National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS)
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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
To know the effect of Body Condition Score at lambing (BCSL) on postpartum changes a study was carried out at the sheep unit of Livestock Farm Complex, NTR College of Veterinary Science, Gannavaram and sheep flocks of farmers in and around Gannavaram of Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh. A total of 60 Nellore (Brown) ewes were selected to study the postpartum changes. The ewes were in the BCS range of 2.50 – 4.00 at lambing. Majority of the ewes (49) were in the BCS of 2.50 – 3.74 at lambing have reduced their body condition during early lactation and so the minimum BCS of 2.00 – 2.74 was recorded for majority of the ewes (46). The mean BCSL was 3.15 which was decreased to 2.91 at first week postpartum, further decreased to 2.38 by 12 weeks postpartum and later on increased gradually to 2.64 by 18 weeks postpartum. LBCS of the test flock ranged from 0.50 to 1.25 with a mean value of 0.80. GBCS of the test flock ranged from 0.25 to 0.50 with a mean value of 0.28. Minimum BCS of the test flock ranged from 2.00 to 3.00 with a mean value of 2.34. The highest CV (18.94) of BCS in ewes was observed at 5 weeks postpartum and the least (12.04) at 14 and 16 weeks postpartum. The CV of LBCS was 24.27 and the CV of GBCS was 35.17 at 18 weeks postpartum. A significant (P<0.01) difference was observed between the ewes of different groups of BCSL in LBCS and minimum BCS. The mean BCS was decreased from first week to 12 weeks postpartum for the ewes of BCSL 2.50 to 2.99 and from first week to 13 weeks postpartum for the ewes of BCSL 3.00 to 3.49 and 3.50 to 4.00, thereafter showed an increased trend for the ewes of three BCSL groups. The highest loss as well as gain in BCS was achieved by the BCSL group 3.50 to 4.00 compared to the BCSL group 2.50 to 2.99 and 3.00 to 3.49.The present study suggested an optimum BCS of 3.50 – 4.00 at lambing so that the ewes could maintain the optimum body condition during lactation as well as replenish the body fat reserves by regaining BCS more efficiently.
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