Pelleted Total Mixed Rations as a Feeding Strategy for High-Yielding Dairy Ewes
[EN] The effects of pelleting a total mixed ration (TMR) for dairy sheep were investigated in an experiment involving 24 lactating Assaf ewes, which were assigned to two groups and fed the same TMR ad libitum, offered either in pelleted (PTMR group, n = 12) or in unpelleted form (CTMR group, n = 12)...
| Autores: | , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2026 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad de León |
| Repositorio: | BULERIA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de León |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:buleria.unileon.es:10612/27094 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/16/2/225 https://hdl.handle.net/10612/27094 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Producción animal Dairy ewes Pelleted feed Feed efficiency Milk yield Milk composition 3109 Ciencias veterinarias 3104 Producción Animal |
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Pelleted Total Mixed Rations as a Feeding Strategy for High-Yielding Dairy EwesAndrés Llorente, SoniaLópez Puente, SecundinoDíaz Reyes, AlexeyMartín González, AlbaMorán Lobato, LaraBodas, RaúlGiráldez García, Francisco JavierProducción animalDairy ewesPelleted feedFeed efficiencyMilk yieldMilk composition3109 Ciencias veterinarias3104 Producción Animal[EN] The effects of pelleting a total mixed ration (TMR) for dairy sheep were investigated in an experiment involving 24 lactating Assaf ewes, which were assigned to two groups and fed the same TMR ad libitum, offered either in pelleted (PTMR group, n = 12) or in unpelleted form (CTMR group, n = 12). The experiment lasted 28 days, during which feed intake, eating behavior (including meal frequency and size, meal duration, eating rate, between-meal interval), and milk yield were recorded daily. Body weight (BW) was recorded on days 1 and 28 and milk samples were collected on days 1, 8, 15, 22 and 28 for milk composition analysis. Blood acid-base status was determined at the beginning and at the end of the trial. Ewes fed the CTMR diet exhibited (p < 0.05) a higher meal frequency and longer meal duration, along with a smaller meal size and slower eating rate. However, feed intake in this group was less than that in ewes fed PTMR only during the final two weeks of the experimental period. Total eating time was also longer (p < 0.001) in the CTMR group, whereas the average time between meals was shorter (p < 0.002). No differences (p > 0.05) were observed between dietary treatments in blood acid-base status, milk yield or milk composition. However, a diet x day interaction (p < 0.05) was detected for milk yield, as during the last 2 weeks of the experimental period the ewes fed the PTMR yielded more milk than those fed the CTMR. Feed conversion ratio did not differ between groups (p > 0.05), but body weight loss was greater in ewes fed the CTMR diet (−3.00 vs. −0.58 kg; p < 0.05). A trend toward improved feed efficiency was observed in the PTMR group when calculated based on milk yield corrected for that theoretically derived from the mobilization of body reserves (1.98 vs. 1.41 g DMI/kg milk; p = 0.077), with estimated contributions from body reserves of 485 g/day in the CTMR group and 70 g/day in the PTMR group. In conclusion, the use of pelleted total mixed rations in high-yielding dairy ewes enhances feed intake, feed efficiency, milk yield, and energy balance without adversely affecting milk composition or animal health in the short term.SIThis work was funded by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (PID2021-126489OB-I00, MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, “FEDER, Una manera de hacer Europa”).The collaboration of the Animal Selection and Reproduction Center (CENSYRA, Junta de Castilla y León, Spain) in the analysis of milk samples is gratefully acknowledged.MDPIProducción AnimalFacultad de Veterinaria2026info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttps://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/16/2/225https://hdl.handle.net/10612/27094reponame:BULERIA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Leóninstname:Universidad de LeónInglésinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Programa Estatal para Impulsar la Investigación Científico-Técnica y su Transferencia/PID2021-126489OB-I00http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:buleria.unileon.es:10612/270942026-06-24T12:43:27Z |
| dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Pelleted Total Mixed Rations as a Feeding Strategy for High-Yielding Dairy Ewes |
| title |
Pelleted Total Mixed Rations as a Feeding Strategy for High-Yielding Dairy Ewes |
| spellingShingle |
Pelleted Total Mixed Rations as a Feeding Strategy for High-Yielding Dairy Ewes Andrés Llorente, Sonia Producción animal Dairy ewes Pelleted feed Feed efficiency Milk yield Milk composition 3109 Ciencias veterinarias 3104 Producción Animal |
| title_short |
Pelleted Total Mixed Rations as a Feeding Strategy for High-Yielding Dairy Ewes |
| title_full |
Pelleted Total Mixed Rations as a Feeding Strategy for High-Yielding Dairy Ewes |
| title_fullStr |
