Nutrition in the Reproduction of Farm Animals

Abstract

The nutritional effects on puberty, ovulation rate, embryo survival, foetal growth, mammary development, colostrum production, perinatal survival, lactation, parturition and rebreeding interval in farm animals is reviewed. Results are discussed of recent investigations that study the mechanisms involved in the nutritional modulation of these processes. There are many examples of nutritional regimens that maximize a response at one physiological state but are counter-productive to reproduction as a whole (e.g. the stimulating effect of high-plane feeding on ovulation rate in gilts and ewes, which if sustained into early pregnancy, is detrimental to embryo survival). The successful application of new findings discussed in this review therefore requires a forward projection of their long-term implications for the overall well-being of breeding stock and their progeny.