[Estimation of milk production in the nursing mare by labeling the body water of the foal].
Female milk production was related to offspring water turnover, estimated by a tracer method (fig. 1). After deuterium oxide was injected into the blood of the offspring, we measured the decrease of its concentration in time. Milk intake was calculated by equations taking into account the weight gain of the offspring. The reliability of this method was checked in 28 bottle-fed lambs with known milk intake; the correlation between the actual intakes and our estimates was 0.98 with an error means of 5.6 p. 100. The error on the mean of 28 lambs was 0.5 p. 100 (table 1). The milk production of 6 heavy brood mares, estimated during the first week of lactation, varied from 12 to 20 kg per day between animals (table 2). This method did not interfere with the mother-offspring relationship nor with the usual suckling conditions; it can be used advantageously during the onset of lactation in species whose offspring suck frequently.
D000818:Animals; D001834:Body Water / Q000378:metabolism*; D003903:Deuterium; D017666:Deuterium Oxide; D005260:Female; D006736:Horses / Q000502:physiology*; D007700:Kinetics; D007774:Lactation; D011247:Pregnancy; D012756:Sheep; D014867:Water
D014867:Water; D003903:Deuterium; D017666:Deuterium Oxide
Estimation de la production laitière de la jument allaitante par marquage de l'eau corporelle du poulain.