Feeding live yeast to pre-parturition ewes can boost lamb immunity and robustness

Sheep producers are

being urged to con-sider feeding live yeast to pre-parturition ewes following recent re-

search which shows sign-ificant improvements in colostrum quality and lamb robustness.

When speaking at the 12th International Symposium on

Gut Microbiology, Dr Lysi-ane Duniére, research scientist at the Lallemand Ruminant Centre of Ex-cellence, highlighted that there can be real benefits from feeding a live yeast pre-parturition.

This includes better ru-men function for ewes and improved colostrum quality and immune protection for lambs.

Dr Duniére headed up this research project in

partnership with the Uni-versité Clermont Auvergne and INRAE, in Clermont Ferrand, and the clear take home message was that as rumen function improves so does maternal performance.

“The transition period is one of the most challenging times for ruminants with significant metabolic and dietary changes impacting rumen function.

However, this study proves that feeding a live yeast during the transition phase can really help to stabilise the rumen microbiota,” she explained.

She went on to say how feeding a live yeast not

only improves rumen fun-ction, but also colostrum quality.

“During the trial, ewes supplemented with the specific live yeast Levucell SC showed significantly higher immunoglobin G (IgG) concentrations, which is a type of antibody, in the colostrum when compared to the control group. This demonstrated immune tr-ansfer to the lambs.

“Higher IgG levels could also be seen in the blood of the supplemented ewe’s new-borns at birth and at one week of age,” added Dr Duniére.

“This increased level of antibodies means they have a better chance of fighting off any disease pressures they may be exposed to.

“Further to this, the results highlighted that there was also a higher concentration of the bioactive anti-microbial molecules lacto-ferrin and sialic acids in the colostrum, which can also benefit new-born’s ro-

bustness and digestive sy-stem development,” she explained.

Dr Duniére concluded by

saying there are many benefits of feeding live yeast to pre-parturition ewes and it’s something producers should really consider to help maximise ewe and lamb performance.