The Value of Cottonseed Alone and with Wheat in Drought Feeding of Sheep

Ten non pregnant, non lactating Corriedale ewes ate an average of 148 g fuzzy whole cotton seed per sheep per day and their mean weight fell from 40.3 to 32.2 kg over an eight week period. Two of the sheep died. A similar group of ewes, offered a mixture of 227 g of cottonseed and 227 g of wheat per sheep per day, usually ate all the ration. At the end of an 18 week period, there were no significant differences between the mean body weight loss (1.7 kg) and the mean clean fleece weight (0.92 kg) of these ewes and another group given 454 g of wheat per sheep per day that lost 3.3 kg per sheep and produced 0.90 kg clean wool per sheep. At the end of the experiment, sheep fed the cottonseed/wheat mixture showed elevated glutamate-oxacetate transaminase levels in blood serum, and hypertrophy of the heart was observed in four of five sheep autopsied.