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Table 11 Lactation performance of dairy ewes1supplemented with rumen undegraded protein (RUP) and fed or grazing forage of varying proportions of alfalfa

From: Dairy sheep production research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA – a review

Trait

RUP Supplement

 

% alfalfa in forage

 

No

Yes

SEM

0

25

50

75

SEM

Cut-and-carry trial:2

Milk yield, kg/d

1.79f

1.95e

0.06

1.74g

1.85f

1.94e

1.95e

0.06

Fat yield, g/d

122

123

3

117

122

124

127

4

Protein yield, g/d

90

95

2

85b

90b

96a

98a

3

Milk urea nitrogen, mg/dL

12.3b

15.1a

0.8

10.9d

12.7c

14.3b

16.8a

0.7

Grazing trial:3

Milk yield, kg/d

1.65

1.82

0.16

1.55g

1.78f

1.87e

 

0.11

Fat yield, g/d

105

115

11

102

113

116

 

8

Protein yield, g/d

84

94

7

78a

90a,b

98b

 

5

Milk urea nitrogen, mg/dL

18.2

19.8

1.0

15.0b

19.8a

22.1a

 

0.8

  1. 1Multiparous crossbred ewes of East Friesian and Lacaune breeding.
  2. 2n = 16 ewes; 8 pens of 2 ewes each. 4 pens randomly assigned to each supplement treatment. Within supplementation treatment, pens were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 forage treatments, which were applied in a 4 × 4 Latin square design for 10-d periods.
  3. 3n = 12 ewes; 3 groups of 4 ewes each. 2 ewes in each group randomly assigned to each supplement treatment. Grazing treatments were arranged in a 3 × 3 Latin square design and randomly applied to groups for 10-d periods.
  4. a,b,c,dMeans within a row and treatment with no superscript in common are different (P < 0.05).
  5. e,f,gMeans within a row and treatment with no superscript in common are different (P < 0.10).
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Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology

ISSN: 2049-1891