Protected fat in the diet of lactating ewes affects milk composition, lamb body weight and their biochemical parameters

Providing the right supplementary feeds at critical periods of ewe life as pre-lambing and lactating can maximise efficiency and profit of sheep breeding. The aim of the research was to study how the feed supplement, based on the protected fat and selenopyran added to the diet of lactating ewes, influents their milk composition as well as the biochemical status and productive characteristics of their lambs. The experiment was carried out with sheep of the Tsigay breed in the conditions of the agro-enterprise Biokor-S Ltd in the Penza region, Russia. It was found that the use of fodder additive in the feeding of ewes increased the fat content in the milk of animals with about 39% compared with the control group. The level of total protein in the serum of lambs, suckling experimental ewes, was significantly lower in comparison with the animals of the control group at the 60th day of the experiment. A significant decrease of the total cholesterol as well as the triglycerides in the blood of lambs was established. The results allow concluding that the use of the protected fat in the feeding of lactating ewes at a dose of 1% of the feed content was optimal, since it compensated the lack of the metabolisable energy, leading to an increase of the fat content in the milk and a weight of their lambs. Also protected fat exerted a positive effect on the lipid spectrum of lamb blood, reducing the level of total cholesterol, and keep the protein content in the physiologic range.