Productive performance and reproductive characteristics of Morada Nova male lambs fed with high-energy diet
- PDF / 1,761,491 Bytes
- 11 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 9 Downloads / 175 Views
REGULAR ARTICLES
Productive performance and reproductive characteristics of Morada Nova male lambs fed with high-energy diet Andréa do Nascimento Barreto 1 & André Guimarães Maciel e Silva 1 & Sergio Novita Esteves 2 & Manuel Antonio Chagas Jacinto 2 & Waldomiro Barioni Junior 2 & Felipe Zandonadi Brandão 3 & Messy Hannear de Andrade Pantoja 4 & Daniela Botta 1 & Narian Romanello 4 & Amanda Prudêncio Lemes 5 & Alessandro Giro 1 & Alexandre Rossetto Garcia 2 Received: 2 October 2018 / Accepted: 6 June 2019 # Springer Nature B.V. 2019
Abstract Morada Nova breed sheep are without wool, tropicalized, small-sized animals, known for their high-quality meat and skin. Their body development naturally depends on the genetic potential and adequate nutritional support, which suggests that the offer of high-energy density diets positively influences their productive indicators. Thus, the present study investigated the effect of a high-energy diet for the Morada Nova lambs on body development and testicular function, considering their histomorphometric characteristics and seminal quality. Forty-two males (19.2 weeks, 20.7 ± 3.5 kg) were equally divided into two groups and fed with 2.05 Mcal (G7, n = 21) or 2.37 Mcal (G24, n = 21) of metabolizable energy/day, equivalent to 7% and 24% above the minimum for growing lambs. The animals were confined for 23 weeks (W0 to W23). Weight and body score differed significantly from the W1 (P < 0.05). From the W5, thoracic perimeter, body length, wither height, and rump attributes were higher in G24 (P < 0.05). The scrotal circumference and testicular volume were higher in G24 from the W3 (P < 0.05). Although testosterone levels were not affected (P = 0.05), the highest energy intake increased the diameter of the seminiferous tubules and the development of the epididymal epithelium (P < 0.05). This positively influenced the seminal quality and reduced the minor defects (21.87% vs. 17.13%) and the total spermatic defects (26.34% vs. 21.78%, P < 0.05). Thus, it is possible to employ higher levels of dietary energy for Morada Nova young males to express higher productive efficiency and earlier reproductive attributes of interest. Keywords Ovis aries . Hair sheep . Performance . Morphometry . Sperm
Introduction * Alexandre Rossetto Garcia [email protected] 1
Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Pará, Av. dos Universitários, s/n, Castanhal 68746-360, Brazil
2
Laboratory of Animal Reproduction, Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Embrapa Southeast Livestock/Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste (CPPSE/Embrapa), Rod. Washington Luiz, km 234, São Carlos 13560-970, Brazil
3
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Fluminense Federal University, Rua Vital Brasil, 64, Niterói 24230-340, Brazil
4
University of São Paulo, Av. Duque de Caxias Norte, 225, Pirassununga 13635-900, Brazil
5
São Paulo State University BJúlio de Mesquita Filho^, Via Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane, s/n, Jaboticabal 14884-900, Brazil
Domesticated sheep have developed slowly over thousands of years thro
Data Loading...
