Effect of supplementary feedings during mid and late pregnancy of merino grazing ewes

Abstract

Pastures in sheep grazing systems in Central-North of Spain during autumn and winter seasons are defectives for animal production and supplementary feeding provides the means to increase nutrient intake and avoid overgrazing. However, in grazing systems animal response to provision of additional fed can be erratic or inconsistent. Therefore, it is necessary a better understanding of the effects of supplementation to define optimal supplementary feeding strategies. The purpose of this paper is study the effect of supplementary feeding in grazing pregnant ewes on animal performance and conceptus development.