The effect of pasture supplemented diets on the performance of lactating ewes in the foothills of Lesotho

Farmer-participatory research was implemented in the foothills of Machache Lesotho with aim to investigate the influence of supplementary feeding of ewes using forage-based diets. The study followed a randomized complete block design with four dietary treatments replicated three times. A total of 270 lactating ewes were contributed by farmers and were randomly distributed into 12 experimental units. Control treatment had a total of 54 lactating ewes made up of 18 animals per replicate while each treated groups had a total of 72 lactating ewes made up of 24 animals per replicate. The experiment lasted for 10 weeks. The dietary treatments were as follows; control in the form of pasture, T1: forage alone, T2: forage plus concentrate, T3: forage, concentrate and urea molasses mineral block. The treatment diet was offered in the morning before animals go to the pasture or rangeland and it was offered at the rate of 100 grams per head per day. Control animals on the other hand did not have access to supplementary feeds. Data collection on production parameters such as feed intake and live weight change was taken on weekly basis. Data on blood glucose, p-hydroxybutyric acid (BHBA), wool growth and milk quality was taken at the beginning and at the end of feeding trial. The findings indicated that the treatment group supplemented with forage, concentrates and urea mineral block performed significantly (P<0.05) better than the control group in all tested parameters such as nutritive value of treatment diets, production parameters such as feed intake, live weight change and wool growth, blood parameters such as blood glucose and BHBA, and milk quality. The study also revealed (control) that pasture and forage supplementation (T1) alone do not meet the nutritional needs of lactating ewes and the animal had to use their body fat reserves to meet their maintenance needs and this was evident by loss of weight and increased blood BHBA from the two treatments.