118 Acta argiculturae Slovenica, Supplement 5, 118–121, Ljubljana 2016
24th Int. Symp. “Animal Science Days”, Ptuj, Slovenia, Sept. 21st−23rd, 2016.
COBISS: 1.08
Agris category code: L50
 
THE EFFECT OF EWE MINERAL STATUS  
ON THE LAMBS MINERAL SUPPLY
Erika SZIGETI 1, János KÁTAI 2, István KOMLÓSI 3, János OLÁH 4, Csaba SZABÓ 5
The effect of ewe mineral status on the lambs mineral supply
 
1 University of Debrecen, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, H4032 Debrecen Böszörményi út 138. Hungary, e-mail: szigeti@
agr.unideb.hu
2 Same address as 1, e-mail: katai@agr.unideb.hu
3 Same address as 1, e-mail: komlosi@agr.unideb.hu
4 Same address as 1, e-mail: olahja@agr.unideb.hu
5 Same address as 1, e-mail: szabo.csaba@agr.unideb.hu
ABSTRACT
The aim of our study is to examine the mineral status of Tsigai ewes and their lambs based on wool mineral 
content, and the relationship between ewes wool and milk mineral content and the lamb wool mineral concentration. 
Ten Tsigai sheep nursing single lamb was randomly selected on the 6–10th day of lactation. Sampling was carried out 
in March. Wool samples free of visible contamination were obtained from the withers of the ewes and the lambs using 
bended scissors. Approximately 10 ml of milk samples were collected by hand milking. Ca, Mg, Na, Cu, S, P, Se and Zn 
content were determined by ICP-OES (Perkin-Elmer, Optima 3300 DV). Statistical analyses were carried out by SAS 
(SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC) GLM procedure. Wool mineral content did not show deficient supply in case of ewes. 
Young lamb’s wool mineral composition is distinct from those measured in adult ewes. This fact and the lack of signifi-
cant correlation between ewe and lamb mineral status indicates strictly regulated mineral passage through placenta.
Key words: sheep, ewes, lambs, mineral status, wool mineral content, milk mineral content
1 INTRODUCTION
Follicle development during the last third of the 
gestation period and early postnatal life determines the 
amount and quality of wool produced by adult sheep. 
The ewes’ nutrient intake must be adequate for the 
maintenance and wool growth as well as for the foe-
tus growth and development until weaning (Hatcher 
and Johnson, 2005). Insufficient nutrient supply is one 
of the factors of which can adversely affect follicle de-
velopment. Studies with merino sheep (Corbett, 1979) 
demonstrated that the impaired initiation and matura-
tion of secondary follicles during the third trimester of 
pregnancy permanently reduces adult wool production. 
All follicles initiated at birth, but undernutrition during 
early postnatal life can reduce the capacity of follicles 
to produce wool and delay the maturation of second-
ary follicles even 6–12 months (Khan et al., 2012). The 
essentiality of sixteen minerals has been identified in 
sheep diets (Sahoo and Soren, 2011). Minerals has in-
fluence on wool growth by reducing feed intake (Na, K, 
S, P, Mg, Co and Zn), by altering rumen function and 
thus the supply of nutrients (S, Na, K and Co) or by 
disturbing metabolic processes (Zn, Cu, Se, I and Co). 
Maternal Se status has been demonstrated to have an ef-
fect on secondary to primary follicle ratio of lambs (Ma-
golski et al., 2011). The sulfur content of wool fibre has 
a strong correlation with fiber strength, work of rupture 
and initial modulus (Qi and Lupton, 1994). Copper de-
ficiency can cause depigmentation, lack of crimps, low 
mechanical strength and lustrous appearance. Zinc de-
ficiency results in reduced wool growth, lack of crimps, 
lustrous and brittle fibers (White et al., 1994). Se defi-
ciency also reducing wool growth, but has no effect on 
Acta agriculturae Slovenica, Supplement 5 – 2016 119
THE EFFECT OF EWE MINERAL STATUS ON THE LAMBS MINERAL SUPPLY
feed intake (Sahoo and Soren, 2011). Therefore, the aim 
of our study is to examine the mineral status of Tsigai 
ewes and their lambs based on wool mineral content, 
and the relationship between ewes wool and milk min-
eral content and the lamb wool mineral concentration.
2 MATERIALS AND METHODS
Ten Tsigai sheep nursing single lamb was ran-
domly selected on the 6–10th day of lactation. Sam-
pling was carried out in March. The animals received 
the same feeding regime, of which consisted of alfalfa 
hay and concentrate. Wool samples free of visible con-
tamination were obtained from the withers of the ewes 
and the lambs using bended scissors. Approximately 
10 ml of milk samples were collected by hand milk-
ing. After sampling, samples were directly transported 
to the laboratory, and calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), 
sodium (Na), copper (Cu), sulphur (S), phosphorus 
(P), selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn) content were analysed. 
Organic contamination of wool was removed by wash-
ing with ethyl-alcohol (96 %, Sigma-Aldrich). Dried 
samples were mineralized by 2 ml nitric acid (distilled, 
Sigma-Aldrich) in ultrasonic cleaning unit at 60 °C for 
30 min. After cooling 2 ml of 30 % hydrogen peroxide 
(Sigma-Aldrich) were added and samples were miner-
alized for 90 min at 100 °C. After mineralization solu-
tions were filled up to 10 ml with distilled water and fil-
tered throughout MN 619 G ¼ (155 mm diameter) filter 
paper. Measurement of solutions was carried out with 
ICP-OES (Perkin-Elmer, Optima 3300 DV). Statistical 
analyses were carried out by SAS (SAS Institute Inc., 
Cary, NC) GLM and CORR procedure at p = 0.05 level. 
