Nutritional and biochemical composition of colostrum and milk in sheep of the arid Region

Vyas, S. , Kumar, M. , Patel, A. K. , Patidar, M. , Arora, K. , Kachhawaha, S.

2025-08-01 INDIAN JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCIENCES 2025   95(卷), 8(期), (744-749页)

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The present study was designed to study the effect of parity (PA), stage of lactation (SL), and their interaction (PA x SL) on daily milk yield and milk composition in Marwari sheep. The investigation was conducted at the Small Ruminant Research Unit of ICAR-CAZRI, Jodhpur during the year 2024. Twenty-two ewes in their first parity, along with seven, four, three, two, and three in second, third, fourth, fifth & sixth parity, respectively were included in the study. All ewes were reared, till the end of our study, in a semi-intensive management system with access to ad libitum permanent pasture and a daily concentrate supplement of 0.5 kg/ewe. Milk yield and composition were recorded during two sampling sessions between May and June, corresponding to different stages of lactation. The analysed milk composition parameters included fat, solids-not-fat (SNF), protein, lactose, salts, as well as milk density and freezing point. The mean f SE values for fat, SNF, protein, lactose, and salts were 5.29 f 0.19%, 10.29 f 0.09%, 4.12 f 0.03%, 6.21 f 0.05%, and 0.91 f 0.01%, respectively. The milk density and freezing point were recorded as 36.14 f 0.43 g/cm3 and -0.75 f 0.01 degrees C, respectively. This research highlights the influence of parity and lactation stage on milk production and its composition in Marwari sheep, a breed well-adapted to the arid regions of India.