Factors affecting birth weight in sheep: maternal environment
Open accessAbstract
Knowledge of factors affecting variation in birth weight is especially important given the relationship of birth weight to neonatal and adult health. The present study utilises two large contemporary datasets in sheep of differing breeds to explore factors that influence weight at term. For dataset one (Study 1; n=154 Blue-faced Leicester×Swaledale (Mule) and 87 Welsh Mountain ewes, 315 separate cases of birth weight), lamb birth weight as the outcome measure was related to maternal characteristics and individual energy intake of the ewe during specified periods of gestation, i.e. early (1–30 days; term ~147 days gestation), mid (31–80 days) or late (110–147 days) pregnancy. For dataset two (Study 2; n=856 Mule ewes and 5821 cases of birth weight), we investigated using multilevel modelling the influence of ewe weight, parity, barrenness, lamb sex, litter size, lamb mortality and year of birth on lamb birth weight. For a subset of these ewes (n=283), the effect of the ewes’ own birth weight was also examined. Interactions between combinations of variables were selectively investigated. Litter size, as expected, had the single greatest influence on birth weight with other significant effects being year of birth, maternal birth weight, maternal nutrition, sex of the lamb, ewe barrenness and maternal body composition at mating. The results of the present study have practical implications not only for sheep husbandry but also for the increased knowledge of factors that significantly influence variation in birth weight; as birth weight itself has become a significant predictor of later health outcomes.
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We lacked information about the maternal environment, which is known to affect growth and development in other species such as sheep.
“This also we lacked information about the maternal environment, which is known to affect the growth and development in other species such as sheep [29].”
From Growth standard charts for monitoring bodyweight in intact domestic shorthair kittens from the USA (2022) · cites this paper as [29]
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- Authors
- Gardner, D. S., Buttery, P. J., Daniel, Z., & Symonds, M. E.
- Affiliations
- University of Nottingham (GB)
- Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (GB)
- Venue
- Reproduction
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2007-01-01
- Volume
- 133
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 297-307
- ISSN
- 1470-1626 (ISSN-L)
- 1741-7899
- PMC
- PMC1994721
- OpenAlex
- W2019069086
- Cited by
- 243
- References
- 57
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 18.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Reproduction (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Repository@Nottingham (University of Nottingham) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Repository@Nottingham (University of Nottingham) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- British Heart Foundation (BS/03/001/15219)
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK Government
- University of Nottingham
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agronomy and Crop Science › Reproductive Physiology in Livestock
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
- Keywords
- lamb birth weight, maternal environment, ewe nutrition, maternal weight, litter size, lamb sex, maternal birth weight, birth year, gestation, sheep breeds, Swaledale, Welsh mountains, lamb mortality, maternal body composition
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Animals, Newborn, Birth Weight, Body Weight, Breeding, Energy Intake, Environment, Female, Gestational Age, Infertility, Litter Size, Parity, Pregnancy, Pregnancy, Animal, Sheep, Domestic, Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena
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