PhenoBR: a model to phenotype body condition dynamics in meat sheep

Abstract

In situations of negative energy balance (NEB) due to feed scarcity or high physiological demands, body energy reserves (BR), mainly stored in adipose tissues, become the main sources of energy for ruminants. The capacity to mobilize and restore such BRs in response to different challenges is of major concern in the current context of breeding for resilience. Body condition score (BCS) is a common, practical indicator of BR variations throughout successive productive cycles, and quantitative tools for characterizing such dynamics at the individual level are still lacking. The main objective of this work was to characterize body condition dynamics in terms of BR mobilization and accretion capacities of meat sheep during their productive lifespan through a modelling approach. The animal model used in this work was the reproductive meat ewe (n = 1478) reared in extensive rangeland. Regular measurements of BCS for each productive cycle were used as the indicator of BR variations. A hybrid mathematical model and a web interface, called PhenoBR, was developed to characterize ewes BCS variations through four synthetic and biologically meaningful parameters for each productive cycle i: BR accretion rate [Formula], BR mobilization rate [Formula], plus the time of onset and the duration of the BR mobilization, [Formula] and {Delta}Ti, respectively. The model converged for all the ewes included in the analysis. Estimation of the parameters indicated the inter-individual variability for BR accretion and mobilization rates, and for the length of the mobilization period. Body reserve mobilization rates were closely correlated between productive cycles. Significant correlations between BR mobilization and accretion rates suggest that the two processes are biologically linked. Parameters kp and kb decreased as parity increased. BR mobilization rate and duration increased as litter size increased, while BR accretion rate decreased. Individual characterization of animals by these parameters makes it possible to rank them for their efficiency in the use of body reserves when facing NEB challenges. Such parameters could contribute to better management and decision-making by farmers and advisors, e.g. by adapting feeding systems to the individual characteristics of BR dynamics, or by geneticists as criteria to develop future animal breeding programs including BR dynamics for more robust and resilient animals.