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weight of ewes between the supplementation treatments at the start of the trial. During the trial,
supplemented ewes weighed, on average, more (P < 0.05) than unsupplemented ewes (86.4 vs.
83.7 kg, respectively). Late lactation ewes were heavier (P < 0.05) than early lactation ewes at
the start of the trial and maintained significantly greater BW for the whole trial, weighing an
average of 88.1 kg and 81.9 kg, respectively. All treatment groups reached their lowest weight
during the eighth week and gained weight for the last four weeks (Figure 6).
Body condition score values generally reflected changes in BW; by the end of the trial,
supplemented ewes had a higher BCS than unsupplemented ewes, and late lactation ewes had
higher average BCS than early lactation ewes (Figure 7). However, the differences in BCS were
not significant on any test day between supplementation or stage of lactation treatments.
Between supplementation treatments, the difference between average BCS over the trial
approached significance (P = 0.059), with supplemented ewes having a greater BCS than
unsupplemented ewes.
Figure 5: Average body weight of ewes in stage of lactation and supplementation treatments.
Body weight (kg)
Body weight (kg)
95
85
75
95
85
75
*
*
* * * *
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Week in trial
* Least squares means within a test day are different (P < 0.05).
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Late lactation
Early lactation
Unsupplemented
Supplemented