Pelleted Total Mixed Rations as a Feeding Strategy for High-Yielding Dairy Ewes |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Pelleted Total Mixed Rations as a Feeding Strategy for High-Yielding Dairy Ewes |
| title_sort |
Pelleted Total Mixed Rations as a Feeding Strategy for High-Yielding Dairy Ewes |
| dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv |
Andrés Llorente, Sonia López Puente, Secundino Díaz Reyes, Alexey Martín González, Alba Morán Lobato, Lara Bodas, Raúl Giráldez García, Francisco Javier |
| author |
Andrés Llorente, Sonia |
| author_facet |
Andrés Llorente, Sonia López Puente, Secundino Díaz Reyes, Alexey Martín González, Alba Morán Lobato, Lara Bodas, Raúl Giráldez García, Francisco Javier |
| author_role |
author |
| author2 |
López Puente, Secundino Díaz Reyes, Alexey Martín González, Alba Morán Lobato, Lara Bodas, Raúl Giráldez García, Francisco Javier |
| author2_role |
author author author author author author |
| dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv |
Producción Animal Facultad de Veterinaria |
| dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv |
Producción animal Dairy ewes Pelleted feed Feed efficiency Milk yield Milk composition 3109 Ciencias veterinarias 3104 Producción Animal |
| topic |
Producción animal Dairy ewes Pelleted feed Feed efficiency Milk yield Milk composition 3109 Ciencias veterinarias 3104 Producción Animal |
| description |
[EN] The effects of pelleting a total mixed ration (TMR) for dairy sheep were investigated in an experiment involving 24 lactating Assaf ewes, which were assigned to two groups and fed the same TMR ad libitum, offered either in pelleted (PTMR group, n = 12) or in unpelleted form (CTMR group, n = 12). The experiment lasted 28 days, during which feed intake, eating behavior (including meal frequency and size, meal duration, eating rate, between-meal interval), and milk yield were recorded daily. Body weight (BW) was recorded on days 1 and 28 and milk samples were collected on days 1, 8, 15, 22 and 28 for milk composition analysis. Blood acid-base status was determined at the beginning and at the end of the trial. Ewes fed the CTMR diet exhibited (p < 0.05) a higher meal frequency and longer meal duration, along with a smaller meal size and slower eating rate. However, feed intake in this group was less than that in ewes fed PTMR only during the final two weeks of the experimental period. Total eating time was also longer (p < 0.001) in the CTMR group, whereas the average time between meals was shorter (p < 0.002). No differences (p > 0.05) were observed between dietary treatments in blood acid-base status, milk yield or milk composition. However, a diet x day interaction (p < 0.05) was detected for milk yield, as during the last 2 weeks of the experimental period the ewes fed the PTMR yielded more milk than those fed the CTMR. Feed conversion ratio did not differ between groups (p > 0.05), but body weight loss was greater in ewes fed the CTMR diet (−3.00 vs. −0.58 kg; p < 0.05). A trend toward improved feed efficiency was observed in the PTMR group when calculated based on milk yield corrected for that theoretically derived from the mobilization of body reserves (1.98 vs. 1.41 g DMI/kg milk; p = 0.077), with estimated contributions from body reserves of 485 g/day in the CTMR group and 70 g/day in the PTMR group. In conclusion, the use of pelleted total mixed rations in high-yielding dairy ewes enhances feed intake, feed efficiency, milk yield, and energy balance without adversely affecting milk composition or animal health in the short term. |
| publishDate |
2026 |
| dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2026 |
| dc.type.none.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
| format |
article |
| status_str |
publishedVersion |
| dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv |
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/16/2/225 https://hdl.handle.net/10612/27094 |
| url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/16/2/225 https://hdl.handle.net/10612/27094 |
| dc.language.none.fl_str_mv |
Inglés |
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Inglés |
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info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Programa Estatal para Impulsar la Investigación Científico-Técnica y su Transferencia/PID2021-126489OB-I00 |
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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
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openAccess |
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MDPI |
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MDPI |
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reponame:BULERIA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de León instname:Universidad de León |
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Universidad de León |
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BULERIA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de León |
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BULERIA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de León |
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