Effects of supplemental whole cottonseed on lactation performance,plasma biochemical indicators,and antioxidant capacity of female Hu sheep
WANG Shanshan
LIU Renping
LI Peiyao
SUN Hongchen
ZHAO Guodong
LIU Zhiqiang
YANG Kailun
Abstract：The experiment aimed to investigate the effects of supplemental whole cottonseed(WCS)on the lactation performance,plasma biochemical indicators,and antioxidant capacity of female Hu sheep.A total of 24 healthy pregnant female Hu sheep at 120 days of gestation were randomly divided into four groups with three replicates per group and two sheep per replicate.The control group was fed a basal diet,while experimental groups Ⅰ,Ⅱ,and Ⅲ were supplemented with 100,200,and 300 g/d of WCS per sheep on the basal diet,respectively.The pre-test period was seven days,and the formal test period lasted from prepartum 21 days to postpartum 28 days.The results showed that there were no significant differences in milk composition among the groups(P＞0.05).Compared with the control group,WCS supplementation significantly increased the body weight of lambs at 14 and 28 days of age in groups Ⅱ and Ⅲ(P＜0.05),significantly enhanced the average daily weight gain(ADG)of lambs from one to 14 days of age in all experimental groups,as well as in groups Ⅱ and Ⅲ from one to 28 days(P＜0.05).Supplementing WCS extremely increased the plasma total antioxidant capacity(T-AOC),nitric oxide(NO)content,and the activities of catalase(CAT),glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px),and superoxide dismutase(SOD)in group Ⅱ(P＜0.01).The study indicates that supplementing WCS to female Hu sheep during gestation and lactation can enhance antioxidant capacity and improve lamb growth performance.The recommended appropriate supplementation level of WCS is 200 g/d per sheep.
Keywords：whole cottonseedeweslactation performanceplasma biochemical indicatorsantioxidant capacitylambsgrowth performance
Publication Date：2025-09-16
Online Publishing Date：2025-11-11(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：5( 1-5 )