Maternal Supplementation with Dietary Betaine during Late Gestation Increased Ewe Plasma Creatine and Lamb Thermoregulation under Field Conditions

Abstract

Twin lamb mortality is a significant economic problem impacting the Australian sheep industry. Maternal betaine supplementation improved lamb vigour and early post-natal survival when ewes and lambs were housed indoors, suggesting that betaine may be beneficial to feed under extensive pasture systems. This study investigated whether maternal betaine supplementation during late gestation would improve Merino twin lamb live weight, thermoregulation, vigour and survival to weaning under field conditions. Ewes received dietary betaine at either 0 g/day (CTL; n = 115) or 4 g/day from day 110 of gestation (dG 110) until ~49 days post-partum (pp) (BET; n = 115). Measures indicative of lamb viability and survival were collected within 4–24 h of birth and at ~49 days pp and ~93 days pp. BET ewes had higher creatine and creatinine concentrations at dG 130 than CTL ewes (p p p p < 0.05). This study demonstrated that supplementing betaine increased creatine concentration in twin-bearing ewes and thermoregulatory capacity in neonatal lambs under extensive grazing systems.

Keywords

• betaine
• supplementation
• gestation
• plasma creatine
• lamb
• survival