Effect of Body Condition and Supplementary Feeding on the Reproductive Performance of Awassi Ewes A. D. Salman , Hadeel K. Ibrahim , A. F. Al-Khalisy

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of body condition score (BCS) and supplementary feeding
on the reproductive performance of Awassi ewes.
One hundred sixty Awassi ewes aged 3-5 years (Average live weight 47.41±0.76) were used in a
completely randomized design. Six weeks before mating ewes were screened for their body condition
score (BCS) and divided into two groups, low BCS (<2.0) and high BCS (>2.0) and ewes in each group
were subdivided according to BCS and to non-supplemented and supplemented groups (n=40 ewes
).Therefore, the four groups were:
1. Group (LBCN) = Low Body Condition Non-supplemented.
2. Group (LBCS) = Low Body Condition Supplemented.
3. Group (HBCN) = High Body Condition Non-supplemented.
4. Group (HBCS) = High Body Condition Supplemented.
All ewes received ad libitum barley straw, and (350g DM/ewe/day) whole barley grains. The supplemented
groups (groups 2 and 4) were fed Mating Feed Blocks (MFB) ad libitum. Mature fertile Awassi rams
(Three rams / group) were run with each group.The results showed that the pre-mating, mating, and
post-mating condition scores and body weights of the non-supplemented Ewes (Groups 1 and 3) are
maintained throughout the trial. Ewes offered supplementary feed the supplemented ewes (Groups 2
and 4) gained in body condition score and weights, the differences were not significant. The BCS and
weights at mating for supplemented groups are 2.12, 2.64 and 46.11, 53.38 kg for groups 2 and 4
respectively. The results showed that the reproductive performance of Awassi ewes improved considerably
due initial BCS and MFB supplementation. The percent of ewes lambed after mating during the first and
second estrus cycles were significantly (P<0.05) affected by ewes' initial BCS and MFB supplementation.
The percent of ewes lambed in first cycle were 50%, 77%, 72.3% and 87% for groups LBCN, LBCS,
HBCN and HBCS respectively. Supplementation of low BCS ewes resulted a significant (P<0.05)
improvement in conception rate (17.5%) and lambing rate (12%). The results have not shown any
significant of initial BCS and supplementation on twinning percentage. The percent of barren ewes at end
of the trial was higher (20%, P<0.05) in LBCN compared