Abstract
Metabolizable energy (ME) required for lactation of bitches and for growth of puppies were estimated using healthy Beagle dams (n = 9) and their puppies (n = 29). A dam was housed with her puppies in a special cage, and the dam and puppies were allowed to free access to dry food containing 3.69 kcal of ME/g dry matter. The puppies began to ingest food from wk 5 after birth, and were weaned from their dams by the end of wk 8. The body weight of dams decreased to 94% of that just after parturition in the first 2 wk, but recovered in the next 2 wk, and then gradually increased to 104% until weaning. The ME required for lactation widely varied with suckled litter size. When puppies received only dam's milk during the first 4 wk after birth, the ME required for lactation was 318kcal/Wp0.75 per day, where Wp is the body weight of puppies in kilograms, although it was more e asobtained by 302 kcal/d per puppy for Beagles. After puppies began to ingest dry food, the value decreased from 307 kcal/W/p0.75 per day during wk 5 to 168 kcal/Wp0.75 per day immediately before weaning, but was roughly 462 kcal/d per puppy for Beagles during this period. Conversely, ME intake of a puppy increased from 229 to 283 kcal/Wp0.75 per day during the suckling period for 8 wk, but was maintained at an almost constant level of 271 kcal/Wp0.75 per day for 9 wk after weaning.
