xinjiang,this study compared seven healthy primiparous ewes for delivery and its primiparous lambs,seven sheep multiparous ewes and multiparous lambs.Body weight,physiological and biochemical indexes of ewes and lambs,nutritional components and immunoglobulin of mother’s milk were measured,and behavioral changes of ewes-lambs during lactation(sucking)period were monitored dynamically by video monitoring technique.The results were as follows:1.Results of two investigations at a lake sheep farm in Xinjiang showed that PL mortality was higher than that of ML during birth to weaning.2.By comparing growth and health of two groups of ewe and lambs,difference was found between two groups.Birth weight of PE was smaller than that of ME,growth rate was slower,number of diarrhea was more,and mortality was higher than that of ML.3.Behavior of ewe and lambs was studied by video surveillance technique.Average feeding frequency of PE and ME in 72 hours was not significantly different(P > 0.05),which was 0.75 times and 0.62 times,respectively.Feeding time was 9.53 min and 3.54 mins,difference was very significant(P < 0.01),but there was no significant difference in lying frequency(P > 0.05),which was 0.54,0.77 respectively.Average milk-sucking time per hour of ML was 156.31 s longer than that of PL,which was 116.11s(P < 0.05)with significant difference.Frequency of breast sucking was 2.53 times,which was less than 2.63 times.There was no significant difference between the two groups(p > 0.05),which results showed that the milk which multiparous lamb obtained from lambs was higher than that primiparous lamb,and the growth rate was faster.4.By measuring dynamic changes of milk nutrition and immunoglobulin in two groups of ewe,it was found that most of components and content of lg G decreased with prolongation of lactation period,the content of lg G in PE falls faster than that of ME.So the multiparous lamb may take longer than primiparous lamb to get nutrients from breast milk,so it’s also healthier.According to test results,primiparous lamb is smaller than multiparous lamb,has a large number of diarrhea,and has a high mortality rate.The main reasons for this phenomenon are:(1)The primiparous lamb is not fully developed,has a small body weight,is inexperienced in child-rearing,and is not as skilled as multiparous ewe in the care of lambs.(2)The initial production of lg G in breast milk decreased rapidly compared with multiparous ewe,causing the growth of primiparous lamb to be less than that of multiparous lamb.(3)The multiparous ewe can provide stable lactation time for lambs earlier than primiparous ewe,so multiparous lamb has less disease and faster growth than primiparous lamb.(4)The poor nutrition of ewes,underweight,and rapid decline in lg G content in breast milk are the primary causes of the slow growth of early lambs and poor resistance to disease.Therefore,attention should be paid to the fine management of production and breeding in the process of feeding and management,which is conducive to improving the survival rate of lambs.