Influence of shearing and level of concentrates offered on the performance of lambs

It has been clearly established that shearing ewes during pregnancy increases lamb birthweight (Austin and Young, 1971; Rutter, Laird and Broadbent, 1971; Black and Chestnutt, 1990). Fewer studies have examined the response of fattening lambs to shearing although both Salman and Owen (1981) and Marai, Nowar and Bahgat (1987) noted a significant increase in growth rate. This was accompanied by an increase in voluntary food intake and consequently little change in the food conversion efficiency.The objective of these experiments was to study the influence of shearing on voluntary food intake and growth rate of fattening lambs offered various levels of concentrate feeding plus ad libitum forage.</jats:p

The effect of silage quality and frequency of feeding of supplementary concentrates on serum metabolite and insulin-like growth factor 1 (igf-1) concentrations in the late pregnant ewe

Concentrates for pregnant ewes are often increased incrementally during the last 6-8 weeks to as much as 50% of dry matter intake. Commonly, they are given as a single daily feed. Increasing the number of meals in which a concentrate allowance is given to cattle minimises diurnal fluctuation in ruminal activity with beneficial effects on dry matter intake (DMI).The current study was undertaken to determine if more frequent feeding of concentrates to ewes in late pregnancy affects levels of nutritionally-dependent serum IGF-1 and serum metabolites and to associate these with changes in ewe DMI and performance.</jats:p

The Response of Finishing lambs to Additional Metabolisable Energy Supplied from Either Silage or Concentrate

Increased lamb production during the 1980's stimulated interest in winter indoor finishing systems, traditionally all-concentrate. Recent research has been directed towards the supplementation of a silage-based ration as an option to reduce costs. The objective of this experiment is to compare the utilisation of metabolisable energy (ME) from silage and concentrate for carcass gain and to determine the effect of ME source on carcass quality.Seventy-eight Blackface wether lambs (mean initial live weight 29.3 kg) were housed in late October and offered silage for two weeks prior to allocation to treatments.</jats:p