Group differences were tested with Tukey range test.
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Interestingly, the calcium, phosphorus, magne-
sium, selenium and zinc content of ewes’ wool and milk 
was similar (Table 1). Ewe’s milk had higher concen-
tration of Na, Cu and S than wool. Quite surprisingly 
lamb’s wool had significantly lower mineral concentra-
tions, than ewes, except phosphorous. The Ca content 
of both wool samples were similar to those reported 
for other genotypes (Patkowska-Sokola et al., 2009), 
but about tenfold higher than suggested by Sahoo and 
Soren (2011). The Ca transported in ionized form, and 
its value regulated in narrow intervals in blood plasma 
(Georgievskii et al., 1982). Anke (1966) reported that 
the dietary Ca intake had negative correlation with P 
and Zn content of hair. As it is presented in Table 1 milk 
contains about four times more Ca than P, thus lambs 
consuming only milk had much higher Ca intake. De-
spite that, the P content of lambs’ wool was more than 
two times higher than in case of ewes. Lambs have wool 
coverage at birth, and in the first week of life certainly 
a minimal growth occurs. Therefore, the mineral con-
tent of that base wool depend on the maternal nutrition 
during late gestation. The P content of ewe’s wool was 
about 2–4 times higher reported for other genotypes 
(Patkowska-Sokola et al., 2009), indicating that the 
supply was more than adequate. Mg and Na content of 
wool showed average supplementation based on other 
research results (Szigeti et al., 2016; Patkowska-Sokola 
et al., 2009). The Cu content of hair is close correlation 
with the liver Cu reservoir if it is less than 20 mg/kg 
(Kellaway et al., 1978). According to Suttle and Mc-
Murray (1983) if fleece Cu content is above 2.5 mg/kg 
than deficiency could occur only for a very short period 
without any effect on production. The concentration of 
5.36 mg/kg indicates sufficient dietary supply. As it is 
indicated earlier, S content of wool is in close correla-
tion with several wool quality parameters. The S content 
of wool is usually between the ranges of 27–54 000 mg/
kg (Qi and Lupton, 1994). Our results similarly to lit-
erature values (Patkowska-Sokola et al., 2009) are below 
the normal range. This may reflect the fact that ruminal 
protein is deficient in S containing amino acids, and if 
the daily ration does not contain enough rumen unde-
gradable protein or by-pass amino acids, there won’t be 
optimum supply for wool production. 
According to Olson (1969) the concentration of Se 
Sample Ca P Mg Na Cu S Se Zn
Ewe, wool 2701 581b 550a 1743b 5.36b 20175b 8.88a 217.4a
Ewe, milk 3183 880b 797a 2480a 9.01a 23515a 11.1a 299.6a
Lamb, wool 1878 1445a 133b 349c 0.80c 485c 1.95b 5.5b
P 0.0798 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001
RMSE 1252 469 288 536 1.96 2038 4.03 96.3
Table 1: Mineral content of ewe’s wool and milk, and the offspring wool (mg/kg dry matter)
RMSE : root mean square error; a,b,c Means in a column with common superscript do not differ significantly (p > 0.05)
Acta agriculturae Slovenica, Supplement 5 – 2016120
E. SZIGETI et al.
5 REFERENCES
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sheep. It is known that the majority of soils in Hungary 
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concentrate, respectively. We have no explanations to 
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concentration measured in ewes’ wool. Zn level was also 
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Sokola et al., 2009). Zn status of ruminants depends on 
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kg Zn (NRC, 2007) on average, while we detected only 
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not justify, why we detected that high concentration of 
Zn in the wool of ewes.
As the lamb nutrient supply is entirely depends 
on the ewe nutrient intake, we hypothesised that there 
should be some correlation between the ewe and lamb 
mineral status as approached by the mineral content of 
wool and milk. It is surprising that we could not detect 
even any moderate correlation (Table 2). This fact in-
dicate that the mineral supply of foetuses through the 
placenta regulated by strict mechanisms ensuring the 
steady mineral flow. 
4 CONCLUSIONS
Wool mineral content did not show deficient sup-
ply in case of ewes. Young lamb’s wool mineral com-
position is distinct from those measured in adult ewes. 
This fact and the lack of significant correlation between 
ewe and lamb mineral status indicates strictly regulated 
mineral passage through placenta. 
Trait Ca P Mg Na Cu S Se Zn
Ewe, wool 0.37 0.20 0.54 –0.20 0.09 0.18 –0.36 –0.06
P 0.30 0.58 0.10 0.57 0.81 0.62 0.31 0.87
Ewe, milk 0.04 –0.38 –0.20 0.04 –0.09 –0.15 0.47 0.20
P 0.91 0.28 0.58 0.92 0.8 0.68 0.17 0.57
Table 2: Correlation between the mineral content of lambs’ wool and the mineral content of ewes wool and milk
Acta agriculturae Slovenica, Supplement 5 – 2016 121
THE EFFECT OF EWE MINERAL STATUS ON THE LAMBS MINERAL SUPPLY
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