Integration of maternal nutrition and pasture management: implications for the performance and parasite resistance of Texel lambs

Vollständiger Abstract

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Abstract Lactating ewes exhibit markedly increased nutritional requirements, and inadequate nutrient supply may impair lactogenesis, leading to reduced milk yield, restricted lamb growth, and substantial losses in productive efficiency. We aimed to evaluate the effects of ewe supplementation at 0.5 and 1.0% BW on the productive performance and gastrointestinal parasitism of lambs maintained on mowed and unmowed Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandu pastures. Fifty Texel lambs were allocated with their dams to eight paddocks, four subjected to mowing and four maintained without mowing. Lambs born to ewes supplemented at 1.0% BW exhibited greater performance and body condition score (BCS) at 60 days of age. Advancing lamb age resulted in absolute increases in pasture intake, parasitic burden, and body weight, accompanied by a reduction in BCS ( p < 0.05). Lambs from ewes receiving 1.0% supplementation showed higher absolute pasture intake between 30 and 60 days of age ( p < 0.05) and greater parasitic burden at 90 days when maintained on unmowed pastures ( p < 0.05). Higher NDF and ADF concentrations were observed in the leaf blades of mowed pasture ( p < 0.05), without compromising lamb productive performance. Supplementation of suckling lambs under a creep-feeding system enhanced resistance and tolerance to gastrointestinal parasitism on pasture, irrespective of pasture management. Moreover, the progressive increase in supplement intake with advancing lamb age contributed to greater growth throughout the 90 days, allowing lambs to be weaned at approximately 30 kg BW, a level considered adequate for initiating the finishing phase and shortening the lamb meat production cycle under tropical pasture conditions.