Moreno Manrique María, Mínguez Balaguer Carlos, Ibáñez Sanchis Carla, González Clari Marta, Villagrá García Arantxa, Bueso Ródenas Joel
Doctoral School, Department of Animal Production and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Experimental Sciences, Catholic University of Valencia San Vicente Mártir, Valencia, Spain.
Department of Animal Production and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Experimental Sciences, Catholic University of Valencia San Vicente Mártir, Valencia, Spain.
Front Vet Sci. 2024 Oct 15;11:1474801. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1474801. eCollection 2024.
Nowadays, many dairy sheep farms opt for milk replacers after birth. Weaning lambs from milk replacers is expected to be a stressful situation.
With the aim of researching this practice on the animal behavior, body weight yields, and sanitary status of Lacaune lambs, 60 healthy animals from the same lambing house were employed. Lambs were housed in a pen and had access to forage, compound feed, and milk replacers. During a 4 days preexperimental period in which all the animals were fed with milk replacers, behavior, hematologic parameters, body weight and seric and fecal stress indicators were recorded. Later, an experimental period took place in which 20 lambs remained in the same conditions. Another 20 lambs were kept in a separate pen in the same barn under the same conditions, but the artificial milk feeding was interrupted (weaning). The third 20 lambs were weaned and also rehoused in fattening pens. After 4 days, the variables previously recorded in the three groups during the pre-experimental period were recorded again.
Results showed that change of location and change of feed can have different and synergic effects on the behavior of the lambs. Change of feed had not specifically different effect on body weight than change of location. In the other hand, weaning had no significative effects on hematologic parameters and seric and fecal stress indicators.
Weaning from artificial milk had significative effects on lambs weight and behavior. More research is needed to improve this ethical aspect in ovine production.
如今，许多奶羊养殖场在羔羊出生后选择使用代乳品。预计将羔羊从代乳品转换为其他食物会是一个压力较大的过程。
为了研究这种做法对拉库纳羔羊的动物行为、体重增长和健康状况的影响，选用了来自同一产羔舍的60只健康羔羊。羔羊被饲养在一个围栏中，可获取草料、配合饲料和代乳品。在为期4天的预实验期内，所有动物都喂食代乳品，记录其行为、血液学参数、体重以及血清和粪便应激指标。之后进入实验期，20只羔羊保持相同条件。另外20只羔羊被安置在同一畜舍的单独围栏中，条件相同，但人工喂奶中断（断奶）。第三组20只羔羊断奶并被转移到育肥围栏中。4天后，再次记录三组在预实验期记录的变量。
结果表明，饲养地点的改变和饲料的改变对羔羊的行为可能有不同的协同作用。饲料的改变对体重的影响与饲养地点的改变没有显著差异。另一方面，断奶对血液学参数以及血清和粪便应激指标没有显著影响。
从人工喂奶转换为其他食物对羔羊的体重和行为有显著影响。需要更多研究来改善绵羊生产中的这一伦理问题。
