Dietary ingredients were sampled for analysis before the
experiment started. On day 0 and after the 7 weeks of experiment,
BW was measured by a mechanical balance. This was
done after milking and before feeding. On day 0, and at the
end of weeks 1, 3, 5 and 7, milk yield was determined by a
volumetric cylinder during two milking events starting at
08.00 a.m. and 04.00 p.m. Milking was done manually by
women. Samples of morning milk (50 ml) were put into a
cooling box (4 °C) and transported to ICARDA’s laboratory at
the end of the sampling where they were immediately
analysed for their constituent composition. Milk subsamples
from 10 random ewes out of the 15 ewes per treatment per
farm obtained on day 0 and at the end of weeks 1 and 7 of the
experiment were immediately stored at −20 °C for later FA
analysis.