Volga Region Farmland (Oct 2020)

MORPHOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF SKIN OF PREGNANT EWES OF TUSHIN BREED AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF FEEDING

  • O.K. Gogaev,
  • A.R. Demurova,
  • Yu.V. Nakonechny

DOI
https://doi.org/10.26177/VRF.2020.7.3.013
Journal volume & issue
no. 3
pp. 67 – 72

Abstract

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To establish the optimal amount of nutrients in the diets required for the pregnant sheep, in the conditions of the distant-mountain keeping of the North Caucasus in 2018, after tupping, 120 Tushin ewes were selected for the third lambing, which were divided into four groups 30 heads each. Ewes of the control group received a food ration prepared in accordance with the standards of the All-Russian Research Institute of Animal Husbandry (VIZH) (2003). The ration of the second, third and fourth groups of ewes was increased in total nutritional value by 10%, 15% and 20%, respectively, compared with the diet of the control group. The study of skin structure was carried out using prepa-rations made from pregnant ewe skin samples taken from five heads from each group. It was found that, depending on the season of the year and severity, the skin of the experimental ewes underwent significant changes: the thickness of the skin and its layers decreased, the activity of sweat and se-baceous glands decreased, the hair follicles and the diameter of the collagen fiber bundles de-creased in size. The greatest decrease in these parameters occurred in the skin of ewes that were pregnant and received a diet prepared in accordance with the VIZH standards (17.1%). Similar chang-es occurred in the thickness of the epidermis, pilar and reticular layers. The smallest decrease in the thickness of the skin and its layers occurred in the group of ewes under high feeding conditions. The study of horizontal sections of the skin of the experimental groups of ewes showed that the level of feeding during the lambing period did not affect the number of follicles in the hair group. In the groups of ewes that received an increased level of feeding, the number of follicles per unit of skin area decreased by 8.0-13.9%, which is associated with an increase in body condition and, according-ly, an increase in skin area.

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