Invited review: impact of specific nutrient interventions during mid-to-late gestation on physiological traits important for survival of multiple-born lambs

To improve production efficiency the sheep meat industry has increased flock prolificacy. However, multiple-born lambs have lower birth weights, increased mortality and reduced growth rate compared to single-born lambs. A critical developmental period for defining postnatal lamb performance is gestation and an important factor that influences this development is nutrition. Nutrition during gestation can influence maternal-fetal placental nutrient transfer and thus fetal growth and organ/tissue development, as well as improve postnatal productivity. This review covers the challenges and opportunities associated with increased prolificacy, highlights gaps in our knowledge, and identifies some opportunities for how nutrition during mid to late pregnancy may influence lamb survival and productivity. Nutritional programming of skeletal muscle, brown adipose tissue and the mammary gland and potential mechanism are a particular focus.