Effect of milk replacer supplementation on growth and disposal of neonatal lambs of indian sheep

A study was conducted to assess the effect of milk replacer (MR) supplementation on growth and mortality of neonatal lambs. The lambs in treatment group were supplemented MR (Memnaprash©) from 4 to 28 days of age in addition to ewe suckling as compared to only ewe suckling in the control. Observations were recorded for daily milk intake, body weight at birth, 7^th, 15^th, 22^nd and 30^th days of age and mortality / culling, if any. In single-born lambs, MR intake varied significantly (P<0.001) from 103.8±5.2, 91.9±11.7 and 124.3±15.2 ml (on 4^th day of age) to 373.4±27.0, 392.1±26.2 and 433.2±21.7 ml (on 26^th -28^th days of age) and in multiple- born lambs, from 79.4±6.6, 75.8±11.2 and 130.6±7.0 ml (4^th day of age) to 358.6±27.3, 440.8±35.4 and 431.7±11.0 ml (on 27^th -28^th ) day of age in Malpura, Avikalin and Avishaan sheep, respectively. In comparison to the control the total lamb weight per ewe at one month of age was higher (5.67% in Malpura, 15.5% in Avikalin and 11.4% in Avishaan) in MR supplemented group. The overall disposal was almost two times higher in control (27.32%) as compared to treatment group (14.05%). After supplementation of MR for 25 days, the net return increased by Rs 218.00 per ewe (18.53%) over the control. The study suggested that supplementation of MR in lambs is a remurerative approach for improving growth and reducing disposal of lambs in Indian sheep.