Implanting melatonin at lambing enhances lamb growth and maintains high fat content in milk

Three experiments were designed to study the effects of melatonin implantation of ewes and lambs after lambing on the growth of lambs and milk quality throughout lactation. In experiment 1, 53 lambs either did (n = 28) or did not (n = 25) receive a subcutaneous 18-mg melatonin implant at the base of the left ear. In experiment 2, 55 lambs and their mothers either did (lambs: n = 28; ewes: n = 15) or did not (lambs: n = 27; ewes: n = 16) receive a melatonin implant. Milk samples were collected at 15, 30, and 45 d after lambing. In experiment 3, 16 lambs were separated from their mothers 24 h after birth, moved to an artificial rearing unit, and either did (n = 9) or did not (n = 7) receive a melatonin implant. In the three experiments, implants were inserted 24 h after lambing, and lambs were weighed (LW) weekly until weaning (for each experiment, 7, 6, and 5 wk., respectively). Average daily gains (ADG) from birth to weaning were calculated. Melatonin treatment of lambs did not have a significant effect on LW at weaning or ADG, but lambs reared by implanted ewes in experiment 2 presented higher (P < 0.05) LW (+/- S.E.M.) at weaning (implanted: 13.61 +/- 0.51; non-implanted: 12.09 +/- 0.57 kg) and ADG (implanted: 221.00 +/- 10.45; non-implanted: 189.92 +/- 12.44 g/d) than did lambs reared by control ewes. At day 45 of lactation, milk fat and total solid content were higher (P < 0.05) in implanted ewes than they were in control ewes. Groups did not differ significantly in the protein and lactose content of their milk. In conclusion, melatonin treatment of ewes at lambing induced a high growth rate of their lambs and increased the fat content of the milk; however, the direct treatment with melatonin of the lambs at birth did not have an effect in their growth rate.